A Wading Party at Bay Point

On October 1, 1916, a group of Sandusky residents had a picnic on the Sand Beach at Bay Point, in Ottawa County, Ohio. Below is a key which identifies the people in the picture.

Willard A. Bishop was a longtime Sandusky photographer. Phil Beery was a broker in Sandusky for over twenty years. Among the group were four sisters: Martha Anthony Brewer, Ida Anthony Woolsey, Jessie E. Anthony, and Minnie Sawyer, all daughters of pioneer Sandusky residents Mr. and Mrs. Lorenzo Dow Anthony. At the time of this gathering the Sandusky Bay Bridge had not yet been built, so it is likely that the group traveled from Sandusky to Bay Point aboard a steamer. Ferries traveled back and forth between Sandusky and Bay Point, where a rail connection to Toledo was available.

1940s Era Art Show at Jackson Junior High School

In the Schools Collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center are several photographs taken at an Art Show held at Jackson Junior High School, probably during the 1940s.  Below are elementary Sandusky school students next to their art projects.

A pottery demonstration was one of the features of the show.

  

The gymnasium of Jackson Junior High was filled with interested parents, teachers and community members.

      

These students seem to be enjoying the Art Show.

Sandusky High School Dedicated in 1957

The new Sandusky High School was considered “a dream come true” when it was dedicated on October 22, 1957. According to Superintendent of Schools, Carl L. Mackey, an eighteen acre plot of land at the corner of Hayes and Perkins Avenues was purchased for $13,000 in 1946, following a study by the Bureau of Educational Research of Ohio State University. The study had recommended that the school be built in close proximity to the stadium at Strobel Field.  In 1954 voters of Sandusky passed a bond issue of $3,740,000, to be used for the construction and equipping of a new Sandusky High School building.  School officials and Board of Education were pleased with the overwhelming approval of local residents for the exciting new project.

Architects for the new school were Mclaughlin and Keil from Lima, Ohio. Contractors included Knowlton Construction, Utilities Line Construction, J.F. Stephens Company and E.W. File and Son. Several local firms also worked on site development. Before the formal dedication of the school building on October 22, 1957, an estimated 20,000 people toured the new school in pre-dedication open house tours.

At the formal dedication, several flags were given to the school. Mayor Richard B. Fuller gave a civic testimonial. The dedication address was presented by Dr. Edward E. Holt, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Superintendent Mackey also spoke, and local clergy gave the invocation and benediction.  The program for the dedication included a message from Mr. Mackey in which he explained that the school was designed to the meet the educational needs of Sandusky's young people for many years to come. The new school provided for many new classes in science, business and English, and allowed for additional course offerings in Industrial Education. Each teacher had his or her own classroom, which eliminated the need for “traveling teachers” who had to move from room to room in the old school building. Several photographs of classrooms in the new Sandusky High School were included in the program.

In this page from the dedication program, entitled “Campus Looking East,” you can see the high school and the stadium:

The Sandusky Register published a special section in the October 22, 1957 issue to commemorate the dedication of the new Sandusky High School building. This feature included details about school leaders, the contractors for the project, and several pages of advertisements from businesses associated with the construction of the new school, as well as many local companies giving messages of congratulations on a job well done.

Baseball Dog!

Here he is, Baseball Dog!

We don't know anything certain about him, but we think he was the photographer's dog. He seems to have played multiple positions; he's a catcher for the team above.

And he was a multi-sport dog; here he is with the Huron Parks basketball team:

Dogs! Dogs! Dogs!

We all know that so many of us love our dogs, but we probably seldom think about our ancestor's dogs -- they loved their dogs, too! Here are a few images from the Sandusky Library's historical photograph collections showing dogs and the people who loved them.

Coming soon: Baseball Dog!

Ione Klenk Wiechel’s Book Plate Collection

Bookplates (aka Ex Libris) have been a popular method throughout history for book owners to create a personalized method of showing ownership of their books. The creative quality and informational value of many bookplates has inspired collectors and artists. 

Mrs. Ione Klenk Wiechel, a longtime member of the American Society of Bookplate Collectors and Designers, shared her hobby of collecting bookplates, calligraphy, and miniature books with the community through an exhibit at the Sandusky Area Cultural Center from November through December of 1979.

After her death Mrs. Wiechel’s bookplate collection was donated to the Sandusky Library. The collection features bookplates owned by individuals and businesses of Sandusky and Erie County. 

This bookplate once belonged to Judge Ebenezer Lane, former Common Pleas Judge and Judge of Supreme Court of Ohio:

Esther Sloane Curtis was the granddaughter of abolitionist and former Sandusky Mayor Rush Sloane:

Author and local historian, Charles E. Frohman, was a past president of the Ohio Historical Society. His bookplate reflects his many interests, including nautical history, the theater, and the history of Sandusky industry. Mr. Frohman’s bookplate was designed by Norman Lonz and Harold Zeitsheim.

