About forty scows were also built during the period from 1847 to 1870. Among the builders engaged in that line of construction were D. Dayton, S. F. Drake, William Jones, H. D. Root, L. Smith, S. W. Buck, William Curtiss, A. Gillmore, S. Root and S. Fields.

THE FISHING INDUSTRY

Shortly before "the railroad came," there arose the most important early industry of Lorain, after the building of wooden vessels. The first historical records of the French missionaries and English travelers pronounced the mouth of the Black River as among the most pro-ductive fishing grounds along the shores of the Great Lakes. The waters of Lake Erie off Lorain have been especially noted for their perch, pike. herring, pickerel, white-fish and lake trout. In other words, all the characteristic fish of the Great Lakes have swarmed around the harbor of Lorain. Three quarters of a century before the locality was to become famous as a wooden shipbuilding industry, Black River boasted of a considerable fleet of fishing sloops, whose aggregate annual catch ran up into the thousands of pounds.

The twin-industries of ship-building and fishing went on apace, and the "hauls" were famous even with the crude boats and appliances which were brought into service. It was not until the late '60s and the early '70s that the fishing reached the dignity of an industry of really commercial importance. To John Gawn, drag-seine fisherman with an establishment in the woods on the east side of the river, is accredited the distinction of having founded the present industry. Other fisher-men inspired by the success of the pioneer Gawn, followed his example.

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About 1889 there was founded the first partnership of fishermen to operate from Lorain—the Kolbe Brothers and Ranney Company. A short time later a second company was organized by T. W. Smith. The Kolbe Brothers soon dropped out of the first partnership and the remaining interests in the original concern formed the nucleus of the Ranney Fish Company, the largest concern of its kind on fresh water. The J. W. Smith concern was absorbed soon after its organization by the A. Booth Company. Lorain's third large fishing concern, the Reger & Werner Company, was formed about 1901. There have always been smaller operators, generally called "independents" to distinguish them from such large combinations as the Ranney and Booth Companies.

"Many improvements in fishing equipment have been made since the days of John Gawn" says a local writer. "His old drag seine—the net of Biblical fishermen—became obsolete when the resources of the larger operators were turned toward the increasing of efficiency. After the drag seine came the pound net, a line of woven cord suspended on poles driven into- the lake bottom stretched in a straight. line and ending in a circular 'pocket.' Fish, following the long, straight leader, would enter the pocket and bewildered by the circular wall of net, would be unable to find again the opening by which they had entered.

"Last of all in the evolution of improvement in fish-catching equipment came the gill net, its meshes cunningly designed to slip over the head of a fish and tighten just back of the gills.

"The fishing sloop was superseded years ago by the self-propelled fishing craft, using steam and later gasoline as motive power.

"Steel is replacing wood in the construction of the larger fishing vessels. One of the local companies' fleets includes six steel tugs, sturdy and fast and equipped with the largest devices for the 'lifting' of nets and the storage of fish on the run to the harbor from the fishing grounds.

PICTURESQUE, EVEN IF COMMERCIALIZED

"Commercialized to the highest degree, fishing still has the glamor of picturesqueness and romance. Fishermen are still the most daring of mariners. Long before the monster steel freighters dare venture from the harbors in the spring, the rakish little fishing tugs poke their noses out beyond protecting piers, and, skirting the perilous ice-fields, skurry away for the fishing grounds. 'Set your nets early,' is the word, 'you can always get back in—somehow.'

"Day after day throughout the fishing season, on calm days when a run into the lake is the work of a 'rocking-chair' sailor, and on stormy days, when a trip to the nets means plunging for miles through the seas

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that keep the 'big-fellows' at their cables 'inside,' the fishing craft ply in and out. Before the daylight they are away, speeding for the nets miles -out into the open lake. At dark they return, laden to the gunwales with their cargoes of shimmering silver."

PIONEER AND VETERAN FISHERMEN

"In the memory of some of the oldest residents of our city," says a writer in a late local publication, "is the picture of Lorain's first fisherman, Daniel Gawn, father of the late Thomas Gawn. Fifty years ago, at the mouth of Black River, with the use of a seine, Mr. Gawn began the first net-fishing out of Lorain, or Charleston, as it was then called. He disposed of his product to people coining from the towns toward the south who journeyed hither in wagons along the then-popular plank road. Barney Bark, who, though in feeble health, is still a resident of our city (written in the spring of 1915), was in the employ of Mr. Gawn in this enterprise. Mr. Gawn was succeeded ,by Adam Holstein and Adam Clause, who used a pound-net in their industry. Succeeding them was Charles F. Friend. About this time the fishing business began to be popular, and soon there were eight little beach fisheries between Lorain and Vermillion.

Two VETERAN " HOLD-OVERS"

"The moneyed interests have long since absorbed these little fisheries, but have wisely retained the services of many of the experienced

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fishermen. Captain Charles Friend is in point of active service among the oldest fishermen on Lake Erie. He has been engaged in the fishing business continuously for fifty years, and each day finds him at the wheel of the tug Birmingham, conducting with care and efficiency the lake management of the Booth Fisheries Company. Cornelius Meyers, a veteran of the Civil war, is another pioneer fisherman, having spent forty-eight years in the industry—sixteen years at Huron and thirty-two, at Lorain. He is connected with the Booth Fisheries Company as watchman."

STATUS OF THE PRESENT INDUSTRY

After describing the modern methods of fishing, as now in vogue at Lorain, the writer concludes with matters more specific, thus : "The United States Government- fosters with great care the fishing industry. Each year, in the late autumn, men called spawn takers from the Government Fish Hatchery at Put-in-Bay go out on the fish tugs and strip the fish of their eggs, sending them to the hatchery. There they are hatched and, at the proper time, returned to the lake to grow into fish large enough to be taken by hook and line for the pleasure and comfort of mankind.

" Each state regulates its fishing. Laws provide when this may be done, how' many weeks are allowed for net fishing and, in fact, the industry is surrounded by conditions and safeguards that foster it so that the finny tribe shall not become extinct. Each person or firm operating nets in Ohio waters must. procure a license by the payment of a prescribed sum to the Ohio Fish and Game Commission, and the revenue thus accruing is used for the maintenance of hatcheries for the conservation of fish.

"Lorain has three firms in the fishing business : The Booth Fisheries Company, the Ranney Fish Company and the Reger and Werner Fish Company. Together they operate about 113 pound and trap nets and from 4 to 37 tugs. Approximately, four hundred men are given employment, the number varying with the catch. Statistics of the catch for one year can hardly be used as a basis for determining the production for the next year, since no two seasons show up alike. There is really no means of gauging this, until it is visible."

LORAIN'S FIRST IRON FURNACE

Although the stalwart line of industries which have established Lorain as a leading manufacturing center of the Lakes Region is only

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a little over twenty years of age, the historic pioneer of them all appeared in the local field the year before the opening of the Civil war. In 1860, also twelve years before the coming of the railroad, a little iron furnace was perched on the west bank of the Black River. It was located at what is now the foot of Eighth Street, and its property stretched along the river front for a thousand feet, including the future site of the Ranney Fish Company. S. O. Edison, brother of F. W. Edison, of Lorain, who resided on Second Street, and Dr. Philo Tilden were partners in the founding of the furnace. Later the concern was known as S. O. Edison & Company. William McKinley, father of the President, was furnace-man, or superintendent, and also acted as bookkeeper.

The plant prospered until 1871 when it was burned to the ground. It was never rebuilt on that site, although a similar furnace was located by Mr. Edison at Pigeon River, Saginaw Bay, Michigan. This later project was abandoned within a short time, and the founder retired from active business, going to East Orange, New Jersey.

The capacity of Lorain's first blast furnace was thirty tons per day. Charcoal was used as fuel. An interesting feature is that the pig-iron produced from the little plant sold at one time for $87.50 per ton, the highest price for that product ever obtained locally.

When asked one day if the plant made money, Mr. Edison replied: "In 1865, we cleared $65,000."

PLANING MILL AND STOVE WORKS

The coming of the Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Valley Railroad to Lorain was soon followed by the establishment of new industries. Among these were the planing mills of Brown Brothers & Company and E. Slaight & Sons, both erected in 1873, and the formation of the Lorain Stove Company, organized by leading citizens of Lorain, two manufacturers of stoves in Troy, New York. Buildings were erected and the plant commenced operations, but that old business story was repeated—the friction between "foreign" and local interests. The New York parties were voted out of office, the property was sold and subsequently leased to the Co-operative Stove Company of Cleveland, by which it was operated for some time with C. H. Baldwin as resident manager.

THE JOHNSON STEEL MILLS

It was twenty years after these small concerns made so futile an effort to live that the Johnson steel mills located at Lorain and made

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an industrial mammoth of what had before been little more than a pigmy. It was the real commencement of the Steel City of the Lakes, which the National Tube Company, controlled by the United Steel Corporation, has been most instrumental in founding. That great industry has created South Lorain, and it is no exaggeration to say that fully one-half the population of the entire city depend entirely, or partially, upon its operations for their livelihood.

In 1893, when the little Village of Lorain was on the point of becoming a city, its industries comprised a few shipyards for building wooden vessels, a. lumber mill and an antiquated lime-kiln. But five years before there had been organized at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, by Thomas L. Johnson, street railway and manufacturing capitalist, what was known as the Johnson Steel Street Rail Company. Street rails for traction lines were turned out of its plant, and some time after it was in operation the controlling corporation became generally known as the Johnson Company.

Gradually the management of the steel plant came to realize that the mills were too far away from the supply of raw materials and that the only way to save the enterprise was to transfer the industry to some locality where those entering into the manufacture of steel—ore, coal, coke and limestone—could be most cheaply brought together. That decision was reached in 1893, and early in 1894 the eastern capitalists interested in the Johnson plant visited Cleveland, Painesville, Fairport and Lorain, in their explorations for a suitable site for the new steel mills.

