Sandusky’s Valentine was a Sleet Storm in 1909

 

Between February 14 and 16, 1909 a severe ice and sleet storm coated most of central and northern Ohio. Local weather official E.E. Nimmo reported that the track of the storm was very narrow, heading from east to west along the lake. Sandusky was in the very center of the storm’s fury. Many telephone, telegraph and electric wires were damaged, under the weight of three quarters to an inch of ice. Trains and interurbans were delayed, and the Lake Shore railroad had to resort to using manual signals, due to having no electricity.

John A. Giedeman, from the Sandusky Telephone Company, stated that “It is the worst storm of the kind we have ever had.”   The telephone company sent out ten men to work on the damaged wires. The electric company did not lose its ability to generate electricity, but it could not get that energy out to the local customers due to so many wires being damaged.  Residents and businesses resorted to using old gas lights and candles. The fire alarms in Sandusky were all out of service. Local police officers assisted in removing trees and downed wires that fell across the city’s streets and walks. The picture below shows a portion of Columbus Avenue, at the intersection of Hayes Avenue. 

In the picture postcard below, you can see Old Calvary Church on the left side of the picture, old fire engine house number 3 in the center, and Sycamore School can be seen in the background on the far right. There was severe damage to telephone poles and wires at this location, near the intersection of Sycamore Line and First Street.

Employees of the Lake Shore Electric Railway are seen  clearing the right of way on Camp Street in the postcard below.

An article in the February 16, 1909 issue of the Sandusky Register thanked those who helped the storm edition of the Register get to press. The Register staff had to hand-set the type. The Sandusky Democrat loaned a non-electric motor to the Register, and Ohio Motor Company brought in a 15 horsepower engine to help the press room get the paper out. 25,000 readers of the Sandusky Register got their papers delivered at 2 p.m. on Monday, the day after the big sleet storm first hit. 

To read more about Ohio’s severe sleet storm on 1909, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, where historical issues of local newspapers are available on microfilm and online.

Philip Buerkle, Mayor and Publisher of the Sandusky Demokrat

Philip Buerkle was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, to Mr. and Mrs. August Buerkle, who were both natives of Germany. When Philip was a young child, he moved with his family from New Jersey to Sandusky, Ohio. He learned the printing trade when in the office of the Sandusky Herald. He worked as a journeyman printer in several different cities throughout the U.S., and returned to Sandusky in 1879. Mr. Buerkle worked at the Sandusky Tribune, the Sandusky Register, and later he became president of the Sandusky Demokrat Publishing Company. In the picture below, he can be seen in the upper window of the Demokrat Publishing building on Water Street.

In 1891, he was elected Mayor of Sandusky, and he was re-elected to that office in 1893. After his service as mayor, in 1897 he formed a partnership with A.C. Lermann in the insurance and real estate business. 

Philip Buerkle died on March 26, 1926, after he suffered a stroke. An obituary which appeared in the March 26, 1926 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal read in part, “For many years Mr. