Willard is a little rougher than most small towns due to abandonment and a 1960's or 70's awning program. Fortunately though, from the amount of mexican restaurants and the visible population on the street, it appears that Willard has a growing hispanic population.

 

How many of these awnings can you count?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best keystones ever!!

 

!

 

 

I went to school with a guy from Williard. His dad worked at the railyard... apparently the only place to work there.

Is the place open?

 

It's about 13% Hispanic, so it's very high by Ohio standards (Ohio is only 2% Hispanic, and southern places like Dayton, Cincinnati, and Southeast Ohio are even less than that). There are lots of small towns in rural Northwest Ohio with very high percentages of Hispanics. Defiance and Fremont are other obvious examples.

 

That's the truth, Fremont seems to boom with all the migrants in the summer, I practically have to wrestle a spot at the laundromat.

 

Willard's an ok town, my aunt lived there for a while and it seemed pretty typical of the whole region.

Fortunately though, from the amount of mexican restaurants and the visible population on the street, it appears that Willard has a growing hispanic population.

 

It's about 13% Hispanic, so it's very high by Ohio standards (Ohio is only 2% Hispanic, and southern places like Dayton, Cincinnati, and Southeast Ohio are even less than that). There are lots of small towns in rural Northwest Ohio with very high percentages of Hispanics. Defiance and Fremont are other obvious examples.

 

and you're all low from my lorain, ohio standards!!!  :laugh:

 

 

Fortunately though, from the amount of mexican restaurants and the visible population on the street, it appears that Willard has a growing hispanic population.

 

It's about 13% Hispanic, so it's very high by Ohio standards (Ohio is only 2% Hispanic, and southern places like Dayton, Cincinnati, and Southeast Ohio are even less than that). There are lots of small towns in rural Northwest Ohio with very high percentages of Hispanics. Defiance and Fremont are other obvious examples.

 

and you're all low from my lorain, ohio standards!!! :laugh:

 

 

 

I was thinking the same thing.  Honey, Lorian is Ohio's PR ground zero!

^ and it's not like we slack on the mexicans and dominicans and you name it ethnics either papa.

 

whoops getting off topic. nice shots ink. i've been to willard a bit. it's rather "eh" or i guess never really make an impression architecturally. nice place tho.

 

^ sorry, but clearly you have no concept of lorain. it certainly is much more hispanic than that not only in the summer but all year round. when you show proof that you can beat at least 21% of the nw ohio town of your choice's population as hispanic get back to me cdawg.

 

also, while true it may be mostly pr, that does not mean few mexicans. hardly.

 

funny thing about this: from looking that up i recall learning back when i was a kid in school that it was more like 33% at the time -- & keep in mind lorain had like 20k more people living there then. so even with that high 21% hispanic number it seems it's really dropped from my formative experiences like you can't imagine.

 

Lorain vs. Toledo.  I knew it.

 

Anyway, Willard looks...well, I'll pray for it.

Is the Ben Franklin still open? I love those stores, and I've only seen them in small towns. I've never seen a single one in Toledo, but there are a lot in the rural and inland parts of Northwest Ohio. The closest ones are probably in Bowling Green and Swanton. They both have urban locations along the main streets. Very old school Midwest. It'd be great if the one in Willard is still open. It's great to have stores like that at the core of the town.

 

I don't believe it was, but I'm not completely certain.

Looks like a fella oughta be able to buy the whole thing cheap. Once he had it, though, what would he do with it?

bah. the majority of migrant workers are illegal so naturally they mostly stay in rural areas and move around so much it's not any more of an effect in any one place than county fair week.

 

 

I agree with C-dawg, it's a completely different type of machine here than it is in Lorain.

 

And the Migrant workers don't just stay out in the rural areas, they really have an affect on the in town businesses. I admit I shop at Goodwill, it seems to be their favorite store from what I've seen. Bars and restaurants too benefit a lot I bet.

 

On topic though, I remember when I used to spend the night there when I was really little, I actually thought it was just a different area of Fremont to give you the vibe of the town.

 

 

I went to school with a guy from Williard. His dad worked at the railyard... apparently the only place to work there.

 

I think they have a hospital in Willard, or at least they used to.

 

Nice pics! Is that "buddy Christ" in the picture of that house? (In case people don't know what I'm talking about, you would have to see the movie Dogma!)

Lorain vs. Toledo. I knew it.

 

Anyway, Willard looks...well, I'll pray for it.

 

This has nothing to do with Toledo. This is Defiance/Fremont/Willard versus Lorain. If YOU want to bring in Toledo, we can do that too.

 

I'm talking about forumer origins.

I've been to and driven through Willard numerous times.  It's a little rough and rundown but it isn't a total disaster. 

 

Some FYI stuff:

 

*Willard was originally named Chicago Junction (because of its location at the intersection of the railroads) and people actually confused it with the Windy City  :lol:

*Willard (back in its railroad hey-day) was rumored to be the Vaudeville capital of the state (lots of theatres)

*Willard is the headquarters of East of Chicago pizza, home to a large CSX railyard, and those little goldfish crackers are baked at the Pepperidge Farm factory

I had no idea they were the HQ of East of Chicago, I love their pizza but I seem to be the only one.

Home town of number 5, Charlie Frye.

 

The best quarterback ever to wear the Akron uniform.

 

GO ZIPS. 

:-)