FIRST GREAT PLANT LOCATED AT LORAIN

The final decision, made in March, 1894, was for Lorain, and in the following month occurred its first municipal election. The great steel mills and the city were twin-births. The proposal of the Johnson Company was that its rail mills would be moved to Lorain, provided the town should take upon itself the responsibility of widening and straightening the Black River channel. The individuals then in control of the company were Tom L. Johnson, the heaviest stockholder in the mills ; A. J. Moxham, president, and Max M. Suppes, general manager. One of the first measures which went through the new city council in April was to eagerly accede to this proviso and agree to improve the river as suggested.

The new Johnson Company was incorporated with a capital of $5,000,000 by Tom L. Johnson, A. J. Moxham, Andrew Squire, James Parmaiee and H. S. Davies. Things began to happen in the young

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city. Vacant lots on Broadway, long overgrown with weeds, became valuable "real estate," and the talk of steel mills and harbor improvements was in the air and everywhere. The city fathers definitely pledged the municipality to maintain a navigable channel in Black River as far south as the land held by the Johnson interests. Late in May, 1894, commenced the work of clearing the mill site on the north bank of the river in what is now South Lorain.

FOUNDING OF SOUTH LORAIN

Even before the Johnson Company decided to locate at Lorain options had been secured on about 4,000 acres of land. These options were subsequently closed, the intention being to control, as far as possible, speculation in land values and prevent any sudden inflation thereof in place of the steady and permanent increase so necessary for future stability.

The Sheffield Land Company was a sub-division of the Johnson Company, created for the convenience of transacting its real estate business. A separate department was devoted to land held for manufacturing purposes, inquiries regarding suitable locations for various industries having become so numerous as to demand special attention and consideration. Of the 4,000 acres of land controlled by the Johnson Company, 1,700 were set apart for manufacturing purposes, one-third being on the north bank of the river, the remaining 1,200 acres comprising a continuous tract, bounded on two sides by the river, and on a third by the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railroad. The total river frontage was over six miles, 3 1/2 of which was navigable water. Less than 200 acres were comprised in the low land adjacent to the river, the larger part being located on a table land, averaging about forty-five feet in height above the river from which it rises in a precipitous bluff.

As the high land was of very regular contour, sloping slightly toward the river, it was readily drained of surface water. The soil is rather tenacious clay, underlaid at a depth of from four to seven feet by a very compact shale formation several hundred feet in thickness, offering the best possible foundation for building and machinery.

About a year after the Johnson Company had commenced operation at Lorain, an industrial edition of the Herald reported progress, and what follows may be designated as a continuation of the "Founding of South Lorain:" "With the exception of some 600 acres reserved by the Johnson Company for present and future uses, the land is held for disposal, for manufacturing purposes only, to legitimate business enterprises which may desire to locate here. About 2,300 acres of land

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lying south of Tenth Avenue are available for town site purposes, and a considerable portion of this is already laid out. The sub-division of this addition to the village of Lorain was inaugurated upon a broadminded and liberal basis.

"A tract of densely wooded land in the heart of the new town containing over seventy acres, was deeded to Lorain for perpetual use as a public park. All avenues and streets are made either 80 or 100 feet in width. The lots have a frontage of 50 feet, and vary in depth from 120 to 200 feet. Flagstone sidewalks, curbing, paving, sewers and similar betterments are provided for before the original transfer of property takes place and are thus assured. Clauses are inserted in the deeds for bidding the sale of intoxicating liquors. This will be omitted, however, at intervals in certain portions of the town, as the intention is not to force temperance upon the people, but to attempt so far as possible to govern the number and location of saloons.

"Nearly three miles of sewer has been laid, emptying temporarily into the Black river, but with provision for ultimate Connection with the general sewer system of the town of Lorain, unless some method of sewage disposal may prove more desirable. Connection has been made, at considerable expense, with the water system of Lorain, insuring the advantages of a pure and abundant water supply from the lake.

"The main business street, on which all the buildings must be of brick, is already paved with fire brick for a distance of 'half a mile. Several hundred houses are completed and occupied. Most of these will be owned by the occupants and have been constructed with a view to offering an attractive home to the workingman. The style of architecture is sufficiently varied to present a pleasing effect far different from that usually obtained in manufacturing settlements.

"Peculiar advantages in the way of cheap material exist at Lorain for those desiring to build. Stone of the finest quality is quarried near at hand and is cheap and plentiful for the foundation purposes. Shale brick is a local product, and lumber is brought from the forests of Michigan by water at a minimum cost for transportation.

"The electric street railway. connecting Lorain with the county seat, Elyria, passes through the new town site. With a fifteen minute service over a road-bed equal to that of any trunk line in the country, at a schedule speed of thirty miles per hour, prompt and frequent communication is offered with Cleveland, via the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway at Elyria or the Nickel Plate at Lorain."

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SOUTH LORAIN, AS IT IS

The South Lorain of today, although under the general municipal government of Lorain City, is one of the striking evidences of rapid, substantial and comfortable industrial growth presented in several other sections of the United States. It is chiefly the creation of the Sheffield Land Company, in turn the creature of the National Tube Company, which is a satellite of the United Steel Company. South Lorain is Gary, Indiana, on a minor scale, but very large at that.

The streets are from 80 to 100 feet wide, and are graded, curbed and macadamized. Stone sidewalks are laid and water and sewerage are fully provided. Tenth Avenue and Pearl Street are the business thoroughfares, and are paved with brick in addition to other improvements, and a number of artistic and important business blocks and stores contribute a handsome architectural effect. Large sums were expended by the Sheffield Land Company in street improvements, and the laying of water, sewer and gas mains. Such main thoroughfares as. Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Pearl and Seneca are well paved with macadam, and lined with neat and tasteful, and, in some cases, handsome residences.

South Lorain is also the center of a distinctive moral, intellectual and religious expansion, in which such organizations as the Young Men's Christian Association, the Public Library management, the Irving Literary Society, South Lorain Congregational Institute, the Sisterhood, the Men's League and the Catholic Young Men's Club, have earnestly and faithfully participated, with the result that residents of that section of the city, whether of foreign or Americanized stamp, have found living conditions pleasant and profitable.

Throughout all this work of development the Sheffield Land Company was well to the front. It offered premiums for the best-kept gardens, and for many ycars numerous owners of modest homes vied with each other to make them attractive. Liberal terms were also given employees of the steel works and other industries in South Lorain to enable them to become the owners of comfortable homes convenient to their work. Five per cent of the purchase price is required in cash, and the balance is payable at the rate of 1 per cent per month, including interest at the rate of 6 per cent. For example, a house and lot costing $1,500 would require a cash payment of $75, and the balance payable at. the rate of $15 per month. The purchaser has the privilege of paying as much as he likes in addition to the $15 per month which will be applied to his future payments in case anything should happen to him or his family.

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FIRST WORK ON THE JOHNSON HOLDINGS

In June, 1894, laborers in the employ of the Johnson Company broke ground for the power-house of the Lorain-Elyria electric line, which was to be owned and operated by that corporation. South of the site for the steel. mills land was also cleared for the residence section, on land owned by the company. Work on the mill-site proper was begun in July, and a month thereafter a thousand men were at work on the excavations and foundations.

OPENING OF TILE LORAIN PLANT

Throughout the winter of 1894-95 the task of moving the steel mill from Johnson, Pennsylvania, to Lorain, Ohio, 200 miles, progressed rapidly and smoothly, and by February the original Lorain plant was complete. Within the fence on the newly-cleared grounds, were a Bessemer converting works, a blooming mill, a rail-rolling mill with finishing equipment, and a group of mechanical shops.

April 1, 1895, was a gala day, for it marked the first "blow" of steel in the new mills and the official beginning of their operation. About 1,200 men were employed. The officials, on the opening day, were : A. J. Maxham, president ; Torn L. Johnson, vice president ; Max M. Suppes, general manager ; P. M. Boyd, secretary ; W. A. Donaldson, treasurer. The first rail to be turned out of the new mills was rolled in the month following the official opening.

With its first organization, the Lorain plant had no blast furnaces. Pig iron, from which the -steel for the rails was made, was imported from outside furnaces.

OPERATIONS AS THE LORAIN STEEL COMPANY

For four years the plant operated as the Johnson Company. Then in 1898 there came a reorganization, changing the name to the Lorain Steel Company, and expansion of the manufacturing facilities of the plant began almost simultaneously with its opening. Improvements in steel-making and steel-handling machinery increased the mass of the output as tune went on. Month by month the number of employes mounted upward. In 1899 the present blast furnaces were completed, their installation making necessary the building of docks for the handling of ore.

THE NATIONAL TUBE COMPANY

The twentieth century brought the opening of the last and greatest epoch in the history of Lorain as a steel-making center. Amalgamation

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of interests evolved the organization of the National Tube Company, of Ohio, with William B. Schiller as president.

To the eastward of the site of the steel mills at Lorain were laid the foundations of the present tube plant. Construction on the tube-making department was commenced in 1903. The first pipe was made on February 10, 1905, and the tube mills were completed in the following

year.

In 1909 one of the most important improvements was added in the open hearth department, built for the purpose of manufacturing by a newer process a better grade of steel than is possible by the old Bessemer method.

Mr. Schiller is still president of the National Tube Company, whose headquarters have been transferred from Pittsburgh to Toledo. Max M. Suppes, who came to Lorain with the old Johnson Company, in 1894, has been the executive head of the mills ever since.

