Three Sandusky City School Officials in 1970

In the picture above, three Sandusky City School officials are looking over a magazine article explaining the art program for the school district in 1970. From left to right are: Frank Smith, Wallace Glenwright, and Thomas C. Gallagher.

Frank Smith was well known in art circles in Sandusky. He was an art teacher for Sandusky Schools, and eventually became supervisor of art instruction for the entire school district. Mr. Smith was the founder of the Sandusky Cultural Center, and he was a long time member of the Art Study Club.

Wallace Glenwright was associated with Sandusky City Schools for over thirty years, having been a coach of football, basketball and golf. He also served as Athletic Director, Assistant Principal, and Principal of Sandusky High School, and eventually became the School Superintendent.

Well known Sandusky Register Charles Wagner once said of Mr. Glenwright, “He was a gentleman’s gentleman.”

Thomas Gallagher was in the field of education for thirty five years, and was the Principal of Osborne School for twenty eight years. When he retired, the Sandusky Register of March 25, 1986 featured an article chronicling his career.

Many former students of these local educational leaders will have fond memories of these Sandusky educators.

Venice Mill

Pictured above is the Venice Mill, run by the Gallagher brothers, John R., Arthur P., and James S. Gallagher, dating back to the 1930s or 1940s. The site is now occupied by the Margaritaville restaurant. 

According to an article in the July 3, 1988 issue of the Sandusky Register, the Gallagher brothers purchased the Venice Mill in 1897, which had formerly been run by several generations of the Heywood family. Russell Heywood purchased the old mill in Venice in 1831, at the southeast corner of what now is Fremont Street and Venice Road, along with the rights to Cold Creek and five hundred acres of land. A second mill was built by Mr. Heywood in 1841, but was destroyed by fire. An early canal system transported the wheat and flour from the mills to the bay, where it was shipped by boat. Later railroad cars transported the grain. Members of the Gallagher family operated the mill until the late 1940s. The family also owned a flour, feed, and coal business in Sandusky on East Water Street. This building still stands and is known as the Granary. In 1955 Harold Coker bought the old mill. He and his wife Gertrude built a restaurant and bar known as the Old Mill on the site of the Venice Mill. Three of the original walls from the mill were used in the new tavern. In the early 1980s John Kubicek and Nick Porozynski remodeled the Old Mill tavern and re-named it Margaritaville. An early history of water powered historic mills, found on the back of an old menu from Margaritaville, is now housed at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. 

This old flour sack from the Venice Mill, when it was run by the Gallagher family, is at the Follett House Museum.

The Granary Building at 149 East Water Street

Now home to the offices of Dr. James Gallagher and Dr. Susan Gallagher, the building at 149 East Water Street in Sandusky has had a long history as a commercial property. From 1860 to the late 1880s, William Robertson (and later his sons) ran a wholesale grocery store at what was once known as 611 and 613 Water Steet.  While Mr. Robertson was originally from Northumberland, England, his neighbors in 1886 were of German descent. The Active Turners met on the second floor of  Fisher’s Hall to the east of Robertson’s Grocery, and the Turner Hall Hotel was just down the street, as seen in this 1886 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map.

In the early 1890s, George and John Esch ran a store that sold draperies and carpets at 611 and 613 Water Street.  From 1898 to 1908, T.C. Adams, and later his son Robert Adams, sold flour and feed at 611 Water Street. Many  local residents will recall that the Gallagher Brothers ran a granary at this location from about 1911 until 1950. The business operated as an outlet for Gallagher’s Mill in Venice, Ohio. In 1915 the street number was changed to 149 East Water Street.  From the mid 1950s to the mid 1970s the Merrill Mank Plumbing Company was in business here. For a time, Lake Erie Rusco sold storm doors and windows at this location. 

Ellie Damm wrote in her book Treasure by the Bay that the building was built in the High Victorian style. The foundation is stone, and the main portion of the structure is limestone covered with mastic. You can learn more about many of Sandusky’s historic buildings in the Ohio Historic Inventory for Erie County, shelved behind the Reference Services desk in the Lower Level of the Sandusky Library.