Early Sandusky History
At the entrance to Scott Park was a water fountain topped with a statue of Danaide. The fountain had several spigots at different levels so that man and beast could enjoy a refreshing sip of water.
In 1865,
Boy with the Boot
Voltaire Scott and his father, Jacob Scott, bought a two story frame hotel on the southwest corner of Water and
Wayne Streets. The hotel was originally known as the Steamboat Hotel, and was later known as Verandah Hotel. In the pioneer days of Sandusky, Water Street was the most northern street of the city. Sometimes the waves on Sandusky Bay were so high that they almost touched the entrance to the hotel. The old strap railroad ran right past the hotel. When Jacob Scott moved to Wisconsin in 1876, Voltaire Scott took over as proprietor of Scott’s American Hotel. An 1878 advertisement for the hotel stated that “Strangers and the public will find Scott’s American a pleasant home, every comfort and accommodation extended to all its patrons.”
Scott Park was chock full of features, including a tufa rock pedestal for the Boy with the Boot, electric lights, greenery and park benches.
Located at Wayne Street and Market Street, Scott Park was within view of Sandusky Bay.
Voltaire Scott established a park across the street from his hotel. In 1895, the ground was filled in to be level with Water Street on the south side. He erected a pedestal of tufa rock, planted grass, trees and shrubs, and laid sidewalks—all at his own expense, working under the supervision of the Park Superintendant. On the pedestal was placed the statue known as the Boy with the Leaking Boot, cast in New York City by J.W. Fiske Ironworks. Other small statues of dolphins and maidens were also installed, as well benches. A water fountain with tin cups was at the entrance to the park. In the evening hours, colored lights illuminated the park and fountain. The electricity was controlled by a switch in the hotel. Scott willed the park to the city, along with funds to maintain it. The park was damaged by the tornado in 1924, and the statues were placed in storage. In 1935 the park was leveled and made into a paved parking lot. That year, the “Boy with the Boot” was given a new home in Washington Park. After being damaged by vandals, the statue in Washington Park was replaced by an identical one made of bronze. The damaged statue was repaired, and is now on display at the City Hall building on Meigs street. The Boy with the Boot was placed on the national register of historic places in 1982.
In 1935, the Boy with the Boot was relocated to Washington Park, and has become a fixture in Sandusky’s beautiful park system.
Scott Park was level with Market Street and accessible by stairs from the other sides of the Park.
LEFT: In photographs, you can see a belfry on the Academy Building. A bell was installed in that tower around 1840, and was transferred to the new courthouse when it was under construction. This bell served as the city fire alarm until 1873, when a steam whistle was installed on the standpipe of the newly-built water works on Meigs Street. The bell was removed from the courthouse in 1936, and is now on exhibit at the Follett House Museum.
BELOW: A view of downtown Sandusky in 1895, showing Washington Park, the Kingsbury Block, and the Sloane House hotel.
Floral mounds can be reserved by groups, who often use them to commemorate special anniversaries or events. This early to mid-twentieth century example welcomed a fraternal organization to town.
Washington Park The Sandusky park system began with the founding of the city in 1818.
In the original plat, three public parks were established south of Jefferson Street: Miami Park, southwest of Poplar Street, bisected by Miami (now Central) Avenue; Columbus Park, at Columbus Avenue and Monroe Street; and Huron Park, along Huron Avenue, southeast of Elm Street. All three of these parks continue to serve the people today.
Washington Square of 1818 was quite different than today’s Washington Park, but like today, it served as a central gathering place for the community. In its earliest state, it was simply an open ground that served as a public common, where people – and animals – congregated and roamed. Around 1843, however, the squares on each side of Columbus Avenue were fenced in to keep out roaming animals. A roadway was created on the north side, which is now Washington Row. Further improvements were made in the next few decades, and by 1875, when a law was passed barring residents from allowing their livestock to roam freely through the city, the fences were removed from the park (except around the high school).
This region has long identified with the ‘Vacationland’ name.
The blocks dedicated to public buildings saw much construction over the years. In 1828, the Academy Building was among the first to go up on the square. Built as a schoolhouse, it was converted into the first Erie County Courthouse when the county was created in 1838. A new high school opened for students in 1869 on the east square, serving as the high school until 1957, when it became Adams Junior High. The present Erie County Courthouse was built on the west square in 1874, and was substantially remodeled in the 1930s. The beauty of Washington Park comes primarily from its horticulture and landscaping, the origin of which is often credited to William Dilger, perhaps Sandusky’s original horticulturalist. He was a landscape gardener, hired by the city to manage its parks and landscaping in the late nineteenth century, and led the way to making the parks a source of pride in Sandusky. Dilger designed Sandusky’s first floral clock around 1889, built an early bandstand in the park, and laid out walkways and flower gardens; he also supervised the planting of trees in the city, and designed the layout of the early Cedar Point park. Today, Washington Park mounds continue to honor community events and service organizations. With the floral mounds, the gazebo, and, since 1935, the Boy with the Boot, Washington Park has retained some of old Sandusky while maintaining its importance for the people of today.