OTHER LEADING INDUSTRIES

Outside of the National Tube Works, among the largest of the industrial plants in South Lorain are those of the Thew Automatic Shovel Company and the American Shovel and Stamping Company and the American Steel and Tube Company. They are located on East Twenty-eighth Street and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad tracks. They were established in 1899, and employ several hundred men.

The Thew Automatic Shovel Company manufactures both steam and electric shovels for ore and fuel docks, blast furnaces and steel works, mines and brickyards, and for general excavating purposes. The American Shovel and Stamping Company and the American Steel and Tube Company, which are operated under joint management, are devoted especially to the production of pressed-steel specialties for agricultural implements and vehicles.

Of the other large industries which have given Lorain so substantial a reputation may be mentioned the National Stove Company, a branch of the American Stove Company, which turns out everything in the line of stoves, ranges, ovens and heaters ; the Lorain Casting Company, the Lorain Milling Company, the Brunk Machine and Forging Company and the Lorain Crystal Ice Company.

The National Stove Company was originally the National Vapor Stove and Manufacturing Company, which was incorporated in Cleveland in 1889 and its plant and business transferred to Lorain in 1893. In 1895 a consolidation was effected with the Moon Range Company of Columbus, and subsequently the extended and improved plant was

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taken over by the National Stove Company, a corporation within the system of the American Stove Company.

ERA OF STEEL SHIPBUILDING

For fifteen years or more after 1897, when ground was broken for the great steel shipyards on the east bank of the Black River, Lorain was one of the leading centers of the industry in the country of late years there has been a marked decrease in the output of the yards, caused largely by general conditions, such as the transfer of much of the iron and steel manufactures to points further West, and to the local fact that the metal industries of Lorain have been largely diverted into special channels and away from the making of the material which enters into the construction of steel ships. Notwithstanding, the present plant of the American Shipbuilding Company is one of the best-equipped in the West, and it is still doing considerable constructive work.

The history of the rise of the great industry is given thus by the Lorain Times-Herald: "From 1820 to the early '90's as nearly as can be ascertained from the records, no less than 300 wooden ships were built in and near Lorain. In what might be called the second era of wooden shipbuilding, Henry D. Root, still active at nearly eighty (written in July, 1913), and only recently retired, was a prominent figure. His yard on the west side of the river, almost opposite the present plant of the American Shipbuilding Company, turned out many of the larger vessels. The schooner 'Our Son.' built by Mr. Root in 1875 for H. Kelley, was in commission until less than ten years ago.

"The '80's marked the passage of the building of wooden lake vessels. The steel freighter was coming into its own.

"Early in 1897 there was organized in Cleveland the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company, with Robert Wallace, a shipbuilder of experience, as general manager. The company purchased a site of twenty acres of land on the east bank of Black River, between the Erie avenue and Nickel Plate bridges.

"On February 10, 1897, John J. Stang, Sr., now deceased, who was the contractor for the construction of the dry-dock, turned the first shovelful of earth on the site of the new yards. Beside the dry-dock, two launching slips were dredged and four construction berths laid.

"Early in 1898 active operation of the yards was begun with a force of about 1,200 men. Thomas Briscoe, as superintendent, was in active charge.

"The first ship built was the steamer Superior City, constructed for the Zenith Transportation Company of Duluth, and launched on

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April 13, 1898. To the populace, and for that matter to the ship-building trade itself, the Superior City was a wonderful ship. With an over-all length of 450 feet, a beam of 50 feet, and a molded depth of 28 feet. she had carrying capacity of 7,000 tons.

“Lorain made the Superior City's launching a. gala event. Spectators came from miles around and joined a party of distinguished guests to witness the affair. The boat was christened by Miss Inez Pierce, daughter of E. M. Pierce.

"Since the Superior City there have been turned out of the Lorain yards a total of 129 boats, with a combined tonnage of over 650,000. Beside some of the leviathan freighters of later days, the Superior City is dwarfed. In over-all length, the 500 foot, and the 600 foot mark have been passed. Contrasted with the 7,000-ton capacity of the first monster, the Superior City, are the cargoes of over 12,000 tons that Lorain-built boats have carried from the mines at the upper lakes into the lower-lake ports.

"A conception of what Lorain has accomplished in ship-building since 1897 may be gained from an analysis of the list of vessels turned out here. Of the 129 boats built, six had carrying capacities of 12,000 tons each, the largest class of boats on fresh water; 11 had capacities of 10,000 tons; one had a capacity of between 9,000 and 10,000; two, between 8,000 and 9,000; 15, between 7,000 and 8,000; 40, between 6,000 and 7,000; eight, between 5,000 and 6,000; 36 were in the class of 5,000 tons and under. One hundred and nine of the boats turned out were freighters; two were oil steamers; seven were oil barges; nine were tugs ; one was a salvage lighter, and one a catamaran built for a mountain summer resort.

“The masterpiece is the James A. Farrell, flag-ship of the Pittsburg Steamship Company's fleet. The Farrell was launched on September 28, 1912. For a second time Lorain made a launching a gala event. On the christening stand when the vessel took the water were James A. Farrell. president of the billion-dollar United States Steel corporation, for whom thc boat was named; William B. Schiller, president of the National Tube Company; officials of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company, and other personages of note in the industry and commerce of the nation.

“For two years after its foundation, the Lorain plant operated independently. Then, in 1899, the American Shipbuilding Company, with a capitalization of $15,000,000 came into complete control.

"Until 1906 the plant operated upon its original site of 20 acres. A growing demand for more and larger ships made expansion necessary, and a tract of 23 acres, to the south of the old plant was acquired.

Vol. I-21

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"In the added space was constructed a new dry-dock, 747 feet long, with a width of 125 feet at the top and a width of 16 feet over the keel blocks. This dock is still the largest on fresh water and among the half-dozen largest in the world. Later, on the new territory, came a second punch shop, 180 by 245 in size, a boiler shop 110 by 120 feet, a foundry 140 by 200 feet, and last of all a reinforced concrete-and-steel machine shop, 180 by 245 feet in ground dimensions. In the machine shop is installed one of the largest boring machines in the United States and the second largest planer in Ohio.

"With the new equipment in operation a completed vessel, except for a few of the minor details of construction can be turned out of the Lorain yards. Until recently it has been necessary to bring the boilers, engines and larger forgings for boats from outside shops."

Thomas Briscoe, first superintendent of the local yard at the time of its establishment, was succeeded, at the time of the merger with the American Shipbuilding Company, by W. W. Waterson, who resigned after two years to become superintendent of construction for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company. Frank Jeffrey was superintendent from 1899 until 1904, when he took charge of the Union Iron Works yard at San Francisco. F. C. LaMarche succeeded Mr. Jeffrey and he, in turn, was followed by the former assistant superintendent, A. W. Payton.

The years from 1900 to 1910 seem to have been the most prosperous, since which there has been a general decline in the output. The increase in production commenced with the entry of the American Shipbuilding

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Company as the owner of the plant. As stated, the steamer Superior City was the first boat constructed, when the Lorain plant was established by the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company. It was completed in the early spring of 1898, and during that year four other boats were launched from the yards. Only three were turned out in 1899, but in the following year (the first twelve months under the ownership of the American Shipbuilding Company) eight were completed; the same number for each of the years 1901, 1902 and 1903 ; four, in 1904; six, in 1905; seven, in 1906 ; eleven, in 1907 ; eight, in 1908 ; twelve, in 1909 ; eleven, in 1910, and nine, in 1911. Five boats were launched in 1912, and not to exceed four, in any year since, although seven are under contract for 1916. This list includes fish tugs, fire tugs, freighters, oil boats, and pleasure craft and barges.

EARLY IMPROVEMENTS OF RIVER AND HARBOR

The material improvement of the harbor did not commence until 1894, or the year of the founding of the Johnson steel works and the incorporation of the city. Later, the owners of the new steel shipyards co-operated in the improvement of their own large properties, and the National Government has added its money and efficiency in the furtherance of the great work.

The initial improvements in preparation of the modern expansion, is described by a local paper issued in 1895, as follows :

"Lorain has the best natural harbor on the south shore of Lake Erie. Others may surpass it in development; but none can equal it in opportunity. Some may exceed it in present tonnage, but none can compare in brilliancy of prospects.

"Long years ago, before the hand of man had straightened its course or deepened its channel, it offered shelter to the largest boats that then traversed the lakes. The flagship of Commodore Perry might have entered its winding course and followed up beneath the waving boughs of primitive oaks for four miles without touching bottom or being impeded at a single turn. Even forty years ago, had there been a vessel drawing 13 feet of water, it might have gone inland nearly, if not quite, two miles, without discovering the river had a bottom. Local shipmasters yet living can testify that the channel for 1 3/4 miles was then at least 14 feet deep and 200 feet wide, and that above that point, for two miles further, it was 14 feet deep most of the way. A vessel drawing any amount less than 14 feet might have gone inland the distance mentioned, and then have winded as easily as on the broad expanse of the lake's bosom.

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"The harbor is what it is today chiefly because nature made it so. True, the lower channel has been straightened, the piers extended, the bottom dredged near the docks, but less than $75,000 has been spent in general dredging, yet what a change. The modern monsters that plow the lake may sail in and out and pass three abreast almost anywhere in the river for 3 1/2 miles of its course. There is now a channel 17 feet deep, 90 feet wide and much of the way 250 feet wide. This is the result of a single summer's work. There is no point which the largest vessels can not pass with safety, and a 300-foot boat could easily wind at the top.

