http://www.lkwdpl.org/lore/lore13.htm   
LAKEWOOD LORE

Freakish Explosion Strikes City in 1953 

Once upon a time, a mysterious underground explosion blew up three-quarters 
of a mile of West 117th Street on the Lakewood-Cleveland border ...  Well, 
it really happened. This--one of our community's most freakish disasters--
occurred at 5:15 p.m. on a warm, humid Thursday--Sept. 10, 1953 ...

The terrific blast,...  demolished the {W 117} street's pavement from Berea Road 
north to Lake Avenue. It played tiddlywinks with rush-hour cars ....A woman 
was killed, 64 persons were injured and at least 30 autos heavily damaged..

Water mains broke, flooding the area. Sidewalks disappeared and manhole 
covers sailed into the air to become havoc-wreaking missiles. Hundreds of 
home-goers witnessed the event. It looked like the aftermath of a World War II 
bombing. Some thought it was Armageddon. 

"One manhole cover flew 150 feet and crashed through the roof of our one-story 
pet hospital on West 117th," remembers Dr. Wallace E. Wendt, Lakewood 
veterinarian. ...

{The area}...suffered damages totaling at least $1.5 million... The cause was the 
subject of a running debate for many years. ...

At that time an investigative committee said: "It is most probable that either 
industrial wastes or gasoline leaking into the sewer, or these in combination, 
accounted for the magnitude and spread of the damage." 
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Notes added

Lakewood - West Cleveland when Nan was growing/ the Lower farm
Here's what Willie or Sandy recalls about a gas explosion in Cleveland, 
probably the 1953 event discussed in this article:  

Nan contacted the gas co. to warn them that there was another well in the area 
- on what was once the Lower farm, where she grew up - they did have gas on
 the farm way back then.  

From the Lakewood Lore site and www.lkwdpl.org/history/:  Gas was first 
discovered in 1883 and alot of drilling took place in the early 1900s [along Lake 
Erie near to what is now the Gold Coast area of Lakewood] in an area bounded 
by the Rocky River, W. 104th Street, and the Nickel Plate Road.  Lakewood wasn't 
established til the turn of the century and apparently the area didn't take off until 
1913 when the Detroit-Superior High Level Bridge was built . Henry Lower was dead 
14 yrs by then & alot of his property sold off - possibly the  bridgecaffected his 
remaining property or was built farther west(?)  The  Lower's farm (originally 
77.5 acres) included W 117 St  (which is just east of the eastern boundary of what 
became Lakewood; also W 112 and both sides off Lake Ave. But so far, I don't its 
full extent. Anyway,as late as 1965,  a Dr. Robert M. Stecher, who lived at 12962 
Lake Avenue, next to Winton Place, I'm told,  had a working well on his property, 
close to the bluff - that'd be about 1 mile west of W 117 St.
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At first, some thought that accumulations of oil and gas from abandoned wells 
in the neighborhood might have had a bearing. However, such seepage, if any, 
finally was adjudged by the committee to have "played no important role."    ...
[and others tought]...spilled chemicals from industry in the area had been a 
triggering factor. That, too, was discounted. 
                       
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This article by Dan Chabek appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post May 24, 1990. 
Reprinted with permission. With notes and emphasis added by Sally Hobson