The Early Days of the Boy with the Boot

In 1895 Sandusky hotel owner Voltaire Scott made improvements to the small park opposite his hotel, then located at the southwest corner of Water and Wayne Streets.  Mr. Scott paid for the park’s improvements himself, under the supervision of the city park superintendent. A statue of the Boy with the Boot was the focal point of the Scott’s Park. The statue had been cast by the J.W. Fiske ironworks in New York City. 

Other statues in the park included two dolphins that sprayed water and two females known as “Maids of the Mist.”  A drinking fountain at the park’s entrance was topped by a statue of a lady with an urn.

 

Scott’s Park was a favorite spot for picture taking by visitors to Sandusky as well as local residents.

    

The tornado of 1924 severely damaged Scott’s Park. In the 1930s, Scott Park was leveled, and the Boy with the Boot was moved to a fountain in Washington Park. After being vandalized in the early 1990s, the original Boy with the Boot was moved to Sandusky’s City Building, and a bronze replica was placed in the fountain. 

Here is a picture of the Boy with the Boot fountain in 1963:

The lady with the urn statue is now housed at the Follett House Museum, after having been repaired from the damage it incurred during the tornado:

    

You can read much more and Sandusky’s Boy with the Boot in Article 58 of From the Widow’s Walk, by Helen Hansen and Virginia Steinemann, as well as an article on the Sandusky Register website by Special Collections Librarian Ron Davidson.