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[02/04/18: It has come to my attention there has been some
confusion about these pages, but otherwise they have been useful to a number of
people. Therefore, I am placing this note at the top and allowing everything
else to stand as is. The photographer of the image above has been identified as
likely to have been Darla Darlington's father. That means this site has served
its purpose, and the Forum is now closed to comment. There was also no physical
book ever needed, as the website covered it all. Last I heard, Ray Ballenger was
working on a print book about the history of London, Ohio, and from what I have
seen of the photographs to be used it will be (or is) spectacular, so if you are
looking for something to hold in your hand, go bother Ray. I am sure you will
not be disappointed.]
Above is the quintessential photograph of historic London, Ohio.
If you have any information about this photo please put a
note in the [Oops, sorry, currently closed to comment]
Forum.
You will not have to sign in or provide any personal
information—just prove you are human by entering the Captcha text.
I probably should repeat that the image above is an "historic photo of
downtown London, Ohio," so Google may more likely get it in place at the
top of image
searches rather than only the first page of text returns... as it now does.
My name is Bob Fugett, and I searched the Internet for years
hoping to find a photo just like the one above.
Nothing can outdo this small Midwest American town
for energetic growth and prosperity.
The density of commerce and activity shown by this 1950's-60's
town photo equals
any small city street in the world and has striking similarities to
similar photos of even overcrowded third world countries or local community
streets in the boroughs of New York City at that time. Look at
it closely. Thickly distilled populous intensity: commerce piled
high into cascading overflow with top notch services and goods. Maybe you had to be there...
which I was. The photo above was found after more than five years searching the Internet and finding only photos barely hinting at the full
story of what that particular time and place meant.
This historic picture of main street London, Ohio is placed here in hopes somebody will come across it who can
name the photographer.
Also maybe somebody might know about the half-hidden cowboy
mural (seen in the alleyway at
midblock left) and the text shown on the side of the tall facade a little
further down.
Otherwise, I know a lot about the photo myself, because that
street is where I spent my youth.
I even remember the craftsperson you can see working under the Palm Grill
sign at far left: I rode my bike past him more than once.
Seemed like that renovation went on all summer, but it was
probably only a few days.
I was
also
very much aware of the tan Corvette convertible that
is revealed only by its back left quarter panel parked second car from left, as
well as the green 1959 Chevrolet Impala further down the block.
Due to the fact the '59 Chevy seems somewhat worn, this photo is
probably early 60's rather than the 1950's stated by one source.
My guess is the Corvette is a 1959, because I know it had dual
headlights, but not enough detail is shown here to be sure.
I was a perennial urchin on that block starting before the time I struggled
to jump with up stretched arm and barely touch the tip of my middle finger on the
lowest awning till
long past my having to duck my head to avoid hitting them all.
As far as I knew that block was just a combination skateboard
park, gymnastics floor, and bicycle criterium race course.
There were back alley telephone poles close enough to
gain access to buildings and provide plenty of sport climbing opportunity.
I assume the shopkeepers did not see it
quite
like that.
I have a slight memory of standing on the roof beside (and being chased away
from) the billboard text on the side of the tallest building (Ballenger's), but
I can neither read it now nor remember what it said then.
That skyline is mostly gone, so newer photos (nice as they are)
only reflect a sparse memory of what helped make that town such a hazy American dream.
With some online luck, I will get to hear about this photo from people who were
also there but old enough to have been more
aware of their surroundings than I—though still young enough to not be dead yet.
As an aside, it has come to my attention that despite the fact
this page continues to enjoy high ranking in Internet searches, there are a few
instances where that could be improved: old photograph main street london oh, would be
one, and historic london oh, would be another while london oh photo should
probably be addressed as well.
It is odd that london ohio needs support from a london oh as
well.
If I ever hoped to push through all the references to anything
London (U.S. or Britain didn't much matter), I had to push this page to the
edge of meta-jacking and chance getting bumped from search returns altogether.
In any case, maybe just one more "historic photo, London, Ohio" plus an "historic main street
London Ohio," together with a "London, Ohio photo," will help Google find somebody
for me before Eberle-Fisher passes them on
to Lukens.
Also if I do add a few more relevant words almost at random they will become de-facto
tags so: historical business downtown photo image historic main street London
Ohio.
I can always remove these once stable high ranking in search returns
have been achieved.
See how that works?
It got you here.
I am gathering information for another book which will use
events from this place and time shown in the image at the top of the page, but
would still like some confirmation about the facts, figures, and names of some
of the places.
Help me remember.
Read a little more about this on the page
about the author and book.
- Bob Fugett
Ok, some people have asked, so here is a link to that other book
I mentioned I am working on:
draft version.
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