A patriotic floral mound featuring an eagle and the United States flag.
In photographs you can see a belfry on the Academy Building. A bell was installed in that tower around 1840, and was transferred to the new courthouse when it was under construction. This bell served as the city fire alarm until 1873, when a steam whistle was installed on the standpipe of the newly-built water works on Meigs Street. The bell was removed from the courthouse in 1936, and is now on exhibit at the Follett House Museum.
The men of the Erie County Bar, seated in the Court of Common Pleas, below a hand painted fresco.
BELOW: Exterior of the Courthouse building, apparently while still under construction – note the unfinished lawn, with lumber and other construction debris in the scene, and a wooden shed visible outside of a main door.
Erie County Courthouses , Sandusky has served as Erie County s county seat since its inception in 1838,
A view of the Erie County Courthouse under renovation. Note the scaffolding and that the clock is not yet in place.
This view of the Courthouse dates from the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The beginnings of the park system are visible.
when the County was created primarily from what was the northern portion of Huron County. This first courthouse was in a stone building that was constructed in 1828 as a private academy, to be used as a school and for other educational purposes. It was not completely finished, however, until 1838, when the academy stockholders made it available to the County to serve as a temporary courthouse. The Academy Building, as it was often called, served as the county courthouse for almost 36 years, until the new courthouse was opened in December 1874 on the site of the present courthouse. The Academy Building was on the east side of the public square, nearly adjacent to the original high school building, which opened in 1869. Although its service ended in 1874, the building remained standing until 1886, when it was removed to provide more space for the school grounds. It must have been a very sturdy building, as news reports stated that the demolition crew had to resort to dynamiting the walls to bring them down. Since the original courthouse was intended to be only temporary, it is no surprise that a larger, more ornate courthouse was built across Columbus Avenue on the west public square. Formal plans for construction of a larger, more ornate courthouse on the public square began in 1872, and the cornerstone was laid in August 1872. The building officially opened for business in 1874. The ornate, Second Empire style courthouse on Washington Square served the county well for several decades, but by the 1930s proposals for a new courthouse arose, as it was thought that more room was needed for the existing courts. Initially, those who wanted to demolish and replace the Courthouse dominated the planning, but that soon changed when the possibility of federal aid for renovation arose. With the assistance of grants from the New Deal-era Public Works Administration, the courthouse was almost completely redesigned from 1935 to 1938 into the building as it appears today.
, Women s History After the trial concluded, the women of the jury gathered with the attorneys and the judge on the courthouse steps to commemorate the historic occasion with a photograph. In their hands they are holding the slips that entitled them to be paid for serving on the jury.
On August 26, 1920, an important first quietly took place at the Erie County Courthouse in Sandusky. Early that morning, the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was certified. That amendment read in part, “The right of citizens in the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” On August 18, 1920,
The First Female Jury in Erie County
When Erie County was officially created from portions of Huron and Ottawa Counties in 1836, Sandusky was selected as the county seat. One of the provisions for it being selected was that it promised to provide a county courthouse.
Tennessee was the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. Ohio had ratified the amendment on June 16, 1919. On the morning of August 26, 1920, at the Erie County Courthouse, Judge Roy Williams was to conduct the trial of Pennok Jeffries vs. the Pennsylvania Railroad for an automobile accident that occurred in 1919, when a train car struck Jeffries’ automobile. Ten men were summoned to serve on the jury, but nine offered excuses as to why they couldn’t serve. Having heard that the Nineteenth Amendment had been ratified, Judge Williams said, “I decided to impanel a woman jury. Twelve women were summoned. Twelve women responded and twelve women served.” The women were sworn in, the cases were stated, and cross examinations were made. When the statements were concluded, the judge gave the women of the jury their instructions and they retired to the jury room. They made their decision in four minutes and shortly returned to their seats in the jury box. They decided for the plaintiff, who was awarded $1500. After the trial was over, the judge congratulated the women for their service on the jury. Each of the twelve women were paid two dollars for serving on the jury. This was the first all female jury in Erie County, and one of the earliest in the United States. The women of the jury included Katherine H. Biller, Mary R. Boehmer, Sarah Cooke Sloane, Alice K. Hertlein, Alice D. Mack, Anna Sutton, Emma Broadbent, Sallie W.D. Neill, Mabel. L. Magill,
For the first few decades of Erie County’s existence, the courthouse was operated from a makeshift building. The building, built in the Second Empire Style, was completed in 1874.
Isles of Lake Erie
In the late nineteenth century, a local resident, Leroy Hinkey, acquired a series of fifteen hand-numbered photographs. For each image he created a meticulous hand-drawn diagram and key, which identified the landmarks pictured. The images, labeled “The Isles of Lake Erie,” were photographed circa 1876 by local photographer A.C. Platt, and were sold as a set.
