The Sloane House Annex in 1969

The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center collections have several pictures of the Sloane House Annex from June of 1969. The Annex was a building on West Washington Row adjacent to the Sloane House hotel for several years. In 1949 the LaSalle store opened next door, on the site of the former Sloane House hotel. The Parkview Barber Shop and the Kubach and Buderer pharmacy were at the street level of the Sloane House Annex  in 1969. You can see a portion of the Beecher House on the left side of the picture below. In the 1960s, the Beecher House was the home of the American Legion. (The small structure between the Sloane House Annex and the Beecher House was unoccupied at the time this picture was taken.)

On the east wall of the building was a sign advertising free downtown parking. Note the classic Volkswagen beetle parked on the street. 

Today the Erie County building is at the corner of West Washington Row and Columbus Avenue, where the Sloane House hotel once stood. First Federal Savings-Lorain is at the site of the former Sloane House Annex, and two businesses are in operation at the Beecher House. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to see these and hundreds of other historic images of Sandusky and Erie County.

When There Was an Undertaking Business in the Beecher House

You might recognize the Beecher House as it looks today on Washington Row, surrounded by commercial buildings, next door to the Odd fellows building:

But when it was built around 1848 as the home of Lucas Beecher, that portion of Washington Row was was residential. 

After Mr. Beecher’s death, and the city's business district expanded, other individuals as well as businesses were located in this building. In 1890, W.A. Bishop's photographic studio was in the Beecher House. For a time, Dr. E. Gillard had an office there. In the late 1890s, an undertaking business was located in the house at 725 Washington Row (later the 200 block), also known as “Beecher Place.”

H.J. Breeze and Mr. Hole advertised their “exclusive undertaking and embalming” business in the Postal Guide which was distributed to local residents in Sandusky in the late 1890s. Breeze and Hole also provided free ambulance service to any part of Sandusky, and they could be reached by telephone at any hour of the day or night. An interesting article about H.J. Breeze appeared in newspapers all over the U.S. in 1898. He had a process in which he successfully embalmed pet dogs.

from https://archive.org/stream/Peoplesadvocate1898/Aug%201898#page/n7/mode/2up/search/breeze

It seems that a wealthy lady had two St. Bernard dogs, which she treasured. After the dogs attacked a messenger boy, the police said the dogs had to be put down. Mr. Breeze successfully embalmed the dogs, and after several weeks, they still appeared in good condition. They appeared to be dogs at rest.

The Beecher House

Built in the 1847, the building located in downtown Sandusky at 215 West Washington Row was originally the home of Lucas S. Beecher, an early Sandusky lawyer, and his family.

Helen Hansen wrote in At Home in Early Sandusky wrote that at the time it was built, the home sat on a large lot, with a coach house, barn, and garden. Lucas S. Beecher’s home was a “safe house” during the time of the Underground Railroad. The Gilcher brothers’ horse drawn herdic line carried passengers by the Beecher house on one of their three routes. Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Beecher lived here until their deaths in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Beecher’s heirs sold the house in 1900. The Beecher house has had several different owners throughout the years and was home to a variety of businesses. From 1932 until about 1977, the Commodore Denig Post No. 83, American Legion was located at 215 West Washington Row.

Other businesses which operated here include: the Central Union Telephone Company, Christian Science Reading Room, Irma Waldkircher’s Ladies Apparel, a physician, and a civil engineer. For many years in the 1980s and 1990s, 215 West Washington Street was a community room for a bank. The Beecher House continues to serve as home to several businesses in Sandusky. To read more about Lucas S. Beecher and the Beecher house, see Article 15 of Helen Hansen’s At Home in Early Sandusky.

A View of Washington Row in 1906

Pictured below is a portion of Washington Row around 1906. The Odd Fellows Hall was built in 1889, by members of Ogontz Lodge No. 66. Like other lodge halls of this era
the Lodge met upstairs, and businesses rented space on the ground floor. John J. Marquart’s Undertaking Business is seen at the left of the photograph. George J. Doerzbach and John F. Renner were dealers in Pianos, Organs, and Musical Merchandise. Each gentleman’s name was featured above separate windows.

To the east of Renner & Doerzbach, was the Central Union Telephone Company. A small bell is barely visible in the lower left window. The telephone company building had previously been the home of Lucas Beecher, a well known lawyer and abolitionist. This building has been identified as a station on the Underground Railroad. A “hair dressing parlor” was in operation on the floor level of the Sloane Hotel, immediately to the east of the telephone company.

Below is a page from the Sanborn Fire Maps containing the Washington Row block between Jackson Street and Columbus Avenue.
By gathering information from the Sanborn Maps, city directories, and local history books of the area, we can learn more about everyday life at the turn of the century in Sandusky, Ohio. The telephone was a relatively new device. Transportation modes included bicycles and the horse and buggy. The store selling pianos and organs lets us know that music was of cultural significance to community residents. A large hotel indicates that the city of Sandusky was frequented by out of town visitors.

Visit the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library to learn more about the people and businesses of Erie County. The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and Heritage Quest are two of the Research Databases which are accessible from home through the Ohio Public Library Information Network.