Avon Lake

Twenty miles west of downtown Cleveland, in the northeast

corner of Lorain County, Avon Lake hugs five miles of Lake Erie

shoreline. Once part of a land called Xeuma by the Erie Indians and

later part of Tract Seven of the Western Reserve, the area was difficult

to tame, but forests became ships and swamps turned into fields. By

1900, the fields were mostly orchards and vineyards. The arrival of

the Lake Shore Electric Railway turned the scattered rural township

into a summertime resort destination, thus igniting a real estate boom.

By World War II , the LSE was no more, but plentiful, affordable, and

locally produced electricity and water made Avon Lake a good place

to make a living and a desirable place to reside. Fruehauf and B.F.

Goodrich arrived and stayed, followed by more industry, commerce,

suburban settlers, and commuters. Avon Lake became a city in 1960,

and today 24,000 residents call it home.