Plate I - North End of COVE
Plate II - Draw Bridge & East End COVE
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Sandusky Water Works, under construction 1875-76, Meigs Street foot of Washington St. Molyneux Boat Livery Monk’s Ship Yard Hoe Shop – Sandusky Tool Works Sandusky Tool Works (est. 1869), employing 125 men Sandusky Took Works, finished stock and shipping building Sandusky Tool Works, lumber drying sheds
Ben Icsman – Hard Wood Lumber Mill Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad – Draw Bridge L. Zistel’s Bath House L. Zistel’s Dock Walk to Bath House Swinging Section Zistel’s Dock Walk Sandusky Water Works Intake Crib
Plate III - South End of COVE
Plate IV - Meigs St. Looking South
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
1.
Louis Zistel’s Atlantic Gardens – 48 Meigs St.
2. 3. 4. 5.
Zistel’s Aquarium Zistel’s Boat Livery Ben Icsman Residence Doerflinger Residence
8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
6. 7.
Marquart’s Ashery (Soap) Ice House
13. First Ward School (Sycamore) 14. Unknown
Iscman Hardwood Lumber Mill L. Zistel’s Boat Livery L. Zistel’s Aquarium L. Zistel’s Dock Walk to Bath House Ice House Ice House
Ice House French Gardens (DeLor) French Gardens (Reummele) Calvary Church – First and Meigs Davis’s Wine Cellar
Plate VI - Market & Perry St. B & O Loading Dock (upper right).
Plate VII - High School (center). Old Court House (lower right).
1.
1. 2.
Erie County Court House Sandusky High School
3. 4. 5.
Van Deusen House, E. Washington St. East Market School Grace Episcopal Church
6.
Edward Marsh Residence, E. Washington St.
2. 3.
B & O Railroad – Car Shop and Engine Shed – Depot. B & O Railroad Freight Warehouse B & O Railroad Grain Warehouse
4. 5. 6.
Unknown L.T. Johnson & Co. Lime Kiln Ryan & Johnson Dock and Warehouse
7.
Unknown
8. 9.
Ryan & Johnson Lumber Yard Arndt & Swanson – Mrg. white ash butter tubs 10. Unknown 11. B & O Railroad Coal Loading Dock 12. Coal Dock
7.
West and Hubbard Residence
8.
Evangelical (German) Ass’n Church. Rev. J. Honecker, Pastor.
Plate IX - N.W. Corner of Columbus Ave. & Washington Row
Plate X - Corner of Columbus Ave. & Adams St.
1. 2.
Post Office & Custom House SW cor. Columbus and Market Thorpe & Fosdick, cabinet and furniture mrg. Market St.
1. 2.
Protestant Emmanuel Church—NE corner Columbus and E. Adams, built 1866 First German Evangelical Reform Church—Hancock St., built 1853
3. 4. 5. 6.
Cooke Block Masonic Hall upstairs – NE Cor. Columbus and Market Eleutheros Cooke Residence –NW corner Washington Row and Columbus West House Hotel –SW corner Water and Columbus First National Bank – Columbus Ave.
3. 4. 5. 6.
Watson Hubbard residence—NW corner Wayne and Jefferson Augustus Moss residence—NE corner Wayne and Jefferson Jay O. Moss residence—Wayne St. Oran Follett residence—SE corner Wayne and Adams
7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
Second National Bank – Columbus Ave. Gallagher Building Reber Block—Water St. Kunzman Hotel—Water St. Carroll Block—NW corner Columbus and Market Fisher’s Hall—NE corner Water and Wayne Unknown
7. 8.
Lester Hubbard residence—SW corner Wayne and Adams Stiles Edward Hubbard residence—Adams St., later site of Christian Science Church and today the Emmanuel Temple Church. Olds Building later Lewis Ohly, razed 1913 and corner rebuilt.
Plate XI - Jefferson St. between Columbus Ave. & Jackson St.
1. 2. 3. 4.
St. Mary’s School—Jefferson St. St. Mary’s Chapel St. Mary’s Sisters Home—Decatur St., built 1887 Erie County Fair Grounds Grandstand—between Columbus Ave. and Hancock, south of Scott St.
5. 6.
Dr. Merz residence—SW corner Madison and Columbus, built by Peter Gilcher 1861 Epple’s Wood Yard—NW corner Jefferson and Columbus
9.
Plate XII - Jackson St. between Adams (lower right) and Jefferson St. Old Catholic Church (upper right)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church— SE corner Jefferson and Decatur St. St. Mary’s Catholic Church—Jefferson St. Erie County Jail—Jackson St., built 1842 Huntington Residence—SE corner Adams and Jackson Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Depot—N. Depot St. A.C. Platt Residence—corner Monroe St. and Maple Ave.
7. 8.
St. Mary Chapel—Jefferson St. St. Mary Parsonage—Jefferson St.