"The city has undertaken the task of widening, deepening and straightening this magnificent natural channel until it shall be seventeen feet deep for a. distance of four miles inland ; until it shall he four hundred feet wide at the narrowest part and eight hundred feet some of its way. The city has pledged itself to put in this 400-foot channel, but the ease with which it can be done and the restriction on taxation, guard against the work ever becoming a burden. The municipality is pledged never to levy more than one mill of the tax duplicate for river purposes. This, it is believed, will be amply sufficient, with what help the Government will give, not only to provide the 400-foot channel for the entire four miles, but to keep it in excellent condition.

"The sea seldom runs so high that vessels cannot enter the harbor, but when it does the bottom of the lake on all sides of the piers affords the best possible anchorage, where vessels may ride out storms in comparative safety. There is another advantage in this harbor seldom enjoyed elsewhere. When the dredging is once done it is done forever. Black River drains for forty miles inland a section made up of shale and clay. Its waters, though dashing over precipice and frequently raging along its upper confined boundaries, brings no silt or sand to fill the navigable channel beneath. The sides and bottoms of the deeper channel are equally fortified against abrasion, and the lake about the mouth is as free from accumulations of sand as any harbor on the lakes. Thus, dredging once done, lasts almost forever. Docks once capable of receiving ships, remain so. The expense, uncertain in amount but generally heavy and dreaded, of maintaining the channel clean, and of keeping the docks accessible, is here unknown.

"Of this magnificent river frontage, extending four miles on either side—fully eight miles in all—less than a mile and a half is in actual use. The Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railroad owns a large amount of valuable dock on the west side near the river mouth. On this have been erected the most improved and extensive ore and coal handling machinery. The facilities of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Road

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are unsurpassed by any one concern on the south shore of Lake Erie. The Johnson Company is putting in extensive docks in the vicinity of their works. These will be large enough to accommodate the immense ore and iron traffic of that big concern. A few other docks are scattered along the river, but the remaining frontage is available for any industrial enterprise. Good sites are just as plentiful as ever, and they may be obtained at very reasonable prices. Any substantial business concern can get a site free upon making a satisfactory showing of business and financial standing.

"As an example of how rapidly the business of this harbor is developing, a statement of the amount of coal, ore and lumber handled, will he interesting. The lumber received last year amounted to 15,442,426 feet, the ore and coal amounted to 678,935 tons. The influence of the recent improvements in ore and coal handling machinery and the building of the Johnson Company furnaces promise to double the latter figures for the next season."

Years ago the city pledged itself to expend an amount not to exceed one mill per annum on the assessed valuation for the broadening, deepening and straightening of the river channel. The amount actually expended has been far below this figure. The city engineer estimates the average yearly expenditure for harbor improvement at about $8,000.

The actual figures for the years 1902 to 1913 follow : 1902-1904, $190.000 ; 1905, nothing ; 1906, $5,000 ; 1907, nothing ; 1908, $8,000 ; 1909, $14,700 ; 1910, $14,239; 1911, nothing; 1912, $25,000 ; 1913, $15,000 (estimated). It is to be noted in connection With the figures just given, that during the years 1902-1904, an amount of $190,000 was expended in one big river dredging contract. This really was an extraordinary expense, found necessary after many years during which the river channel had virtually been neglected. The big total cannot be considered normal. The floods of early spring, another extraordinary circumstance, made necessary the dredging work to be done during the present year, which is estimated at. $15,000.

As the inner portion of the harbor must be maintained by the care and effort of men, so must the outer portion. Old settlers tell of seeing men plow trenches in the Black River bottom after a hard "northeaster" has sent seas across the lowlands near the mouth of the stream and filled the channel with sand. Concrete protection piers, constructed by the Federal Government at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, ward off the mischievous northeasters now. Between the piers is an entrance 400 feet wide.

Out beyond the protection piers stands the breakwater wall, massively built of limestone from the quarries at the upper end of the lake,

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and designed ultimately to form the two halves of a great half-square, with its angle removed. The western arm, when completed, will be 3,350 feet in total length. The eastern arm is planned for a length of 2,300 feet. The opening between the two arms, is directly opposite the 400-foot opening between the inner protection piers, and of the same width. The breakwater is practically complete.

So far, the Federal Government has confined its operations at the Lorain harbor strictly to that portion lying outside the river mouth. Now forces are at work to induce Congress to draw upon the national treasury for extensive improvements in the inner channel. Straighten-ing work, already carried forward by the city, would be continued on a far larger scale than the municipality can afford. A survey to deter-mine the extent of the work has already been authorized by the National Government.

So much for what the harbor is and will be. Now for a few facts concerning what the harbor is doing. Figures cease to be dry and uninteresting after they pass the million mark. An analysis of the business of the port as given by United States Inspector Henry F. Alexander, for a number of years, is presented without comment:

The comparatively small amount of freight handled during 1914 was owing to the general business depression.

THE HARBOR OF THE PRESENT

The harbor of Lorain has had a reputation for many years of being not only the most secure of any of the Great Lakes, but also one of the most thoroughly improved. It was this feature of the port more than any other which determined the location of the plants of the American Ship Building Company and the Johnson Steel Company. The fine harbor also decided the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railroad to make Lorain its terminus, with the establishment of its immense docks for the

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handling of ore, coal and lumber. Further, the harbor protected and encouraged the fishing industry, which had been early established at the mouth of the Black River and is still of considerable volume.

The harbor of the present embraces not only the gigantic outer breakwater which offers protection for marine craft at the river mouth, but 3 1/2 miles of dockage along the Black River. Altogether these facilities represent 37,000 lineal feet, or over seven miles of dockage. In these improvements, as well as in the maintenance of deep water at the mouth, the Federal Government has already appropriated about $480,000, to which the city has added nearly $600,000 ; and there is now available, both from the national and municipal funds, fully $900,000 for harbor and riser improvements. The principal improvement now in progress is the work of widening the channel between the Government piers, which run into the lake for 2,000 feet to the lighthouse. In order to maintain an adequate channel, the City of Lorain has acquired the land necessary to secure the minimum river width of 400 feet. This step has been taken to forestall encroachments upon the river by the growing industrial plants established along its course. An important harbor improvement in the near future is the construction of a lateral breakwater 2,400 yards in length and located about a quarter of a mile from the ends of the lake piers, thus greatly adding to the capacity and security of the outer harbor.

DEVELOPMENT OF B. & O. TERMINAL

A notable feature in the harbor improvements and a. leading element in the commercial and industrial revival and continuous growth of Lorain, are indicated in the improvements commenced by the Cleveland & Tuscarawas .Valley Railroad and continued by its successors, the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling and the Baltimore & Ohio. The broad and remarkable expansion of the railway interests devoted to the transhipment of iron ore and coal at that point, commencing with the early '70s, is thus pictured by the Lorain Times-Herald: "In transhipping equipment at the Lorain terminal, the Cleveland & Tuscarawas had three coal docks, each of the derrick type with buckets that were filled by hand. One dock was located at the foot of lower Broadway and the other two a short distance south of the Erie Avenue viaduct and bridge. For ore unloading there were two Erie cranes, mounted at the site of the present No. 2 coal dump near the Round House bend. The cranes dropped their loads on the dock, whence it was transported to the storage bins in 'man-power' wheelbarrows.

"Crude as the equipment was, the Cleveland & Tuscarawas Valley

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contrived to reship at Lorain between 40,000 and 60,000 tons of ore and in the neighborhood of 175,000 tons of coal each season.

"The early '80s brought marked development. Refinancing was effected. With its lines extended to the Ohio river, the road, in 1883, expanded under the name of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling. Three years before, E. M. Pierce, who was to become one of Lorain's most influential citizens, had come here from Uhrichsville to assume the responsibility of agent of the coal terminal.

"Agent Pierce's administration, covering the period between 1880 and 1907, was marked by extensive development of the re-organized railroad's terminal facilities. 'Whirlies,' and later a battery of Brown hoists, replaced the cranes for unloading ore. The coal-loading derricks gave way to the present No. 1 coal loader north of the Erie Avenue bridge, capable of picking up a 'gondola' and dumping its contents into a vessel. Yardage and repaid facilities were expanded.

"In 1900 came a second reorganization, opening the present and the greatest epoch in the history of the road. The patriarch Baltimore & Ohio, reaching westward for outlets, absorbed the Cleveland. Lorain & Wheeling. In legal name only the old road still exists. In a material way to it has been imparted the pulse of the larger, more powerful organization.

"Improvements in terminal facilities went forward with the redoubled speed under the new ownership. A second coal-dump, with a larger capacity than the old No. 1, was built on the east side of the river south of the Nickel Plate bridge. Last, but by no means least, there was placed in commission in May, 1912, a $2,000,000 ore unloading plant at the foot of Broadway, where once stood the derrick coal loaders, with their hand-filled buckets.

"Nowhere on the Great Lakes is there a more complete cargo-handling plant of the big-storage type than that which rears its great structural steel bulk at the lower end of the city's principal business street. Thousands of cubic yards of concrete, thousands of tons of steel, and hundreds of thousands of rivets went into the making of this great mass of machinery that will unload two 10,000-ton vessels in twenty-four hours. The three movable 'ram' unloaders, each carrying a 9-ton, clam-shell bucket. At the rear of the three unloaders travels the great conveyor bridge, as big as many a modern sky-scraper, itself mounted on wheels, and carrying along its titanic length a 12-ton ‘clam.' The conveyor takes the place of the man-power wheel-barrows in transmitting the ore back to the storage bins.

"Improvements have been made in both No. 1 and No. 2 coal-loaders since they were first installed. No. 2, the more modern, has a capacity

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of 20,000 tons in twenty-four hours; No. 1 's capacity is 10,000 tons in the same period of time.

"For several years the Lorain yards have been doing a large share of the freight car repair work of the Cleveland division of the Baltimore & Ohio. The shops have grown and increased in size many times since 1872. Today they are the largest shops assigned to freight-car work on the entire Baltimore & Ohio System."

