In the 1820s mail was delivered to Sandusky by the
mail stage. Passengers, as well as the U.S. mail, were transported from
Sandusky to Norwalk, Mansfield, Mount Vernon and on to Columbus and then back
again. Of course, since Ohio was known as the Gateway State, many families traveled by horse and covered wagons through Ohio as they made
their way to the west. People who traveled to Sandusky could board a steamer to several different port cities along the Great Lakes.
Pioneer
Sandusky residents recognized the importance of railroad transportation, and
showed interest in railway lines being developed in Sandusky as early as 1826.
Ground was broken for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad in 1835; it began running from
Sandusky to Bellevue in 1838, with trains pulled by the Sandusky Locomotive, the first locomotive with a steam whistle. Rail transportation made it easier for people to travel longer distances, and enabled the shipping of products, which in turn boosted local economies.
In 1882 the first intra-city
transportation route was begun by Charles and William H. Gilcher. It was known
as the "herdic lines." Horse drawn passenger vehicles took people along three
different local routes. The first route operated from the West House downtown to the
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway depot on the south side of town. The second route traveled from
the West House to Oakland Cemetery. The third route was an east-west route from
the city’s waterworks to Tiffin and Mills Streets. The Sandusky Railway was the first street railway in Sandusky. It was
begun in 1883 by L.D. Alcott, and featured fourteen-passenger side-seat cars
that were pulled by two-horse teams. The route was double tracked, and went
from the West House to the depot on North Depot Street, and back to the West
House. You can see several people gathered around Sandusky’s first streetcar in
the picture below, taken in 1883 by W.A. Bishop.
J.O. Moss purchased the Sandusky Railway in 1885,
and organized more lines across the city. An article in the November 27, 1947 Twin Anniversary Edition of the Sandusky Register Star News, reported that the first electric streetcar
operated in Sandusky in 1889 from Scott Street to the Soldiers’ Home, and
linked with a spur track from Hayes Avenue. The Peoples Electric Railway Line
was built in 1890, with financial support mainly from Sandusky residents. The
charter of the Sandusky, Milan and Huron Electric Railway, later the
Sandusky, Milan and Norwalk Electric Railway, was applied for in 1892. The line
began operating in May of 1893 and connected with the local Sandusky lines.
Eventually all the local streetcar lines were
absorbed by the Lake Shore Electric Railway, which was replaced by bus service
in the late 1930s.
However, public transportation is once again
available to Sandusky residents as well as visitors to the area aboard the Sandusky Transit System, which operates
three lines in the immediate Sandusky area. Sandusky’s Amtrak station operates
out of the depot originally built for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern
Railroad. Several area boat lines also provide service to Cedar Point and the
Lake Erie Islands. You can read more about the history of transportation in
Sandusky, Ohio in the book Sandusky’s Yesterdays, by Charles E. Frohman.
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