Plate XIV - Methodist Church corner of Central Ave. & Washington St.
Plate XV - Inersection of Adams, Central Ave. & Decatur St.
1. 2.
1. 2.
Foundation New St. Mary Catholic Church (1873)—NW corner Central and Jefferson Ames Feed Store—SW corner Decatur and Adams
3. 4. 5.
Adam and Geo. Feick—Contractors Central Ave. Latham Residence—SE corner Adams and Central Ave. Bert Whitney Home—NW corner Central Ave. and Adams
6. 7.
Joe Elsner—Books & Religious Articles J.L. Bonn Grocery—NE corner Adams and Decatur
Methodist Church—Washington St. near Central Ave. corner Wm. Townsend house—Washington St.
Early Aviation Pioneers At the turn of the twentieth century, a number of pioneers in early aviation spent time in Sandusky, working on engines, planes, and record-setting flights.
Tom Benoist
George J. Bing
Reinhardt Ausmus
Pioneer Aviator
Carriage Maker & Biplane Builder
Biplane Builder & U.S. Army Flight Instructor
Tom Benoist was an aviation pioneer in the early part of the twentieth century. He and his brother started an automobile supply shop in
George J. Bing was one of Sandusky’s most prominent businessmen. He had a carriage shop on Tiffin Avenue. He
Reinhardt Ausmus was born in Cleveland in 1896, and raised in an orphanage. Interested in aviation since childhood, in 1912,
1907 in Missouri. As time went by, the shop became a supplier of aviation parts. In 1909 Tom Benoist began manufacturing airplanes. He established the Benoist Flying School in Kinloch Park about 1911. Benoist began making hydroplanes in 1913,
outgrew his original shop, and constructed a large brick garage at 131 Tiffin Avenue, where he also sold and repaired automobiles. An article in the September 21, 1906 Sandusky Register reported
at age 16, he built and flew his first airplane. By age 18 he had built and flown a second airplane, a biplane. In 1915, he moved to Sandusky to work with another Sandusky aviation pioneer, Thomas Benoist. “Reiny,” as he was known to his friends, worked
using engines manufactured by the Roberts Motor Company. Benoist operated a flying school in Sandusky, as well.
that Bing’s shop was “modern in every respect.” Bing’s motto was, “Honesty is the best policy.”
as both a production assistant and flight instructor until Benoist’s tragic death in 1917. In 1918, during the First World War, Ausmus joined the U.S. Army as a flight instructor, and taught combat pilots in Wichita Falls, Texas for the duration of the war and after. He left active duty in the Army in 1919, after a plane crash that killed his passenger and nearly killed him; he received multiple broken bones, and suffered from the effects of the crash for many years.
Benoist founded a promising airplane factory in Sandusky, Ohio. In 1917 the factory was located on Columbus Avenue, near the Lake Shore railway tracks, and the testing grounds were at East Battery Park. In the fall of 1916, Elmer Straub flew a Benoist hydroplane over the housetops of Sandusky. An article in the June 2, 1917 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that during a huge parade, leaflets about the Liberty Loan plan were to be distributed by aviator Elmer Straub from a Benoist aircraft.
George J. Bing pushed his plane through the streets of Sandusky down to the frozen bay to try it out. The 1911 attempt at flight by Bing was unsuccessful.
At Christmastime, the Buckingham Street home of Reinhard Ausmus was decorated with a rooftop Santa in a plane. Tom Benoist with his plane at the Erie County Fairgrounds.
George J. Bing and his friends are pictured above with a biplane that George was towing to the frozen Sandusky Bay to test. Bing’s attempts to fly this plane failed.
A photo collage of aviation pioneer Reinhardt Ausmus, seen in the cockpits of some of the early airplanes he flew.
Record-Setting Flight On the afternoon of August 31, 1910, aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss established a record for flying over water when he landed his biplane on the beach at Cedar Point. He took off from Euclid Beach in Cleveland about an hour and fifteen minutes earlier, flying over Lake Erie, parallel to the shore. His return trip to Cleveland the next day added to his record. The event surely was the highlight of the summer for Sanduskians in 1910. Thousands flocked to see the flight at its take-off and landing points, with many more -- in Vermilion, Lorain, and elsewhere along the route -- positioning themselves on the shore, hoping to spot Curtiss and his flying machine in the air.
A crowd gathers on the Cedar Point beach to see pilot Glenn Curtiss attempt to set a record for flight over water.