THE LORAIN BOARD OF COMMERCE

The Lorain Board of Commerce, with organizations of a kindred nature of an earlier date, has accomplished much toward the commercial and industrial development of Lorain. The present body is the result of a merger of the old chamber of commerce, founded in 1883, and the board of trade, organized in 1899; the consolidation occurred in 1908 under the name of the Lorain Board of Commerce. The details which led to these three steps toward development are as follows:

On the afternoon of July 28, 1883, eight men met in the directors' room of the old First. National Bank to organize the Lorain Board of Public Improvement. The eight citizens were Theodore F. Daniels, founder of the bank in which the meeting was held ; E. M. Pierce, Lorain agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad ; David Wallace, vessel owner ; John Stang, marine contractor ; C. J. Hills, secretary of the Lorain Brass Works; G. J. Clark, a leading attorney ; Frank M. Whiteman, a merchant ; and F. A. Rowley, owner and editor of the Lorain Times.

Mr. Clark was instructed to draft articles of incorporation, and three days later a charter was issued by State Secretary James W. Newman. The name of the organization, meanwhile, had been changed to "The Chamber of Commerce, of Lorain, Ohio." The incorporators were Messrs. Whiteman, Rowley, Hills, Pierce and Daniels.

At the first business meeting on September 20th, a board of directors comprising Messrs. Hills, Daniels, Whiteman, Pierce and Clark was elected. The directorate, at its first session, named the first officers : President, T. F. Daniels; vice president, E. M. Pierce ; secretary, F. A. Rowley ; treasurer, C. J. Hills.

For eight years the chamber of commerce waged its campaign for public improvement, handicapped by a lagging public interest. The official personnel changed, but no records remain of the organization's affairs.

Then in 1891 new interest was awakened. On April 15th, of that year, a reorganization meeting was held in the office of Mayor W. B.

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Thompson. Committees were named to draft new incorporation articles and frame a new constitution and by-laws. On April 25th a new charter was issued by the state to incorporators James B. Hoge, H. J. Barrows, E. M. Pierce, Otto Braun and James Reid. Twenty-five members signed the new enrollment.

A new board of directors, including W. B. Thompson, E. M. Pierce, James B. ,Hoge, W. A. Jewett, H. J. Barrows, Otto Braun and T. F. Daniels was elected, and the directors, in turn, elected as officers: President, W. B. Thompson ; vice president, Otto Braun ; secretary, James B. Hoge ; treasurer, W. A. Jewett.

At the next regular election, E. M. Pierce was chosen to succeed President Thompson. President Pierce was succeeded by Max Morehouse, who resigned, and whose unexpired term was filled by the election of John Stang as president.

Then followed a period of several years, of which no record or minutes remain. The year 1899 brought a second re-organization. At a meeting in the-council chamber in the Wagner Building on May 5th, of that year, the following directorate was elected : E. M. Pierce, F. A. Rowley, George L. Glitsch, O. P. Moon, S. L. Bowman, G. A. Wilder, E. X. Braun, W. A. Donaldson and N. B. Hurst.

The officers chosen were : President, E. M. Pierce ; first vice president, George L. Glitsch ; second vice president, O. P. Moon ; treasurer, E. A. Braun ; secretary, F. A. Rowley.

W. A. Donaldson was elected president on May 27, 1902, and between that time and 1908 served four terms, Mr. Pierce being re-elected for the term of 1906-07. The membership of the organization in 1906, according to the records, was forty-three.

The year 1908 brought the amalgamation of the chamber of commerce and the board of trade.

The latter organization was formed early in 1908, D. H. Aiken being its first and only president. At the time of the amalgamation, the board of trade enrolled about sixty members, the majority of whom. were South End merchants and professional men.

The meeting which combined the two bodies was held in the Wickens Building on. the evening of November 24, 1908. F. C. LaMarche, vice president of the chamber of commerce, acted as chairman. A resolution, creating an organization to be known as "The Lorain Board of Commerce," was adopted. It was formally agreed that members of the two organizations that were parties to the combination should be members, ex officio, of the new body.

W. N. Little was elected temporary president. On December 11th, of the same year, his election was made permanent. President Little's

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unflagging interest in the linked affairs of the board and of the city has been recognized by his re-election to the executive chair for every term since he took office in 1908, except for the period from July, 1911, to January, 1912. As a candidate for the mayoralty nomination, Mr. Little resigned the presidency and was succeeded by H. D. Baker, who resigned on October 18, 1911, and in turn was succeeded by C. R. Horn.

Mr. Little was re-elected in 1912-14 and George A. Clark in 1913. The present officers are : Lester A. Fauver, president ; D. J. Boon, first vice president ; G. W. 3lonasmith, secretary ; A. E. Cameron, treasurer.

SOURCE OF ARTIFICIAL LIGHT AND POWER

The Citizens Gas and Electric Light Company, with a large plant on East Twenty-first Street, is an outgrowth of the Lorain Gas Company, which was organized in October, 1899, with a capitalization of $300,000, and which purchased, at the time, the rival plants of the Wright Gas Company and the Lake Erie Electric Light Company. It is the source of light and power for Lorain, Elyria and considerable adjacent territory. The Lake Erie Electric Light Company was organized in 1891, especially to operate the national incandescent system and the Edison arc lamp.

TELEPHONE SERVICE

The complete and efficient telephone service of Lorain was inaugurated in the spring of 1894 by the organization of the Black River Telephone Company, with the following officers : J. B. Coffinberry, president ; Harry C. Burrell, vice president ; James B. Hoge, secretary and treasurer ; George L. Buell, manager, and C. G. Washburn, attorney. About 1902 the new building of the exchange was occupied. It was largely through the technical skill and long practical experience of Arthur W. Hoge, consulting engineer and contractor, that the local system was brought into such smooth working order. Mr. Hoge was associated with the engineering department of the Lorain steel plant during its constructive period, and previous to that period had been division engineer during the building of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railroad. E. M. Pierce, for a number of years president of the Black River Telephone Company, was also a strong force in its founding and development.

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THE LORAIN BANKS

Half a dozen banks, with average deposits of between $4,000,000 and $5,000,000, co-operate with the commerce, business and industries of Lorain, and thus uphold the substantial character of the place as one of the growing lake ports of the country.

THE CITY BANK

The oldest of the Lorain banks now in operation is conducted by the City Bank Company. In 1899 it was established as the City Bank, at Pearl Avenue and East Twenty-eighth Street, South Lorain—its present location.

NATIONAL BANK OF COMMERCE

Although the National Bank of Commerce dates its separate organization from January 10, 1900, it was, in a certain sense, the predecessor of the old Citizens Savings Bank, which commenced business under the name of the Bank of Lorain in October, 1880. The original mover in that enterprise was T. F. Daniels, cashier of the Citizens National Bank of Oberlin, who came to Lorain in 1879 to investigate the prospects of the awakened village at the mouth of Black River. He was so impressed that he returned to the college town, resigned his position as cashier, returned to Lorain, bought a fire-proof and burglar-proof safe, moved it into the front parlor of Mrs. Mary Reid's residence on 'Broadway and announced that the town's first bank was ready for business.

THE OLD BANK OF LORAIN

The Bank of Lorain was a success from the beginning, and in January, 1882, through the initiative and continuous exertions of Mr. Daniels, it was reorganized as the First National Bank, with a capital of $50,000 and authority to increase that sum to $300,000. W. A. Braman was elected president and T. F. Daniels cashier. The First National Bank of Lorain also threw Mrs. Reid's front parlor doors open to the public, although it broke ground for a building of its own at the corner of Broadway and Bank Street. In December, 1882. the new building was ready for occupancy. Business increased. There also was a growing demand in the community for loans on mortgages, which the bank could not meet under its National charter. In March,

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1893, the institution was reorganized as the Citizens Savings Bank, and was operated under that name until several years ago.

THE CITIZENS SAVINGS BANK REORGANIZED

In 1900, Charles Hahn, who had been vice president of the Citizens Savings Bank, E. A. Braun, who had served as its assistant cashier under T. F. Daniels, and others, organized the National Bank of Commerce. Mr. Hahn became president of the new institution; George L. Glitsch, vice president ; Mr. Braun, cashier, and A. R. Maddock, assistant cashier. The present officers are : Charles Hahn, president ; George L. Glitsch, vice president ; E. A. Braun, vice president ; A. R. Maddock cashier. The capital stock of the National Bank of Commerce is $100,000, surplus and undivided profits over $24,000, and average deposits, about $1,300,000.

CLEVELAND TRUST COMPANY, LORAIN BRANCH

In May, 1905, the Cleveland Trust Company took over the old Lorain Savings & Banking Company, and reorganized its business as a branch of that corporation. The local manager is A. E. Cameron. His predecessors were A. V. Hageman and J. A. Purcell. The first location was in a small two-story building on the east side of Broadway north of Fourth Street. It afterward occupied the Majestic Building and still later its own financial home on Broadway and Fourth.

THE LORAIN SAVINGS & BANKING COMPANY

The Lorain Savings & Banking Company, which was thus absorbed by the Cleveland Trust Company, was organized in January, 1891, erected a building in the spring of that year, and commenced business in July. E. M. Pierce, president, Thomas Gawn. vice president, and James B. Hoge, cashier, were the mainstays of the institution which for fourteen years was so stanch a factor in the financial stability of Lorain. Messrs. Pierce and Hoge were also identified with the earlier activities of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railway Company.

