On June 28, 1924, a tornado swept over Lake Erie and made landfall in the city of Lorain, destroying hundreds of homes, churches and businesses in its path. Dozens of people were killed.
A century later, Lorain looks back to remember the victims of the tragedy and the resiliency of a city that chose to rebuild instead of giving up.
“What happened to this community then is still in our DNA today,” said Kaitlyn Donaldson, curator and senior collections manager at the Lorain Historical Society. “After this horrific tragedy, what Lorain did is they came together and rebuilt. They helped each other. Everyone became neighbors after the tornado.”
An international city
By the late 19th century, Lorain was a growing city. With the Johnson Steel Company opening in 1895 followed by the American Shipbuilding Company several years later, the manufacturing industries were drawing thousands to the lakeside neighborhoods, nearly quadrupling the population.
With around 37,000 people living in Lorain by 1924, the Downtown area was thriving, with the main street lined with businesses, shops and multiple movie theaters.
“Folks were coming from all over, not only the whole country, but all over the world for the industries we had here,” Donaldson said. “We were like a mosaic of a community. It was very fresh and new that we were this international community.”
Typical summer Saturday
June 28, 1924, began as any other Saturday in Lorain. Residents bustled about on Broadway running errands while others headed to Lakeview Park beach for a swim to escape the heat and humidity.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the skies darkened and the rain began. A lifeguard on the beach was the first to spot the funnel forming over the lake. He jumped from his post and ran up and down the shoreline to alert the crowd, according to “The 1924 Tornado in Lorain & Sandusky,” written by Betsy D'Annibale.
“It did actually hit in Sandusky first,” said Jadelynn Showalter, park manager for Lakeview Park. “It traveled over the lake, and then this was where it came back onto land.”
When the tornado reached the shore, it struck the Lakeview bathhouse, where many people ran for shelter.
“This was basically ground zero for the tornado in terms of the city of Lorain,” Showalter said. “It did totally destroy the building, except for these cement pillars that remain.”
The tornado continued moving east through the neighborhoods, causing damage to homes and churches over the span of 35 blocks in only a few minutes.
“Homes were lifted up and moved a few feet. Homes were twisted,” said the historical society’s Donaldson. “Homes were on their side. Homes were upside down.”
By the time the funnel reached Downtown, the matinee at the State Theatre had just let out.
“There were estimated to be about 1,000 people in the theater right before the tornado hit,” Donaldson said. “There were about 100 people left for the next showing, so that’s where 15 people died.”
A father’s story
Dennis Sadowski is a retired journalist, born and raised in Lorain. Both his maternal and paternal grandfathers came to Lorain from Poland, one getting a job at the steel mill and the other working at the shipbuilding yard.
Sadowski’s father, John, was born in 1915 and was nine years old when the tornado struck the city.
“Grandpa would give my dad a dime or 15 cents to go to the movies on Saturday afternoons,” Sadowski recalled.
And that’s exactly where the young John Sadowski was that day – at the State Theatre just as the matinee was ending.
“When the movie ended shortly before 5 p.m., he came out and he saw this big, black cloud just in the west,” Sadowski said. “He just started running away.”
Had his father stayed for the next show instead of running for shelter, Sadowski said, he would have still been in the State Theatre when the strong winds lifted the roof off the building next door and threw it onto the theater.
“He made it home safely, but it took hours before people could learn in Cleveland, for example, before they sent rescue crews,” Sadowski said. “Because we didn't have instant communications back then.”
Sadowski said his father, like many survivors of the storm, would become fearful anytime the skies would darken, signaling a thunderstorm forming over the horizon.
“I remember him taking us down a couple times at night, waking us up, he and my mom, to go to our basement,” Sadowski recalled. “He was always wary of thunderstorms because he knew what they could do.”
Commemorative events
The Lorain Historical Society along with Lorain County Metro Parks and several other community organizations have planned a series of events throughout the summer to commemorate the centennial of the tornado.
Guided walking tours, movie showings, youth programs and educational opportunities aim to both preserve and share the history of the tragic event that shaped the future of the city.
An exhibit of postcards and documentation from the tornado organized by Sadowski is also on view at the French Creek Nature Center.
“There's not any survivors left from the storm because they would all be very, very old,” Sadowski said. “But there's people like me who can tell the story. So, hopefully it will inspire another generation. We need to preserve that history, so we know where we came from.”
