Clocks Around Sandusky

The charming clock pictured above was outside the store of “Henry Dehnel, The Leading Jeweler” on Sandusky’s Columbus Avenue. The scene is a parade which took place in downtown Sandusky about 1905, and the view was facing north towards Sandusky Bay. 

In the late 1890s, Jacob Kronthal gave away a small clock that was set inside a figurine. The store was in a variety of different locations, but at the time this promotional item was given away, Jacob Kronthal’s men’s clothing store was at 705 Water Street:

When Citizens Bank was located in the Feick Building, this clock was in front of the Bank on Market Street:

                                       

In 1992, the clock was moved to the corner of Water and Wayne Streets, opposite Civista Bank.

Always a popular spot for taking pictures, this snapshot of Sandusky’s floral clock was taken on June 18, 1988.

If you are in Washington Parks in downtown Sandusky, you can always just look up at the Courthouse to see yet another clock.

The City of Sandusky Has Beautiful Parks

In a 1907 article for the Ohio Magazine, the Honorable Charles S. Reed wrote, “It can fairly be said that there are few cities in the country that can boast of such beautiful and well kept parks as Sandusky. They are the admiration and envy of the thousands and thousands of people who visit the city annually…”   The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has several historical images of Sandusky’s City Parks in the Parks Collection of photographs. 

Here an employee from the City of Sandusky’s Park Department admires a floral mound labelled “Flora.” This picture was taken before the Erie County Courthouse was renovated in the 1930s:

   

In 1950, a worker mows the grass on a mound that features the Masonic emblem:

              

In 1955, Chris Goelz, then supervisor with the Sandusky Parks and Greenhouse can be seen working on a mound that reads “Drive Slow - Save Lives.” In the 1950s, Mr. Goelz often traveled to parks throughout the United States and Canada to get new landscaping ideas.

    

In the picture below, four city workers are hard at work getting the floral lighthouse ready for the summer season at Washington Park.

                                          

This picture of the city of Sandusky’s Greenhouse employees was taken about 1980. Three of the four people are identified: Ernest Erdman is standing at the back of the group; next to him is Mary Bloker; one of the other men is Fred Bloker.

  

Floral Mounds in Washington Park

Floral mounds have been a popular feature of the parks in downtown Sandusky for decades. The mound pictured above, which was located near the Erie County Courthouse in 1910, contained an urn and was entitled “Flora.”  

This patriotic themed floral mound, sponsored by the Perry Post, No. 83, American Legion, was in the park sometime between 1910 and 1920. In the 1920s, the Perry Post of the American Legion was re-named the Commodore DenigPost, No. 83.

In 1917, another floral mound with a patriotic theme featured an eagle atop the globe, with a floral flag of the United States on the main portion of the mound.

         

OLEIDA (Ohio Lake Erie Island District Association), which promoted tourism in the 1930s, sponsored the floral mound in this picture.

In 1960, a mound honoring the 125^th anniversary of the American Crayon Company was located in Washington Park, facing East Washington Street.

             

Local residents and tourists from all over the U.S. (and beyond) enjoy Sandusky’s beautiful parks every summer. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to see more historic photographs from Sandusky and Erie County.