THE CENTRAL BANKING COMPANY

In June, 1905, the Penfield Avenue Bank Company was organized, the business being conducted under that name until January, 1910, when it was assumed by the Central Bank Company, more generally

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known as the Central Bank. H. J. Barrows served as president for five years, when he was succeeded by the present incumbent, W. B. Thompson. Charles M. Braman, the first cashier, is now vice president, and B. A. Foskett has been promoted from assistant cashier to cashier. The first vice president is D. H. Aiken, who, with the others mentioned, assumed office in January, 1914. The capital stock of the Central Bank Company is $50,000 ; surplus and undivided profits, $37,500, and average deposits, $750,000.

THE LORAIN BANKING COMPANY

The Lorain Banking Company is one of the solid institutions of the city, and is officered as follows : R. Thew, president ; Orville Root, first vice president ; B. G. Nichols, second vice president ; C. M. Irish, secretary and treasurer. The capital stock is $125,000 ; surplus and undivided profits, $15,500 ; deposits, about $550,000.

THE GEORGE OROSZY BANKS

George Oroszy also operates two private banks, one in South Lorain.

CHAPTER XVII

CHURCHES OF LORAIN

OLDEST EXISTING CHURCH-THE METHODISTS AND LOT No. 205— " FATHER " BETTS AND THE PRESBYTERIANS-THE BAPTISTS HOLD EARLY SERVICES-THE PRESBYTERIANS "AT HOME "-METHODISTS ORGANIZE FIRST CHURCH-FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH-FIRST M. E. CHURCH-CHURCH OF CHRIST-ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH-TWENTIETH STREET METHODIST CHURCH-ST. JOHN'S EVANGELICAL, FIRST BAPTIST, UNITED BRETHREN AND SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES-EPISCOPAL CHURCHES-DELAWARE AVENUE AND GRACE M. E. CHURCHES—ST. JOSEPH'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH - CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY - HUNGARIAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES-OTHER SOUTH LORAIN CHURCHES-CHURCHES FORMED BY COLORED PEOPLE-THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST-JEWISH SYNAGOGUE-FIRST ENGLISH LUTHERAN - HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH - TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH.

Although the Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists are known to have held services as early as when Lorain was the little fishing settlement of Black River, or the infantile Village of Charleston, and the German-speaking settlers also organized in the struggling pioneer days of the place, it was not until the early '70s, when Lorain was generally acknowledged to be firmly rooted, that religionists of all denominations also commenced to organize with confidence in the future of their churches. A quarter of a century afterward, with the birth of modern industrialism at Lorain and the consequent expansion of its activities in every direction, including a large influx of workmen from abroad, the number of churches increased correspondingly. During that period fully a dozen substantial organizations were established, including three large Catholic churches.

OLDEST EXISTING CHURCH

The oldest existing church in Lorain is the Emanuel Evangelical. Its house of worship is on Reid Avenue, between Fifth and Sixth

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streets, and its pastor, Rev. C. J. Hollinger. The society began its missionary labors in Lorain during 1848, its first meeting being in a small chapel on the farm of Caspar Dute. The church was organized in 1851, with seven charter members, at which time services were being held in a log house on Oberlin Avenue. In 1855 a frame church was built on the corner of what is now Fourth Street and Hamilton Avenue, which was used as a place of worship until 1889, when the property now occupied was purchased and the brick edifice erected. The membership is about 175.

THE METHODISTS AND LOT No. 205

The Methodists appear to have held services at an early day and organized a class in 1856, but to have experienced quite a long period of inactivity prior to the early '70s, when they were revived as a mission and in 1875 organized as a church. In 1870 the Methodists had decided to build a new edifice and moved their old wooden meeting honk from their property on Washington Avenue just north of Erie, to Lot 205, and gave it to Charleston as a town hall. That lot had been public property since 1837. In the original plat of Charleston of that year, Lot No. 205 was marked Meeting House, and was to be donated to that body of Christians who should first erect thereon a house of worship of certain dimensions. Evidently none of the religious bodies of Charleston had been able to build a church of sufficient dimensions to claim the site.

"FATHER" BETTS AND THE PRESBYTERIANS

The First Congregational Church of Lorain antedates the Methodist as an independent local organization by about three years. Among its founders and its faithful workers for many years were the old banker, T. F. Daniels, and his good wife, both of whom moved to Florida in 1906 in a search for restored health. At the silver anniversary of the church, held July 25, 1897, Mr. Daniels read an interesting history of its progress to that time. He thus speaks of the early religious movements at Lorain : "It is difficult to ascertain just when an organized effort was made to establish a church here, although a Presbyterian church was organized at Elyria in a log schoolhouse, November 25, 1824, through the efforts of 'Father' Alfred II. Betts, who began preaching at Brownhelm in 1820 and was ordained in 1821, belonging to Huron Presbytery. 'Father' Betts labored all through this region, being personally known by a number here who are still living.

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THE BAPTISTS HOLD EARLY SERVICES

“There is an impression that the Baptists held services, and perhaps had an organization here, prior to the Presbyterians, but I can get no positive data thereon. They certainly had services, which were held for a time in the schoolhouse which stood on that part of the Lake Road a few rods west of Washington street, which is now all washed away ; for you will bear in mind that the business and residence thoroughfares not only through Black River, but between New York and Chicago, crossed the river by ferry near its mouth and on westward, where the waters of Lake Erie now roll. The Baptists also held services in the frame building—one of the first to be erected in Black River—which was afterward used as a church by the Presbyterians and Methodists, as a schoolhouse and a town hall, still later by this church, and now as a residence belonging to Mr. Moyses on Washington street near First avenue.

THE PRESBYTERIANS "AT HOME"

“In 1841 or 1842 the Presbyterians secured themselves a home through the generosity of. their members; notably, T. Baldwin and his wife. Sophia, sister of Conrad Reid, who owned the above mentioned frame building, then located on Lake street between Washington and the Elyria Road, and at one time occupied by Jacob Vetter as a residence and shoe shop. This they donated, in whole or in part, and it was moved on the property later known as the Methodist Church lot on Washington near Erie (or Main street, as it was then called). The lot was furnished by Mr. Baldwin, the Days, and Captain J. W. Randall, others out of town assisting in moving and remodeling the church. The bell came from the Wilcox boarding house, located south and west of Main street and the Elyria Road (corner of Broadway and Erie avenue).

METHODISTS ORGANIZE FIRST CHURCH

"Where the Presbyterians worshiped before, and how long they were organized, it is difficult to ascertain. They held services in Lorain for years, but finally, through the cessation of 'Father' Betts' labors, the church became feeble. The building was used as a schoolhouse until the spring of 1856, when the present Methodist church was organized by Revs. Hard and Griffin, as the result of a remarkable series of revival meetings conducted by them the preceding winter. There were ninety-nine persons who united at the time of organization.

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"The present German Evangelical Church of Reid and Bank streets, formerly located on Doane street, and even earlier worshiping in the log house of 'Grandma Brown,' corner of Doane and Washington streets, antedates the *Methodist organization by several years."

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

As already noted, in 1870 the Methodist people decided to build a new edifice and moved the wooden meeting house onto Lot 205, now occupied by the Congregational Church. It was formally turned over to the authorities as a town hall, the present building being then used as a schoolhouse. In the boom of 1872, incident to the building of the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley & Wheeling Railroad, there seemed to be room for another organization. "Father" A. D. Barber, then laboring at North Amherst, was solicited by A. R. Fitzgerald to visit this place and hold services ; which he did, and the present Congregational Church grew out of the effort and came into being in this same little meeting house, by council convened July 23, 1872.

The council which thus established the First Congregational Church was composed of Rev. A. D. Barber, J. W. Humphrey and H. S. Davis, of Amherst; Rev. Samuel Wolcott, D. D., of Cleveland, moderator ; Rev. F. D. Kelsey, scribe, and L. Rice, of Columbus, and Rev. S. Bryant, of Vermillion. Nine members were then received into the new church—Roland Osgood, Laura Osgood, Cassie Osgood, Ruby Prince, Elizabeth Peachy, Ann Gilmore, Elizabeth Brown and Margaret Cunningham. As the Methodists had released all claim to the building and the town authorities could not hold the lot for other than religious purposes, the indirect owners of the land cleared the title on Lot 205. The quit-claim deed was dated August 2, 1872, and signed by the Fitzgeralds and Gilmores, and in May, 1881, nearly three years after the completion of the present building, the city officials, through the mayor and clerk, gave their consent to the use of the site, as required by the original owners. Thus the title was completed.

Not long after its organization in 1872, through the efforts of Rev. A. D. Barber, the church secured the services of Arthur T. Reed, then a student at Oberlin College.

The second pastor was B. N. Chamberlain, ordained and installed by council. The third was Rev. J. B. Stocking. On March 13, 1876, action was taken to adopt plans drawn by E. C. Kinney for a new church, and to rent a lot in the rear of the church for five years onto which to move the old building.

On October 17, 1876, the cornerstone of the present building was

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laid, and the finished structure was dedicated November 13, 1878. The fourth pastor, Rev. Frank McConaughy, served from 1877 to 1884. The fifth pastor was Rev. Sidney Strong. The sixth was Rev. A. D. Barber, under whose leadership the church paid its debt and purchased the lot and one-half on which the parsonage stands.

The seventh pastor, Rev. F. P. Sanders, served from 1890 to 1892. During his pastorate the pipe organ was purchased. The church membership at that time was 241..

The eighth pastor was Rev. C. J. Dole, 1892 to 1895, and the ninth Rev. T. D. Philips, 1896. to 1899. During his pastorate the parsonage was built.

The tenth pastor was Rev. A. E. Thompson, 1899 to 1903. While Mr. Thompson served, the church was remodeled, a mortgage of $8,000 being placed on the church property, and the building was rededicated February 23, 1902. The eleventh pastor was Rev. H. D. Sheldon, 1903 to 1910. The longest pastorate in the history of the church. The twelfth pastor was Rev. A. R. Brown, 1910 to 1914. Rev. P. N. Bennett, who now occupies the pulpit, began work in March, 1914. The First Congregational Church has a present membership of 400.