The Sandusky Register offered regular preview reports in the days before the flight. Pictures of Curtiss and diagrams of his proposed flight were featured on the front pages. In one report, the paper noted that part of Curtiss’s inspiration for attempting the flight to Cedar Point was a prize of $15,000 offered by Cedar Point Manager George Boeckling, with a $5,000 bonus if the flight was completed in less than one hour. He was portrayed as enthusiastic, but not overly excited over his prospects, exuding an air of quiet confidence, with a businesslike demeanor. The people of Sandusky and Cleveland, it seems, were much more excited about the flight than the aviator himself was. The Register reported in detail about the preparations made in anticipation of Curtiss’s arrival: spotters were assigned along the route to telephone information about the airplane’s progress; boats to Cedar Point were to run as frequently as possible, to bring people from downtown Sandusky to the beach; the Eastland brought passengers from Cleveland, the Kirby, from Detroit; many businesses in Sandusky planned to close for the day, so that their employees may watch the arrival; men with megaphones were assigned to broadcast updates to the spectators on the beach.
Glenn Curtiss just moments before ending his record-setting flight at Cedar Point.
Curtiss’s plane shortly after landing at Cedar Point Beach.
Glenn Curtiss at the controls of his airplane after landing at Cedar Point on August 31, 1910. He wore a bicycle inner tube wrapped around his body as a flotation device.
On September 1, 1910, Glenn Curtiss flew home after his record-setting flight.
Unfortunately for those who gathered to witness the flight on Tuesday, August 30, there was disappointment, as the winds in Cleveland were too strong for Curtiss to fly. Some out-oftown spectators, of course, had to go back home, missing their opportunity to witness history. Success finally arrived the next day, Wednesday, August 31. In Sandusky, it was arranged that the fire whistle, at the Meigs Street Water Works, was to sound three times upon news of Curtiss’s departure from Cleveland (where it was said that 100,000 people watched his flight). It did so at around 1:15 that afternoon. The Register reported that “[t]he effect of the first toot was magical. Men grabbed their hats and started for the boat landing at the foot of Columbus Avenue. Women fell into line with them . . . They had but one idea in mind and that was to see Curtiss.” He was greeted on the beach by thousands of local spectators, and by Boeckling, who later that day gave a banquet in his honor. On the following afternoon, Glenn Curtiss returned to Cleveland the same way he came.
Preasy Spoon in front of a cottage at Kafralu Island.
In this photo dated April 1953, remnants of Kafralu Island are still visible toward the top of the picture, in a small piece of land just west of the Cedar Point Causeway bridge.
Kafralu Island
Now a part of the Cedar Point Causeway, a manmade island known as Kafralu Island was once a busy vacation spot in the east end of Sandusky Bay.
By 1920 Kafralu Island, Sandusky Bay’s manmade island, boasted several buildings and was abuzz with activity and visitors all summer long.
Louis E. Wagner, a Sandusky harness maker, ran into a sand bar while he was boating in Sandusky Bay. Beginning in 1911, Louis and his sons and friends began hauling logs and fill to build up the area around the sand bar. The Wagner family used small boats to accomplish the creation of the island, which took twenty-five years to complete. Louis Wagner named the island Kafralu Island, using the letters “Ka” and “Fra” and “Lu” from the names or nicknames of his wife and two sons, named Katherine, Frank and Louis. Mr. Wagner built a cottage that the family used for themselves, and eventually several other cottages were also built. Vacationers, hunters, and fishermen rented the cottages during the warm weather months.
A sign on one of the buildings declares “Comfort,” and a look at this 1920 image of Kafralu Island conveys just that. Fishing poles, a lush garden, a wooden swing and dog enjoying an afternoon boat ride indicate the slow and laid back pace of life on this manmade island.
An article in the July 12, 1929 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal ran an ad for a Fishing Party and Picnic Boat, also named Kafralu. Mr. Wagner must have been very enterprising to rent not only the cottages but also a fishing boat for use during one’s stay at Kafralu Island. In 1941 Louis E. Wagner passed away. It was difficult to rent the cottages during the war years, due to the rationing of gas for boats and cars. A fire destroyed several cottages in 1946, and eventually the property was sold to Cedar Point.
Lumber Industry Henry Howe wrote in his 1907 edition of Historical Collections of Ohio that four things come to mind in connection with Sandusky, Ohio: lumber, fish, lime and grapes. As early as 1840, there was a lumberyard in Sandusky. G. G. Nichols’ Sandusky of To-Day, published in 1888, gave the name of Conklin as the first person to run a lumberyard in Sandusky. It was located at the corner of Jackson and Water Streets. Mr. Conklin received his lumber from Port Huron, Michigan by ship. Most of the lumber handled in Sandusky was Michigan pine, which was sent by water from Saginaw, Alpena, Cheboygan and Oscoda. Once in Sandusky, it was processed and then left by ships in the early years, and later was shipped via the railroad.
Employees from an unidentified lumberyard prepare for their next job.
The Hubbard family had an interest in lumber in Sandusky for many years. In the early 1840s, Hubbard & Co. bought out Tucker & Daniels. Later, the business was known as Hubbard & Lester, and by 1888 was known as R. B. Hubbard & Son. The Hubbard planning mill was on the corner of Water and Fulton Streets, and the office was at 903 Water Street. The Hubbard yards covered three acres of ground.