Daisy A. Kugel was graduated from Sandusky High School in 1896. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in 1900, and graduated from Columbia University in 1909. From 1911 to 1927, Miss Kugel served as Director of Household Arts at University of Wisconsin-Stout.

There are several more bookplates in the holdings of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Ask for assistance at the Reference Services desk if you are interested in viewing Ione Klenk Wiechel’s bookplate collection.

Number Please

A promotional pamphlet entitled Number Please was distributed by the Sandusky Telephone Company about 1901. The phrase of course was a common expression used by operators of that time, and became recognized in popular culture; in volume 19 of the journal Telephony, for example, a brief article reported on a recent "dancing party" held  in 1910 for the employees of the Sandusky Telephone Company, where all of the musical numbers performed at the party were named for various terms related to using the telephone, including a waltz with the title Number Please. 

The booklet of the same name gave details about the newly remodeled offices of the company, then on the fourth floor of the Kingsbury Block in downtown Sandusky.

The Sandusky Telephone Company at that time claimed to render to its patrons “the highest efficiency in service and at the same time obtaining the greatest economy in operating and maintenance expense.” All subscribers had recently been given new telephones. Here are some examples of the telephones used by customers in the very early twentieth century:

The picture below from Number Please shows five operators handling a total of 1000 telephone lines.

The cable tower was made of steel, and was capable of withstanding immense strain. Twelve 100-pair cables led from the main telephone office to various points throughout Sandusky.

Historical data on page 21 of the pamphlet states that the Sandusky Telephone Company incorporated early in 1895, with 299 telephones in service. At that time, there were only two rooms for the exchange and office. The new telephone offices in 1901 occupied ten rooms and basement. In 1916 the Sandusky Telephone Company was re-organized into the Sandusky Home Telephone Company. In 1922  that company merged with Ohio Bell. In today’s world of wireless communication and smartphones, it is easy to forget that telephone service was so different in the early 1900s. 

Today's Google Doodle and Its Connection to Sandusky

Today's Google Doodle, on the Google search page, commemorates the 156th anniversary of the birth of Norwegian explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen.

What does a Norwegian polar explorer have to do with Sandusky? You will find a clue on the lower left of the Doodle, below the drawing of Mr. Nansen. The image of an ancient viking ship is used to symbolize the ship that Nansen and his crew used on his explorations around Greenland and the polar region. The name of his ship was the Fram, which was the namesake for the first literary journal of Sandusky High School and later the high school yearbook. The English translation of fram is forward.

                                                                                                                                                                 

George W. Paine, Railroad Agent

George W. Paine was the freight agent for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, and its successor the New York Central, for almost fifty years. From the early 1880s until the family moved to California in 1922, Mr. and Mrs. George W. Paine lived in Sandusky, Ohio. Mr. Paine served as the organist for the Congregational Church, and Mrs. Paine was active in the Martha Pitkin Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. During the Civil War, he served in Company D of the 101^st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. When Fremont and other cities in northern Ohio were affected by severe flooding in March of 1913, Agent Paine worked with local officials and organizations to transport food, clothing and other supplies over the New York Central railroad lines at no cost.

       

Local citizens and community organizations gathered supplies in a room at the Hubbard building on Water Street. A special car from the New York Central Railroad took the supplies to Fremont on March 27, 1913. Sandusky’s Company B, Sixth Regiment of the Ohio National Guard was also ordered to duty to assist in providing aid to flood victims.

Friends and family met at the New York Central station in August, 1922 to see the Paine family off to their new home in California. George W. Paine died in California on March 3, 1926. He was long remembered for his many years of service and leadership during his long career with the railroad in Sandusky.

Good Samaritan Aid Society of Ebenezer Baptist Church

This picture of the Good Samaritan Aid Society, Number 117625, of the Ebenezer Baptist Church likely was taken in the 1930s or 1940s. The organization was made up of both men and women, all who worked together to aid those in need within the congregation and community. The group was organized in the 1920s. In the close up view below, you can see the banner for the organization.

In 1934, the people of Ebenezer Baptist organized another service club, known as the Busy Bee Missionary Circle. This group, made up mostly of senior women, worked to raise money for college scholarships and church repairs, and had prayer services for the sick. 

An article in the Sandusky Register of February 15, 1998, reported that Ebenezer Baptist Church was the third African-American church in Sandusky. The Second Baptist Church had been founded in 1849, and the St. Stephen A.M.E. Church was started in 1856. In the article, Rev. Rufus G.W. Sanders stated that “Churches are the center of the black community and black culture. It’s been the bridge between the Afro-American culture and the American culture.”  

Ebenezer Baptist Church celebrated its 90^th anniversary with a banquet at the Crystal Room in July of 2010. The church originally was on South Depot Street, but moved to 1215 Pierce Street in the 1970s. The Erie-Huron County C.A.C. and HeadStart Preschool is now located at the site of the former Ebenezer Baptist Church. 

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the churches of Sandusky and Erie County, Ohio in the Church Collections.