FIRST M. E. CHURCH

In 1875 the First Methodist Episcopal Church was made a "station" under the Methodist plan, having a membership of eighty-six. Prior to that time, for a number of years, it had been part of a circuit, having the services of a pastor only part of the time. Rev. A. P. Jones was appointed pastor at that time. The first church building stood on the corner of Washington Avenue and West Erie Street.

In 1890 Rev. J. Frank Smith was appointed pastor and under his leadership a new site was purchased at the corner of Sixth Street and Reid Avenue, for $1,274, and the present building was erected at a total cost, including lots, of $20,481. A pipe organ was afterwards installed and other additions and improvements were made from time to time, greatly increasing the value and utility of the structure. The property is now valued at $30,000. The church also has a fine parsonage valued at $5,000, located at the corner of Reid Avenue and Seventh Street. Succeeding Mr. Smith as pastor were Rev. N. E. Davis and Rev. Josephus R. Jacob, the latter having been in charge since September, 1913.

The church at present (1915) has a membership of over 600 and the Sunday school an enrollment of nearly 500.

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CHURCH OF CHRIST

In 1874 W. S. Streator, president of the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley & Wheeling Railroad, sent W. A. Wire to Lorain to take charge of the yards of the company. It was through Mr. Wire's efforts that the Church of Christ was established on December 17, 1876. Among its charter members were Mrs. Wire, Mrs. S. D. Porter and V. H. Osgood. The first meetings were held in Edison's Hall on the corner afterward occupied by the Lorain Hardware Company. The first pastor of the church was Rev. Robert Moffett, and his successors have been Revs. C. G. Aldrich, J. E. Rhodes, L. A. Chapman, A. K. Adrock, Glen Warnock, V. G. Hostetter, W. E. Adams, T. D. Garver, F. M. Gibbs, J. J. Harris, M. J. Maxwell, William Downing, W. A. Wire, U. A. White, I,. J. McDonald, Garry L. Cook, A. C. Gray, W. S. Hayden, A. H. Jordan and N. Zulch. In the year 1878 the congregation purchased a site on Fifth Street and built a one-room chapel. That building was the home of the congregation for twenty-four years. In 1902 the little chapel was replaced by the substantial structure now' in use, which was erected at a cost of $10,000. The church has a membership of over 400.

ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

The oldest and the largest Roman Catholic Church in Lorain is St. Mary's. In 1873 Rev. L. Molon, of Elyria, first ministered to the few Catholics then residing at the mouth of the Black River. Until January, 1878, he visited Lorain monthly, saying mass in private families. The community's first resident priest was Rev. Joseph Romer, who came to the village in February, 1878, and for a time held services at the residence of Peter Miller. In March, 1879, a chapel on Reid Avenue near what is now Seventh Street, acquired through the efforts of Father Romer, was opened. The congregation at this time enrolled about thirty families.

In 1883 a larger church replaced the first little chapel. A year later the church was made self-supporting, and Rev. Joseph Eyler became the resident pastor.

The Sisters of St. Francis took charge of the church school in 1888, and late in the same year the present two-story brick school building was erected at a cost of $10,000. On June 5, 1895, the frame church was destroyed by fire and a year later the handsome edifice at present occupied by the church was completed, the building representing an outlay of $35,000. The church was dedicated on Sunday, May 23, 1897, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Horstman.

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Since the coming of the present pastor, Rev. J. J. Johnston. a rectory, costing about $23,000, has been erected. The church's real property now includes six lots, embracing the entire block on the west side of Reid Avenue between Seventh and Eighth streets, the church, school and rectory buildings. The total value of the property exceeds $200,000. The church has a membership of 1,600. The Sunday school enrollment is :300 and that of the parochial school more than 300.

TWENTIETH STREET METHODIST CHURCH

The second organization of the Lorain Methodists, the Twentieth Street M. E. Church, was founded by Rev. John Wilson in 1879. It is an offshoot of the First M. E. Church, of which Mr. Wilson was at the time pastor. Meetings were at first. held in a little chapel at Reid Avenue and Seventeenth Street. There were forty-nine members. Rev. F. E. Baker was the first pastor and was succeeded by Rev. Milo Kelser.

The present. church edifice at Reid Avenue and Twentieth Street was erected in 1899. Until the street names were changed several years ago the church was known as the Kent Street M. E. Church.

The successors of Mr. Kelser were Revs. John M. Baxter and Joseph Kinney, the latter, now in service, assuming the pastorate in October,. 1914. The church has a membership of about 323 and the Sunday school a somewhat larger enrollment.

ST. JOHN'S EVANGELICAL CHURCH

St. John's Evangelical Church, now more than a quarter of a century old, was organized May 9, 1880, with sixteen charter members. These were Conrad Wiegand, Conrad Hagdman, John Ruger, John Aschenbach, August Nahorn, Adam Braun, Carl Roeder, Carl Heinrich, Ernst Becker, Henry Steinhauer, Henry Nobele, Catharine Reid, Catherine Pratsch, Mathilda Reichard and Gust Zellmer.

Services were held by Rev. John Vontobel of Amherst, first in Edison's hall and later in the First Congregational Church.

The first house of worship (the little frame church still used as a house of worship by the Second M. E. Church) was erected at Reid Avenue and Seventh Street. Mr. Vontobel was succeeded by Rev. W. A. Walter, who came from Amherst every other Sunday and held preaching services.

Rev. John Bischoff was the first resident minister. He came here in 1885 and remained for ten years. During his pastorate the first parsonage was erected on Reid Avenue. Mr. Bischoff was succeeded by

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Rev. C. W. Loher, now of Baltimore, Maryland, in 1895. During his pastorate the present brick church at Reid Avenue and Seventh Street was erected. Mr. Loher resigned in 1898 and was succeeded on September 11th of the same year by Rev. W. L. Bretz, who continued as pastor for some seventeen years. During his pastorate the church developed into an organization of some 600 communicants, with a flourishing Sunday school and other large auxiliaries. Services are conducted in both German and English.

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

The First Baptist Church was organized May 14, 1882, with seven members. Miss Laura Young is the only charter member residing in Lorain. On July 9, 1882, the congregation moved from the north end of the city to a building at the south end. The Buck Building was sold and meetings were then held at the home of Mrs. E. J. Nichols on Livingston Avenue. On September 27, 1882, William A. Braman & Company donated two lots and a church building was erected on the corner of Woodland Avenue and Forest Street, now Reid Avenue and Eighteenth Street. Services were held for the first time in the new church by Rev. P. S. Moxom on July 10, 1883.

Rev. C. C. Green, the first resident pastor, came to Lorain May 24, 1883. He remained until September, 1884, and was succeeded by Rev. F. Hodder. Other ministers who filled the pulpit were Revs. S. Early, F. H. Young, A. W. Stone, A. Cooper, C. S. Collins, J. L. Cook, H. William Pilot, E. C. Shumaker and W. Waldemar W. Argow. The last named has occupied the pulpit since May, 1914. The present membership of the church is over 200. A new building is being planned for the near future.

THE UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH

The United Brethren Church is also one of the old religious organizations of Lorain, as age goes in that comparatively young town. On January 6, 1895, it was organized by twelve charter members. Services were first conducted in a rented chapel on West Twenty-first Street until June 7, 1903, when the edifice now in use was completed at Twenty-first. Street and Reid Avenue. Among its pastors have been Revs. D. J. Good, Frank Tyler and T. J. Robey. Its membership is about 200.

SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Under the trees of a grove in the Steel Plant District location, and through the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Day with other co-workers,

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there was organized on Sunday, June 2, 1892, a Congregational Sunday school which was soon to enroll 300 pupils. By August a chapel had been erected. The chapel now forms the south wing of the Second Congregational Church on East Thirty-first Street, formerly Thirteenth Avenue.

On September 8, 1895, Rev. J. A. Seibert began work as the pastor of the church. A temporary organization was effected in February, 1896, and the regular church officers were elected. There were fourteen charter members. Soon after the above date the little band was reduced to six and discouragement settled over the congregation.

January 8, 1899, the first communion service was held in the little chapel. On January 2, 1899, the church was reorganized with thirty-one members. The next pastor was Rev. E. E. Scoville, who, in turn, was succeeded by Rev. Wm. A. Dietrich. He was followed by Revs. G. S. Brett, W. A. Elliott, Walter Spooner, Harry Janes and B. V. Tippett, the last named being the present pastor.

The first little chapel stood on borrowed land. The present church is on a site owned by the congregation. The building is the largest English Protestant. Church in the Steel Plant District, which is largely monopolized by Catholic bodies. The present church membership is 125.

EPISCOPAL CHURCHES

St. David's was the first Episcopal Church in Lorain, its organization dating from 1895. An edifice was erected on Pearl Avenue. Some four years afterward the 'Ladies' Guild of the Redeemer Mission was formed in the northern portion of the city, services being first held in the German Church. Archdeacon Brown presided. After a time services were discontinued for a. number of years, but in 1901 a reorganization was effected under the name of St. George's Mission, and Rev. T. E. Swan was appointed rector. In less than a year Mr. Swan died and was succeeded on March 9, 1902, by Rev. W. S. Llewellyn Romily. At the annual meeting, in May, 1904, it was resolved to call the church by its original name, " The Church of the Redeemer."

Earnest effort on the part of the members of the church materialized in an individual place of worship, the present handsome stone edifice at Reid Avenue and Seventh Street, the cornerstone for which was laid October 2, 1904.