Getting a load of lumber to a dock in Sandusky was only the beginning. Assembled on the deck of a lumber schooner, this crew is preparing to unload her cargo.
Sandusky of To-Day featured the businesses of R. B. Hubbard & Son, J. T. Johnson & Co., Hawes & Williams’ Lumberyard, Schoepfle & Sloane, and G. W. Icsman’s Lumberyard. Mr. Icsman secured oak from Erie, Sandusky, and Ottawa Counties, while obtaining his pine from Black River, Michigan. Gilcher & Schuck was another major lumber business in Sandusky.
A view from the Sandusky Bay docks’ lumber docks included thousands and thousands of feet of lumber waiting to be shipped to its next destination.
Harriet Taylor Upton wrote in her book History of the Western Reserve, that “During the open season of lake navigation Sandusky harbor is crowded with great vessels heavily laden with lumber… From it is made furniture, sashes, doors, blinds and various ornaments for the exterior of buildings. A large number of woodworkers in Sandusky are also engaged in the manufacture of casks, barrels, and other packages required by brewers and wine merchants.” Sandusky declined as a major city for lumber trade as the number of railroads increased. With more rail travel, lumber could be transported from a variety of locations.
Three men and two boys among the stacks of lumber at Hines Brothers lumberyard.
Photographed at the Hines Brothers lumberyard, this photograph was sentimentally labeled “a proud driver.”
LEFT: Feddersen-Smith Pastries was a local bakery that served the community for a number of years. RIGHT: The Smith Bakery was located at Tiffin and Pearl. The proprietor was Amandus Smith, who went on to found the H. and S. Modern Baking Company.
, New Year s Pretzel , The tradition of the New Year s Pretzel appears to date from the turn of the 20th century in Sandusky. As the city of Sandusky grew, it was home to a very large German population. Sandusky had German neighborhoods and even supported a German language newspaper or two. It was the strong influence of the German community that brought about a holiday tradition known to very few communities. The New Year’s Pretzel is different from the pretzels we know today. It is soft and made from an egg dough, and instead of being sprinkled with salt, it is washed with a glaze. The finished product is chewy. The pretzels were anywhere from 15 to 36 inches across and were made by a number of bakeries in Sandusky, including Becherer, Frank’s, Knoerle, Feddersen, Kanzler, Schweinfurth, Michel, Smith’s, Sandusky Baking, H & S, Park, and others.
H. and S. Modern Baking Company, located at 625 Hancock Street, was in business from about 1917 through the 1940s.
The pretzels are usually eaten for breakfast on New Year’s Day. Wilbert Ohlemacher recalled that his father would hang the pretzel by a ribbon from the gas chandelier over the dining room table. He would cut the ribbon and then cut the pretzel into smaller pieces for everyone in the family. When the custom was practiced in early Sandusky, the pretzels were often decorated with intricate braids made from the same dough. There are a few different theories about the origins of the German New Year’s Pretzel. One is that they were first baked by monks in Southern Germany as a reward for children who learned their prayers, thus they were shaped to represent the crossed arms of a child praying. Another story is that the circular shape of the symbolic loaf is derived from the old calendar sign for the winter solstice, which was a circle with a dot in its center. The central cross was added to represent the four seasons. Yet another story tells of German citizens parading through the streets with pretzels piled onto long sticks, and groups of people would go calling on friends and relatives and exchange pretzels instead of greetings. While the exact origin is unknown, the New Year’s Pretzel is fondly remembered by countless residents of Sandusky.
Local businessman J.A. Loeffler built this truck for the Sandusky Baking Company.
Arrow The sidewheel passenger boat “Arrow” was built in Wyandotte, Michigan in 1895. Her beam engine had originally been in the “Jay Cooke” and the “City of Sandusky.” Owned by the Sandusky and Islands Steamboat Company, she was known to thousands of Sanduskians. She gave Sunday excursions to Toledo and Friday trips to Cleveland during most of her years of service. On the night of October 14, 1922 she was destroyed by fire at her pier at Put-in-Bay. Towed back to Sandusky, she was rebuilt at the B & O pier and then operated out of Chicago in the middle twenties. For a time she was on the Chicago and Waukegan Line and then was idle on the North Branch of the Chicago River until 1932, when she was again damaged by fire. The engines were removed at Sturgeon Bay and the hull was used as a barge on Lake Erie. In 1938, she was towed through the New York Barge Canal to New York City where diesel engines and screw drive were installed. She was then a freighter on the East Coast, and during World War II she was a salvage ship off the Florida Coast, helping raise vessels sunk by German submarines. Later she carried fruit in the West Indies and was wrecked in 1948 near Honduras.
