Those Places Thursday - Carter-Villa on the Lake, Celina, OH

This postcard was in my father's collection, but I didn't know too much about it. The place is identified as Carter-Villa on the Lake in Celina, OH. In addition to cottages for rent, Carter-Villa had a large bait and tackle shop as well as a popular restaurant with views of the Grand Lake.

Thanks to the lively Facebook group called "You know you're from Mercer County when...", I was able to fill in a few more details. The restaurant is still there and operating under the name Docksides (actually Big Bamboos Dockside Grill). The proprietor was Tiny Maehlman in the 1960s and other owners included Carter, Hueber, Fred Culver and Sweeney owned it in the 1990s. Tiny and his wife lived on Fayette St. in Celina. Someone remembered power boat races there on July 4th or Labor Day weekends and always worried that the cottages might fall down since they were on pillars! Their breakfasts were quite popular and the restaurant was a destination for after church lunches. Thanks to all who answered my Facebook post. It was fun to find out a bit about one of my father's hangouts when he was growing up!