In the rectorate Mr. Romily was succeeded by Rev. E. Heeley Moloney, whose successors were Revs. C. A. Dowell and E. F. Bigler, the latter officiating at both the Church of the Redeemer and St. David's.

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DELAWARE AVENUE M. E. CHURCH

On August 6, 1899, Gawn Avenue Mission Sunday school was organized by the board of the First M. E. Church. The pastor of the First Church was Rev. Albert VanCamp at that time, and he and Samuel Butler took charge of the school. The Sunday school sessions were held in the school building on old Fifth Street. During the year 1901 the late Thomas Gawn built a chapel on Delaware Avenue and presented it to the Gawn Avenue congregation.

In 1904 the church was organized with nineteen charter members. Rev. F. D. Stevic was the pastor. In 1906 the first chapel was sold and a larger church built at East Erie and Delaware avenues.

The last two pastors of Delaware Avenue M. E. Church have been Rev. G. W. Houk and Rev. J. H. Le Croix, the latter having served since September, 1913. The membership is nearly 160, and the Sunday school enrollment over 200.

GRACE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH

The Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, formerly known as the South Lorain M. E. Church, was organized at a called meeting of the Methodists of the south part of the city, on July 13, 1900. The congregation held its first meetings in the K. O. T. M. hall on East Twenty-ninth Street with Rev. Milo Kelser, assisted by Rev. E. R. Romig, as pastors. The congregation grew so rapidly that it was soon a ble to build a church edifice and on February 23, 1902, it moved into the present building on East Thirty-first Street. Unencumbered by debt, the institution plans to erect a parsonage within the near future. The present enrollment is 140, with a Sunday school of 175.

Pastors who have filled the pulpits since the first organization include Revs. E. S. Collier, H. D. Fleming, S. E. Sears, R. Balmer, W. B. Maughiman, J. F. Stewart and E. M. Hoagland. The last named is the present pastor, having assumed the pastorate in September, 1915.

ST. JOSEPH 'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

St. Joseph's parish was organized by Rev. Charles Reichlin, the present pastor, on January 5, 1896. The first service was held in the chapel of St. Joseph's Hospital. Four lots at the intersection of Reid Avenue and Eighteenth Street were purchased, and a church was erected. The present edifice was dedicated by Bishop Horstman, Sunday, May 9. 1897. The structure is a massive brick building with stone trimmings.

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A parish school was organized simultaneously with the parish. In January, 1896, two rooms were rented for the purpose and two Sisters of St. Francis were installed as teachers. Forty children were in attendance when the school was opened and before the end of June 100 pupils were enrolled. The parish now has about 125 families, a large Sunday school, and a beautiful new parish house, recently built. Rev. Charles Reichlin, who was sent here by Bishop Horstman when the church was organized, is still in charge.

CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

In 1895 Catholic Polish people began to settle in Lorain, where the docks and rolling mills gave the men employment. For nearly three years they attended mass at St. Mary's R. C. Church on Eighth Street. Rev. Adolph Swierezynski was sent to Lorain in January, 1898, to conduct services for the Polish speaking residents. He secured a room in St. Mary's School and had it fitted up as a place of worship.

Services were held every other Sunday. Rev. Chas. H. Ruskowski succeeded Father Swierezynski in June, 1898. The room at St. Mary's School was abandoned in October and the church was moved into the basement of St. Joseph's Church. In September, 1898, five lots were purchased at the corner of Lexington Avenue and Fifteenth Street to serve as a site for church, school and pastoral residence.

Another lot was bought in November, 1899. A two-story frame, combined church and school building, was finished in April, 1900, and was dedicated on September 9th of the same year. The edifice cost $10,000. In September, 1900, a parish school was opened with an attendance of sixty-five pupils, in charge of a lay teacher.

The church at the present time is in charge of Rev. A. A. Radecki. It has a membership of 460 families and a school enrollment of 285 pupils. The property is owned by the church and valued at $30,000.

HUNGARIAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES

The origin of St. Ladislaus Roman Catholic Magyar Church, which is one of the largest of the organizations supported by the foreign element in South Lorain, was St. Stephen's Sick Benevolent Society, founded by the Hungarians of that locality in 1898. A parish was founded by Rev. Charles Zoehm, pastor of St. Elizabeth Church, Cleveland, and his assistant, Rev. Joseph Szabo. Father Szabo became the first resident priest of the parish in 1904, and during his pastorate of seven years the church and parish house were erected at Wood Avenue

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and East Twenty-ninth Street. In 1910 he was succeeded by Rev. S. C. Soltez, whose charge comprises some 300 families.

In 1906 the Hungarians of South Lorain also organized a Greek Catholic Church (St. Michael) which, for several years, has been in charge of Rev. Basil Berecz.

OTHER SOUTH LORAIN CATHOLIC CHURCHES

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Parish was organized in 1905. The first pastor was Rev. Andrew Smerkar, who, in 1907, was transferred to a charge in Cleveland. In the fall of 1907 the church and rectory at present occupied were Purchased from St. John's Parish, which afterward built new parochial buildings on a site more suited to its purpose. The parochial property consists of six lots on East Thirty-first Street adjacent to the corner of Globe Avenue—a combination church and parochial school building and a rectory.

The parochial school connected with the parish is conducted by the Notre Dame Sisters, of Cleveland.

Rev. J. A. Stefanic, present pastor of the church, assumed his charge in March, 1908.

The Slavish settlers of Lorain in 1903 purchased 3 1/2 acres of land located at Twenty-fifth Street and Elyria Avenue. On this was erected the Holy Trinity Church, parochial school and pastor's rectory. The site, together with the buildings represented a total outlay of about $40,000. The first pastor was Rev. Joseph Avomek and Rev. Francis Zozelek assumed charge in February, 1908. The church has a membership of about 150 families. Its parochial school is under the supervision of the Franciscan Sisters.

In September, 1900, the cornerstone of St. John's Roman Catholic Church was laid on East Thirty-first Street, mass being celebrated for the first time in the following December.

CHURCHES FORMED BY COLORED PEOPLE

The Second Baptist and the Second M. E. churches (both formed by colored people) were organized in 1894. The African Methodist Episcopal Church (St. Mathews) was formed in 1905.

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The First. Presbyterian Church was organized by Dr. F. N. Riale and established by the Cleveland Presbytery October 25, 1900. Meetings

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were held in the parlors of the Y. M. C. A. until September 20, 1903, when the present church building was dedicated. W. A. Donaldson was the first elder. The church is the only one of its denomination in Lorain County. The membership roll lists 188 active and forty reserved or inactive. The present pastor, Rev. A. C. Thomson, began his ministry March 1, 1911.

THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, was organized in 1900. The membership has steadily increased. The church occupies rented quarters at Reid Avenue and Ninth Street.

JEWISH SYNAGOGUE

In 1900 the Jewish people in Lorain organized the Agudheh Achin congregation and erected a synagogue on Twelfth Street between Broadway and Reid Avenue. The congregation has a membership of about 125.

FIRST ENGLISH LUTHERAN

The First English Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized September 20, 1903, with twenty-three charter members. The first church services and Sunday school sessions were held in the- Pierce Block, Royal Arcanum rooms. A call was extended by the young congregation to Rev. N. J. Hadley to become its pastor, and he assumed charge October 1, 1903. He continued with the congregation from that date until December 31, 1912, when he resigned and was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. J. E. Shewell.

In the latter part of 1906 the congregation bought the present site of its church at the corner of Washington Avenue and Sixth Street. The society worships in a chapel at that location.

HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH

The Hungarian Reformed Church was organized in 1902 by Andrew S. Estenes, who was also its first elder. In the following year the congregation erected the church at Globe Avenue and East Thirty-first street, South Lorain. Rev. Bala Basso, the first pastor, was succeeded by Revs. Alexander Ludman and Stephan Virag. The church membership is about 200.

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TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH

Trinity Baptist Church represents rather a small organization of that denomination, organized in 1909 as the South Lorain Baptist Church, and there may be other modest, but faithful, religious bodies, which both space and lack of information must pass over without mention, but with good wishes.

CHAPTER XVIII

UPLIFTING FORCES

THE PRESS-THE BLACK RIVER COMMERCIAL-THE LORAIN MONITOR THE LORAIN TIMES-HERALD-THE LORAIN DAILY NEWS-THE POST -UPLIFTING SOCIETIES- LORAIN'S YOUNG MEN 'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION-WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION-THE SISTERHOOD OF LORAIN-SOCIAL SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION—LITERARY CLUBS-THE MAKING OF AMERICAN CITIZENS- MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS-FEDERATION OF WOMEN 'S SOCIETIES-THE ASSOCIATED CHARITIES ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL-LODGES AND FRATERNITIES.

The press of Lorain, despite the fact that since its birth about thirty-seven years ago it has experienced numerous changes and the usual run of retarding experiences, has been a strong force in the progress and uplift of the village and city. Undoubtedly, one reason why the newspaper field there has not been as encouraging to enterprising newspaper men and women as some other localities in Northern Ohio is because of the large foreign element in the local population. That, coupled with the fact that much of the wealth upon which the newspapers depend for their advertising patronage, is concentrated in a few large industries, tend rather to contract the field of operations. Under the circumstances, the publications which have been issued from the Lorain offices have been most creditable and helpful to the reading and the progressive elements of the community, which are already strong and constantly expanding.

THE BLACK RIVER COMMERCIAL

The initial number of the above-named newspaper, the father of the local press, was issued May 8, 1873, by H. A. Fisher, at Black River; which was the year before the incorporation of the settlement by that name as the Village of Charleston. The Commercial was a five-column quarto—terms, $1.50 a year. On the following 3d of July its form was changed to an eight-column folio, and on the 18th of September it was

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