Sunnyside Acres

Image courtesy Erie County Auditor Historical Maps

The Sunnyside Acres Subdivision is located in Sandusky, Ohio in an area south of Cleveland Road. Streets in the subdivision include Wamajo Drive, Knupke Street, Dixon Drive, and Judy Lane. Many of the homes in Sunnyside Acres were built by the Wamajo Development Corporation from Milan, Ohio. According to an article in the September 1, 1959 issue of the Sandusky Register, building officials with the City of Sandusky issued three building permits to the Wamajo Development Corporation. The homes were expected to be built for an estimated cost of $8000 each (about $70,000 today). By December of 1959, permits had been issued for the construction of twenty-five homes. Many more would be built as time went by. 

A park located within the boundaries of the Sunnyside Acres Subdivision was listed as “City Playfield” on this map from the Erie County Auditor’s historical map collection: 

When football great Orlando Pace gave his speech at the time of his induction into the NFL Football Hall of Fame, he stated that his dream started “when I was seven years old, playing in Sunnyside Park in Sandusky, Ohio.” That park is now Orlando Pace Park, on Wamajo Drive in Sandusky, named for Sandusky High School’s football legend. Below is a picture of the Junior Varsity Football team at Sandusky High School, when Orlando Pace wore number 75.