A part of the Tom Root collection of aerial photographs, this picture shows a view of the small unincorporated area of northwestern Erie County along the Sandusky Bay known as Bay Bridge. Clearly visible in the photo are the silos from the
Medusa Portland Cement Company. From 1892 until 1960, the Medusa Portland Cement Company employed many
area residents. The company, originally named the Sandusky Portland Cement Company, was founded by three brothers in 1892, Spencer, Arthur and William Newberry. The men were all sons of well known geologist
John Strong Newberry. Marl and clay, key components in the manufacturing in portland cement at that time, were widely available in the marshy land surrounding Bay Bridge.
In its first fifty years, Medusa expanded to eight facilities in five states. Medusa Portland Cement Company was a very profitable company in the early “baby boom” years following World War II, due an increase in demand for cement for use in the building of homes, businesses, and highways, but by 1960 the Bay Bridge plant of the Medusa Cement Company closed. Eventually Medusa was acquired by Southdown, Inc. While the busy days of the booming cement mill town are now a memory, the small village of Bay Bridge once had its own Post Office and store, to take care of the needs of the many employees who worked at Medusa.
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It seems to me that this area is more correctly identified as Bay View. That's how Google Earth identifies it.
Bay View, is a village is located at 41°28'7"N 82°49'37"W.
Bay Bridge is an unincorporated area just east of Bay View. Bay Bridge is close to the railroad bridge; along Barrett Road, and west of Medusa Marsh. See:
http://www.wcasohio.org/medusa_marsh.htm
Yes, that is definitely in Bay Bridge. I grew up in Bay View, just down the road in the 1980's and used to ride my bike past Cleman's Marina to explore the closed cement company. My grandfather, Edward Balduff, was a crane operator between the silos for a few years and I wanted to climb them to see the view of Sandusky Bay that he always talked about. And yes, although it was trespassing, the view was beautiful.
It seems to me a lot of kids who grew up in Bay View rode their bikes to this place to "take a look" at the old Medusa cement plant at one time or another. It was sort of a right of passage for most of the boys in Bay View to take a look at the cement plant at one time or another. Viewing Medusa was like taking a good long look back at what used to be for the community that once was, especially when accompanied by a boy who's grandfathers or great grandfather's worked there or built it.
What was the old German restaurant / bar near the plant called
My source tells me that the German restaurant was Heidi's. It looks like it was in business until around 1980.
I grew up in Bay View in the 80's at a time when kids explored their environment. I explored the silos of medusa cement, the tunnels beneath, and the very top of the silos along with the office on top of them. The silos had rusty ladders half bolted into the cement of them and you could climb from platform to platform. Many of us dared to shimmy the metal catwalks at the very top and go close enough to the ledge to peer over. The silos had holes in the top where you could drop a rock and wait the few seconds before it would hit the bottom. As a 42 year old adult with 3 children, two of them being 8 and 9, I feel anxiety that they would dare to do this today. The structural integrity was bad then, I can't imagine what it is now. The maze of tunnels beneath were filled with muskrat, water snakes, bats, and large bullfrog. Those were common to the area. After reading several articles, the clay that was used to make the cement may have been quarried along what is now Barret Road. The man-made ponds were most likely former quarries for Medusa Cement. According to my father and grandfather, the quarries were once trout farms. The ponds certainly held great fishing for a 12 year old on his own adventure.
The Medusa Cement company may have been dangerous, but held great adventure in its unprotected abandonment.
The facility is even more unstable since the suspected arson fire that occurred there in the late 90’s early 2000’s
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