Lake Shore Electric Railway Tracks on Columbus Avenue

These pictures from the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center show work being done on the Lake Shore Electric interurban railway tracks on Columbus Avenue in the 1920s.

Large piles of crushed stone can be seen in the picture below next to the tracks.

Taking a closer look at the images allows us to see what stores were in operation at this time in Sandusky. Area residents were still sending telegrams at the Western Union station in downtown Sandusky.

The J.C. Penney store was relatively new to Sandusky at this time. Matthes Coal had a large advertising sign above the People's Loan and Savings Company at the northwest corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street. You can see the sign for the State Theater in the first block of Columbus Avenue, towards the waterfront.

The Eugene Close shoe store and Bamberger’s millinery shop, both on the east side of Columbus Avenue, were popular places for local residents to visit in the 1920s.

A large group of people is watching as the crew continues their work on the Lake Shore Electric tracks, near Ritter’s Cigar Store and Holzaepfel Brothers Sporting Goods.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view these and hundreds of other historic photographs from Sandusky and Erie County.

The Donahue Building

The building at 126 Columbus Avenue, now home to a resale shop operated by Stein Hospice, began as a bank building. The Moss Brothers Bank, founded by Augustus H. and Horace Moss, was at this location in the early 1850s.

In 1914, C. Faber and Frank Donahue moved their hardware store from Water Street to what is now 126 Columbus Avenue. Ellie Damm wrote in her book Treaure by the Bay (Western Reserve Historical Society, 1989), that the Donahues added the brick façade to the building as well as the stone carved name “Donahue” under the cornice. You can see the original limestone on  the south side of the Donahue building. Interestingly, Ellie Damm, who was well known for her efforts in local preservation, was a descendant of the founders of Donahue Hardware. In 1920, Lew and Ira Wiles purchased this property, and they ran the Dixie Cafeteria here. If you look closely, you can see the sign for the cafeteria in the picture below.

   

Many area residents will recall that the Sherwin-Williams store was in business at 126 Columbus Avenue from 1952 into the 1990s.