When Cable TV Offices were in the Boeckling Building

From the early 1970s until 2000, the historic Boeckling building, at 105 West Shoreline Drive, was the home of cable TV in Sandusky. The business, originally known as North Central TV, Inc., later became Buckeye Cablevision, and now Buckeye Broadband. 

This building was constructed in 1928 to serve as the winter administrative offices of the Cedar Point Resort Company. It became known as the Boeckling Building, named after G.A. Boeckling, then the President and General Manager of the Cedar Point Resort Company. The Boeckling Building has Spanish features, with a red tile roof and arched windows. Aquatic symbols adorn the sides of the building which face east and south.

In recent years, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Office of Coastal Management has had its offices at this location. Future development plans are in the works for this grand building.

105 W. Shoreline Drive in 2015

To learn more about other historic buildings in Sandusky, see Treasure by the Bay: the Historic Architecture of Sandusky, Ohio (Bucknell University Press, 1989) by Ellie Damm.

At Home in Early Sandusky, by Helen Hansen

On April 15, 1975, James R. Brown, then managing editor of the Sandusky Register, presented a copy of the book At Home in Early Sandusky to Virginia Altstaetter, president of the Board of Trustees of the Sandusky Library. The book’s author Helen Hansen and Barbara Wendt looked on.

Mrs. Hansen autographed books at a reception at the Follett House on May 4, 1975, in commemoration of the book’s publication. The Register made a generous contribution in financing the publication costs, in memory of former Register publisher, Dudley A. White, who had supported the idea that the Follett House could be restored as a living memorial to Sandusky’s past. The Follett House was placed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks on December 31, 1974, and opened to the public as a museum in early July of 1976, the summer that the United States Bicentennial was celebrated.

At Home in Early Sandusky was based on a series of articles in the Sandusky Register by Helen Hansen in 1958 and 1959, known as “Stately Old Homes.” Mrs. Hansen provided historical details for over a hundred of the older homes in Sandusky, illustrated with photographs. The first article in the book was devoted to the Oran Follett House. In Article 12, she wrote about the Joseph M. Root home on Adams Street.

Joseph Root house, 231 E. Adams St.

An index in the back of the book lists the individuals and businesses mentioned in the book. All proceeds from the sale of At Home in Early Sandusky went to the restoration of the Follett House Museum.

Because of Helen Hansen’s devotion to local history, we can learn a great deal about the homes and people of Sandusky’s past. Mrs. Hansen and Virginia Steinemann co-authored two volumes of  From the Widow’s Walk: A View of Sandusky, with even more historical information about Sandusky and Erie County. Visit the Sandusky Library to view these informative local history books.

George T. Lehrer, Mayor of Sandusky

George T. Lehrer is seen at the far right above, in an undated photograph which shows a group of men at the back of a train car. He was born in 1863 to Rev. J.G. Lehrer, one of the earliest pastors of Zion Lutheran Church, and the former Susanna Kneb. 

For forty years, Mr. Lehrer was the owner of a drug store on Washington Street in Sandusky.

Besides being well known as a Sandusky businessman, Mr. Lehrer was prominent in Republican political circles. He was director of the Erie County Infirmary for several terms. In the fall of 1909, he was elected Mayor of Sandusky, defeating J.J. Molter, who had been mayor for four terms.

When Theodore Roosevelt was campaigning in Sandusky in 1912, as a member of the Bull Moose Party, Mayor Lehrer was seated on the platform, not far from the American flag.

During his first term as Mayor, Lehrer authorized the purchase of the first motorized fire equipment for the city of Sandusky. When Sandusky went to the Charter form of government, Mr. Lehrer was appointed City Manager. In 1918, he resigned his position, and was succeeded by George M. Zimmerman. 

On March 6, 1938, George T. Lehrer died at the age of 74, just weeks after he celebrated his Golden Anniversary with his wife, the former Elisa Schmidt. The final resting place of Mr. and Mrs. George T. Lehrer is Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

Madison School

Madison School was constructed at the intersection of West Madison and Lawrence Streets in Sandusky between 1938 and 1939 as a federal Public Works Administration Project during the Great Depression. A P.W.A. grant contributed 45 per cent of the funding of the new schooling. The new school replaced a previous Madison School building that was over 70 years old in 1938. Dr. Frank J. Prout was the superintendent of Sandusky City Schools when the Madison School project was begun, but by the time the new Madison School opened, Dr. Prout had become president of Bowling Green State University, and Karl Whinnery was the school superintendent.

