"Under Construction"

The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has several photographs of businesses under construction in its collections. The image above shows the Sandusky Masonic Temple under contruction. The view is from the cornerstone-laying ceremony on June 24, 1889.

Below is a picture of St. Mary’s Catholic Church under construction in the 1870s. A worker is visible at the top of the building, while two adults and several young people are seen at the front of the church.

In the 1890s, this house was being built on Columbus Avenue for Sandusky businessman R.M. Wilcox. 

In the picture below, two men appear to be attaching slats to the frame of a Lyman boat at the Lyman Boat Works in 1938.

Helen Hansen took this photograph of the Citizens Banking Company, now Civista Bank, under construction in 1985 at the southwest corner of Water and Wayne Streets in Sandusky.

If you are interested in the historic buildings in Sandusky, Ohio, see Ellie Damm’s book Treasure by the Bay (Bucknell University Press, 1998) at the Sandusky Library. In this book Mrs. Damm points out that many of Sandusky’s early commercial buildings were built from native limestone, demonstrating the thrift and practicality of the early residents of Sandusky.

Zeiher and Millar, Building Contractors

Peter J. Zeiher and Thomas C. Millar formed a partnership in 1914. In the early years, Zeiher & Millar focused on brick and stone work, but as time went by, they broadened their scope and they became general building contractors. Mr. Zeiher and Millar are in the group photo below, taken outside the Erie County Courthouse, when the 11th Annual Conference of the Bricklayers, Masons, Plasterers and Marble Masons met in Sandusky in May of 1916.

Zeiher & Millar are remembered for several important building projects in Sandusky, Ohio and throughout northern Ohio. In 1924, they were the contractors for the new Sandusky Butter and Egg Company, located on West Water Street, where Feddersen’s Bakery later was in business from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s. This advertisement appeared in the Sandusky Star Journal on February 25, 1928, when the new Junior High School was dedicated in Sandusky.

In the fall of 1928, Schine’s State Theater opened, which was yet another building constructed by Zeiher & Millar.

The Star Journal of October 12, 1928 featured an article about the firm:

Zeiher & Millar went out of business in the early 1930s. Peter J. Zeiher continued to work as a masonry contractor, and Thomas C. Millar went to serve as superintendent of maintenance for Sandusky City Schools for over twenty years. Mr. Zeiher passed away in 1964, and Mr. Millar died in 1966. The final resting place of both men is in Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

George William Doerzbach, General Contractor

G. William Doerzbach is pictured above with a youngster and dog in an undated picture. Mr. Doerzbach was born in Sandusky in 1852 to Christopher and Louisa Doerzbach, both natives of Germany. Hewson Peeke wrote in A Standard History of Erie County (Lewis Publishing, 1916), that “G. William Doerzbach is a man who has largely been the architect of his own fortune.” As a youngster, he worked for the Western Union Telegraph Company. His first trade was cabinet maker, and then he became a carpenter. Eventually he studied in Philadelphia under a leading architect. When he returned to Sandusky, he worked as a general contractor. 

In 1894, G.W. Doerzbach built a bridge crossing Mills Creek. An article in the December 24, 1894 issue of the Sandusky Register reported about the new bridge.

After working independently for several years, he formed a partnership with his brother Fred C. Doerzbach in 1900. Together G.W. Doerzbach and Brother built many important buildings in Sandusky and beyond. The Sandusky Register of December 31, 1922 describes several of their projects:

The Hotel Rieger was built by the Doerzbach brothers in 1911.

Right across the street from Hotel Rieger, G.W. Doerzbach and Brother built the Sandusky Star Journal building (now occupied by the Sandusky Register) from 1920 to 1921:

Now home to Bailey Legal Group, this Market Street building was originally built by the Doerzbachs as Third National Exchange Bank:

Mr. Doerzbach never married. His office and home were located at the corner of Monroe and Camps Streets.

Image courtesy Google Maps

George William Doerzbach died in 1932, and his brother and business partner, Fred C. Doerzbach died in 1934. Both were buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. Though the Doerzbach brothers have been gone for decades, many buildings in Sandusky still stand as a testament to their excellent workmanship as general contractors.

