Michel Brothers Cooperage

In 1880, August Michel began his career as a cooper in Sandusky, Ohio. Soon after he opened his own business, his brother Robert joined the venture. The Michel Brothers manufactured barrels and casks for wine, whiskey, and beer, and their products were especially known for being watertight. Originally on Townsend Street, the Michel Cooperage Company was incorporated in 1902. By 1905 the business took up an entire city block, bordered by Warren, Market, Perry and Washington Streets, as seen in the 1905 Sanborn Map below.

Both August and Robert Michel died in the year 1906, at which time August’s son George A. Michel took over the cooperage business. Three of George Michel’s brothers also worked in the family business.

In May of 1909 President Taft won a barrel of sauerkraut from an Elks’ Fair held in Sandusky. The barrel which held the sauerkraut was manufactured by the Michel Cooperage Company in Sandusky.

Karl Kurtz wrote in an article in the June 18, 1977 issue of the Sandusky Register that after Prohibition was enacted, Sandusky cooperage firms made barrels for bootleggers and home brewers, along with making containers for sauerkraut, lard, pickles, and other products.




The Michel Cooperage Company was severely damaged in the 1924 tornado, and the company closed soon after.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the historic businesses of Sandusky and Erie County. Books, county histories, photographs, and other documents can help you gain facts about those who have gone before us, and the places where they conducted business.