Ships of Sandusky Bay Frank E. Kirby The “Frank E. Kirby” was the best known ship of the Ashley & Dustin line. This trim sidewheeler was built in 1890 at Wyandotte and named for the renowned marine architect who designed her and many other of Detroit’s steamers. Her Fletcher beam engine was built in 1865 and had served in “John Sherman” and in “Alaska.” The “Frank E. Kirby’s” ability to sustain high speed on long runs earned her the title of “Flyer of the Lakes.” She ran from Detroit to Sandusky until the advent of the “Put-in-Bay” in 1911, then shared the route starting at this end. She carried tons of island fruit and grapes to Detroit. She was sold in 1921 and ran to Kingsville from Detroit. She was renamed “Silver Spray” in 1927 and then changed to “Dover.” She sailed from Erie to Port Dover, Ontario until 1929 when she was partially destroyed by fire at Ecorse, Michigan. Total destruction occurred June 23, 1932 at the same place. Her captain while on the last run was Walter Drickhammer of Sandusky. The Marine Superintendant was Captain Frank E. Hamilton of Kelleys Island.
On the night of October 14, 1922 she was destroyed by fire at her pier at Put-in-Bay.
The Frank E. Kirby.
Wm. P. Fessenden
Chippewa
The “Wm. P. Fessenden” was an iron sidewheeler built at Buffalo in 1884 for a U.S. Revenue Cutter. Originally she had paddles outside of the hull. Her beam engines came from the wooden “Fessenden” of 1866. For twenty-five years after 1884 the new vessel did regular patrol duty on Lake Erie and then she was altered into the passenger ship “Chippewa.”
In 1909 the “Wm. P. Fessenden” was completely altered topside to a fine appearing passenger ship for the Arnold Transit Company of St. Ignace and renamed the “Chippewa.” In 1910-11 she was lengthened at Manitowoc. She was in service between Mackinac and Sault Ste. Marie until 1923 when she was sold to Sandusky & Islands S.S. Company. For another fourteen years she ran excursions out of Sandusky and in the autumn months brought cargoes of grapes to Detroit. The year 1938 was her last in active service. With her decks and engines removed she served as a barge and then was scrapped at Hamilton, Ontario in 1942. Victor Brown and Walter Drickhammer were the captains of the “Chippewa.”
Standing, left to right: Alvin F. Weichel, John K. Schumacher, Chief Engineer Wm. Quick, Engineer Stanley Wires, Wheelsman Frank Schultz. Seated, left to right: Captain Ort Moore, Kelleys Island, Captain Harry Tyrie, Master, Toledo, and Steward William Guckert.
The Wm. P. Fessenden.
The Chippewa.
The Arrow at the foot of Columbus Ave.
Earlier Arrow There was an earlier vessel called the “Arrow” which was built in Trenton, Michigan in 1848 and was one of the earliest Detroit to Sandusky boats. She ran here from 1849 through 1852 and often carried escaping slaves on board. She was abandoned in 1865.
American Eagle
A. Wehrle, Jr.
Jay Cooke
The propeller “American Eagle” was launched August 21, 1880 at Monk’s Shipyard in Sandusky at the foot of Meigs Street. She
The “A. Wehrle Jr.,” a wooden sidewheeler passenger boat, was built by John Monk at the foot of Meigs Street in 1889 for the run
The “Jay Cooke,” a sidewheeler, was built in 1868 for the run from Detroit to Sandusky. She was named for the financier of the
was of wood and was owned by Wehrle of Middle Bass. She was used extensively in early and late season navigation to the islands when ice conditions precluded sidwheeler operations. She was
to Catawba and Marblehead docks to replace the “B.F. Ferris.” She was owned by Andrew Wehrle of Middle Bass.
Civil War who was born in Sandusky in 1821, a son of Eleutheros Cooke. Jay had a summer home on the Island of Gibraltar in Sandusky Bay, where he built a castle-like home in 1865.
fitted with steel plates for winter service and could break through ice ten to fifteen inches thick.
In 1891 she was sold to the Cedar Point Company to run with the
On May 18, 1882, her boiler blew up, killing six passengers and four of the crew. It was believed that she was racing the “Jay Cooke” and that her pressure relief valve was screwed down to permit her to carry a greater head of steam.
“R.B. Hayes,” which had been sold in 1911, after completion of the “G.A. Boeckling.” She ran on Lake Superior, was renamed the “Rotarian,” and served as a Duluth sightseeing boat. She
In 1881 the “Jay Cooke” was converted from a night boat to a day boat, and again re-built and renamed the “City of Sandusky.” The “Jay Cooke” was on the Detroit to Sandusky via Put-in-Bay route
was dismantled and sunk at Chicago in 1932.
in 1868 and remained there until she took over the Sandusky and Put-in-Bay route about 1880. She continued the route under the name “City of Sandusky” until 1894 when she became too old for service and was dismantled in Detroit and made into a barge. Her engine and wheels, plus many of her fittings, went into the “Arrow,” which was built in 1895.