Original Madison School, demolished in 1938

The new school, constructed in the English style, was designed by Sandusky architect Harold Parker. The old school was torn down by Strouse Wrecking Company of Castalia. The general contractor for the new Madison School was Petersen-Hiss. Other local contractors involved in the project included Brohl and Appell Plumbing and Heating and Diamond S Electric. There were eight classrooms in the new school as well as a stage and assembly room. Ohio artist George Dinckel painted a mural in the music room, which featured historical images of music throughout history. Gregorian monks, children in a choir, comic opera singers and a troubadour were included in the large painting.

A stage and piano were at the front of the assembly room in Madison School.

Several area businesses were sub-contractors in the construction of Madison School.

Numerous companies placed advertisements in the November 12, 1939 issue of the Sandusky Register to congratulate Sandusky City Schools on the opening of the new Madison School.

Former school superintendent Dr. Frank J. Prout and 1939 school superintendent Karl Whinnery both spoke at the dedicatory service and open house for Madison School held on November 12, 1939.

Madison School is no longer in use in the Sandusky City School system, since three new elementary schools were constructed during the “Building Better Dreams Facilities Project” undertaken in recent years. By reading about the Madison School project in the 1930s, we can see the ongoing dedication of community leaders to providing excellent educational facilities for Sandusky’s youth. The Madison School project also provided job opportunities for employees of local companies during the challenging times of the Great Depression

Thankful Cooke, Pioneer Resident

Thankful Parker Cooke (sometimes listed as Cook) was born in 1792 to Asaph Cook and his wife Thankful Parker, who were residents of Wallingford, New Haven County, in Connecticut. Asaph Cook served in the Revolutionary War. (The first name “Thankful” is an example of the early American practice of naming daughters with reference to terms of comfort and consolation, while males were often named after men from the Bible.) In 1818, the Asaph Cook family moved to an area known as “Four Corners” in Huron County, Ohio, close to what is now the intersection of Route 99 and Route 113, in North Monroeville. Today, this area is at the boundary between Erie and Huron Counties.

Thankful P. Cooke died in 1858 at the age of 66, and she was buried in the family lot in North Monroeville Cemetery. Her sister Sarah was the first wife of Moors Farwell, the first Mayor of Sandusky. Her brother, Eleutheros Cooke, was Sandusky’s first lawyer. Her nephew Jay Cooke was a major financier of the Civil War.

You can read genealogical details about the Cook/Cooke family in the book The History of Wallingford, Connecticut, written by Charles Stanley Henry Davis in 1870. A portion of page 684 can be viewed below.

To learn more about the early residents of Erie and Huron Counties, visit the Sandusky Library, where several local history books are housed.

Sandusky Recreation Center Opened in 1928

The Sandusky Recreation Center bowling alley opened on West Market Street in 1928. J.C. Feick was the builder for the new building, which was in the 400 block of West Market Street, next to the Ogontz Garage. An advertisement announced that the facility was open for public inspection on November 10 and 11, 1928.

Charles A. Bogert was the owner of the Sandusky Recreation Center. He also operated a gun store in Sandusky. Mr. Bogert was skilled in bowling and trapshooting, and he was known as a good football and basketball player in his high school days. Through the years, there were several different managers of the Sandusky Recreation Center. When it opened, Herman Martens managed the first floor of the Rec Center, and Frank Hegner was in charge of activities on the second floor. The twenty bowling alleys were built by Brunswick, Balke and Collender. In a modern innovation, soft drinks were kept chilled in a Frigidaire, instead of in an ice chest. There was a total of 360 lockers for bowlers, and each floor had a dressing room for the pin setters.

With the increasing popularity of bowling in the mid-twentieth century, in 1941, an ad from Holzaepfel Brothers let bowlers know that they could purchase their uniforms, bowling balls, and bowling shoes from their store.

The Sandusky Recreation Center was still popular in 1951. Their advertisement in the August 3, 1951 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News announced that bowling leagues were being organized.

Charles A. Bogert died in 1945. The Sandusky Recreation Center continued into the early 1950s. In 1967, Goodwill Industries acquired the property. Eventually Goodwill also purchased the property on the corner of West Market and Decatur Streets, where Ogontz Garage was in business for many years. When you drive down West Market Street, the building which once was known as the Sandusky Recreation Center is still visible.