Sandusky Business College and Its Students

The Sandusky Business College was founded in 1865 as the Buckeye and Great Western Business College and educated students until its closing in 1949. First located in Union Hall (part of what became the Cooke Block) on Columbus Avenue, in the 1890s, the school moved to the Mahala Block on East Washington Row. After the big 1909 fire that destroyed the Mahala Block, the college moved to the Feick building on East Market Street. 

Below is the Sandusky Business College men’s basketball team from the 1914-1915 academic year:

This post card showed the confidence that the Cleveland based Bourne-Fuller Company had in eight former students from the Sandusky Business College:

The Protectograph, an early business machine that allowed for forgery-proof check writing, was used by students at the college in the first half of the twentieth century. This machine is now in the historical collections of the Follett House Museum.

Beginning in 1923, the Sandusky Business College was in operation at 403 East Adams Street, at the former residence of Rush Sloane. It was its final home, because declining enrollment forced the school to close in 1949.  

When Picnics Were in the News

 

On Kelleys Island

Picnics in Sandusky and the Lake Erie Islands area were held quite often, by families, church groups, companies, and clubs. The proximity to Lake Erie provided nice lake breezes for the picnic-goers. Local newspapers frequently reported on picnics held in the area. The Sandusky Register of September 8, 1868, announced the “Grandest Pic-Nic of the Nineteenth Century” when students of the Buckeye and Great Western Business College chartered steamers for a picnic at Put in Bay.

In 1911, the Castalia Telephone operators enjoyed a picnic at the Blue Hole, while two other Castalia groups met at Rye Beach with their lunch baskets.

The Sandusky Star Journal of July 30, 1931 reported on a picnic at Bay View Park held for members of the Sandusky Typographical Union, #237, who were employees of the Sandusky Register and the Sandusky Star Journal. A ball game between the two newspapers started off the festivities. Other contests included horseshoe pitching, egg throwing, nail driving, a wheelbarrow race, and a blindfolded fly swatting contest.

In 1942, about 300 members of the Eagles Club and their families had their annual picnic at Lions Park. Some of the events were rolling pin throwing, balloon blowing, and a peanut scramble.

Cedar Point has been a popular picnic destination for large group picnics for over a century.

The Jaycees held a picnic at Cedar Point in August of 1954.

In this picture, it appears as though the employees of the Sandusky Library in the 1920s had an impromptu picnic outside the library building:

If you would like to see if the names of your family members ever appeared in local newspapers, whether for a picnic or other news event, browse through the historical Sandusky newspapers on microfilm at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, or check Newspaper Archive, accessible from home with a Sandusky Library card number.

"The Grandest Pic-Nic of the Nineteenth Century"

An announcement for a steamboat excursion to the Lake Erie Islands appeared in the September, 1868 issue of the Teacher of Penmanship. Graduates and current students of the Buckeye and Great Western Business and Telegraph College, the predecessor of the Sandusky Business College, were invited to the event, held on September 9, 1868. Three steamboats were chartered, including the Evening Star, the Eighth Ohio and the General Grant. It was to be a “select intellectual and educational convention.” Guests were asked to bring baskets of food for the excursion. The trip included a “sail upon the Lake, around the vine-clad Islands, Inlets, Bays Peninsulas and Promontories, where the immortal Perry ‘met the enemy and made them ours’ under the auspices of the College at Sandusky.” An article in the September 8, 1868 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that railroads were offering half price fares for attendees of the excursion, and current students of the Buckeye and Great Western Business and Telegraph College were to be issued free tickets. 

The Buckeye and Great Western Business and Telegraph College was established in 1866. At first all students were male, though in later years many female students enrolled.  Some of the courses offered at the College were accounts training, telegraphing, and shorthand.

On the day of the Excursion, everyone who attended found it to be a “pleasant affair” according the Sandusky Register of September 10, 1868. Threatening weather kept hundreds of people at home, who would have gone on the trip had there been fair weather on September 9. 

Below is a picture of three steamboats close to Put in Bay in 1868:

The Evening Star is on the left. The center boat is the Lake Breeze. To the right is the Eighth Ohio.  In the far distance, you can see a portion of Jay Cooke’s home on Gibraltar Island.