The “American Eagle” had at least three rebuilds while here until her sale in 1901 to Toledo parties, where she was converted to a tug and burned in 1908. The last island run of the “American Eagle” was August 25, 1901, when the propeller “Lakeside,” with hull and decks heavily armored with steel, replaced her. Captain Fred J. Magle transferred to the new boat.
The A. Wehrle, Jr.
The Jay Cooke.
R.B. Hayes The American Eagle.
Olcott The “Olcott” (formerly the “Lakeside”) was owned and operated by the same people who owned the “Arrow.” She ran on the Putin-Bay route prior to and after the “Arrow” was laid up. In 1909, the “Lakeside” was chartered to operate between Cleveland and Port Stanley, but she returned to serve the islands during the winter of 1909-1910.
The “R.B. Hayes” was built in 1876 by the John Monk Shipyard in Sandusky. As a new boat she had no shelter deck forward. She was built to run from Sandusky to the fruit docks on the Bay and up to Plaster Bed and Fremont. In the spring, when the water was high in the Sandusky River, she would make a trip to Fremont—an exciting trip.
In 1911, the “R.B. Hayes” was sold to parties in Michigan and ran in Lake Superior. In 1915, she was traded for the “A. Wehrle, Jr.,” which went to Lake Superior in her place. She returned to her Cedar Point run, sharing the route with the “G.A. Boeckling.” She ran only a few more years, was dismantled in 1921-22, and went to pieces at the old ship bone-yard at Battery Park within a few yards of her launching place.
In 1882, she began running to Cedar Point. A year later the new bay pier was built by B.F. Dwelle and Captain William Slackford, and the “Hayes” used it for the first time on June 30, 1883. The dock has been changed many times but it is still in the same location.
In 1911, her name was changed to “Olcott” and she sailed out of Toronto, and thereafter to other points, returning to serve the islands during the fall and winter seasons until 1916-1917. In 1916 she was sold to the French government and was taken across the Atlantic after having been rebuilt as a tug at New York. Her name was changed to “Huron.” She never returned to the United States.
The R.B. Hayes.
The Olcott breaking ice.
The crew of the R.B. Hayes.
Ships of Sandusky Bay Portsmouth
Philo Parsons
The “Portsmouth” was built in 1853 in Buffalo and was owned by the Erie Railway, one of many “Railway Line Boats” that ran
The “Philo Parsons” was built in 1861 in Michigan. She was a sidewheeler with a wood hull and serviced the islands and
the length and breadth of the Lakes from 1850 and through the 1860s. They carried some passengers but their principal cargo was freight. The “Portsmouth” was wrecked in Lake Huron in
Canada. Walter O. Ashley was part owner and clerk.
1867.
In 1864 this was the boat which the Confederate conspirators captured in the Detroit River and forced to run to the mouth of Sandusky Bay in the futile hope of capturing the gunboat “Michigan” and freeing the Confederate prisoners of war at Johnson’s Island. The plot failed, and she was run back up the Detroit River and abandoned on the Canadian shore after her captors escaped. The “Philo Parsons” was the Detroit to Sandusky boat from 1863 to 1866. She later was on Lake Michigan and was a casualty of
The Portsmouth.
Island Queen The “Island Queen” was a wooden side-wheel freight and passenger boat built in 1854 at Kelleys Island by Daniel Dibble of Sandusky. She was built to run to Fremont, Sandusky, Catawba and the islands. In 1869 she went to Detroit and finally was wrecked at Grand Haven, Michigan on Lake Michigan in 1876. The “Island Queen” was involved in the Johnson’s Island Conspiracy on September 19, 1864. She was seized by the Confederate conspirators and scuttled on Chickenolee Reef off the south shore of Pelee Island. Later she was raised and made into a barge.
the great Chicago fire in 1871.
The Philo Parsons.
Young Reindeer
B.F. Ferris
The “Young Reindeer,” a wooden paddle passenger steamer, was built in Sandusky in 1870. During that year she began the first regular transporation to Cedar Point. She was billed as going nightly to the beer garden at 7 p.m. for 25 cents. About 1880 her port was Huron, Ohio and she was listed as a schooner, her rigging having been changed. In 1882, she was in Port Clinton, and two years later she was in Toledo. Her last listing was 1887.
Sidewheeler steamer “B.F. Ferris” was built by John Monk at the foot of Meigs Street in 1870. She ran to Port Clinton via Lakeside until she was replaced by “A. Wehrle, Jr.” in 1889. Her route also included Put-in-Bay. She burned at Caseville, Michigan, on July 25, 1891. Her engine was built by Klotz and Kromer, her boiler by Neil H. Moore. Benjamin Ferris was the junior partner of Barney and Ferris, Sandusky hardware merchants. William Freyensee of Sandusky was one of the original four owners, and Arthur Fox of North Bass Island and, later, Freyensee, were her captains.
The Young Reindeer. The B.F. Ferris.
The Island Queen.
To learn more, visit the Follett House Museum 404 Wayne Street, Sandusky, Ohio www.sanduskylib.org