Before and After Photos of the Cedar Point Causeway

Here is a picture of a portion of Sandusky, including First Street and the Cedar Point peninsula in April of 1953. This aerial photograph was taken by Kucera and Associates, before the building of the Cedar Point Causeway. You can see a view below of the same area in 1991 in an aerial picture taken by Thomas Root, with the Cedar Point Causeway connecting First Street to the Cedar Point peninsula. This project enabled automobiles to have a direct route from the city of Sandusky to the popular amusement park.

            

In 1992, Bernhardt Zeiher, the Cedar Point official who was instrumental in instituting the building of the Causeway, donated to the Sandusky Library more than two hundred photos which chronicled the construction of the Cedar Point Causeway in 1956-1957. Ernest R. Walborn was the photographer of these images. Below is photograph number 19, which shows what some of the land looked like before it was cleared for construction:

Picture 3 was taken at the water’s edge looking west at the main bridge of the Causeway:

Marker number 1042 can be seen in this Causeway construction photo:

In this artist's rendering of the Causeway, perhaps used as an example image in a construction proposal, you can see boats traversing under a bridge near the center of the causeway. As is often the case, the actual design is somewhat different than what was proposed.

Milan Road Overpass Opened in May of 1969

The Milan Road overpass and Butler Street ramp opened in late May 1969. Pictured above is an aerial view of the overpass and surrounding area, taken by photographer Thomas Root just before its completion in 1969. Sandusky city leaders began plans for the overpass in 1965, due to traffic congestion which took place every summer as tourists poured in to visit Cedar Point.  

An article in the Sandusky Register of September 30, 1969 described the three phases of the project. Phase one was the widening and paving of Perkins Avenue up to the south end of the overpass. Phase two was the construction of the overpass and Butler Street ramp. Phase three was the widening and paving of Milan Road from the overpass to Sycamore Line, and Sycamore Line to Cleveland Road. Several pictures that were taken in 1967, during the construction phase of the overpass project are housed in the collection of historical photographs at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Below is a picture of the New York Central railroad crossing on Milan Road and Parish Street before the overpass was built.

       

The Buckeye Body Shop was located at Milan Road near Butler Street in the early 1960s.

  

There were two gas stations near the intersection of Milan Road and Sycamore Line in 1967.

                   

An article which appeared in the May 29, 1969 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that the Milan Road bypass would be open at midnight that night.

Built Upon the Rock

Sitting on top of bedrock of solid limestone, the city of Sandusky has the largest number of limestone buildings in Ohio. One such building is the Follett House, a Greek Revival mansion that was once home to prominent publisher Oran Follett. The Follett House was built with stone quarried from a lot across the street, between Adams Street and Huron Avenue.

With a ready supply of limestone, quarrying became an early industry in Sandusky. Many German and Irish immigrants were stone cutters, and they found work building homes, schools, churches, and businesses in Sandusky. Helen Hansen noted in her 1975 book, AT HOME IN EARLY SANDUSKY, that “the name of Feick has been associated with building in Sandusky for over 100 years.” The Erie County Jail (pictured above), now part of the Sandusky Library, was constructed by Philip, Adam, and George Feick in 1883. You can read about the Feick family in the book BUILDING AMERICA: A HISTORY OF THE FAMILY FEICK, located in the Family History collection of the Sandusky Library.

The original Third National Bank of Sandusky was built in 1914 on West Market Street. Henry Millott was the architect, and the contractors were "G. Wm. Doerzbach and Brother." G. William Doerzbach is pictured below.
The exact location of the building below is unknown. Notes from the original photograph indicate that carpenters were working on the “Lake View House” in Sandusky. (Note the limestone bricks around the foundation.)

For more information about the architects, builders, and contractors of Sandusky, visit the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. Among the sources available on this topic is an excellent architectural history of Sandusky entitled TREASURE BY THE BAY, by Ellie Damm.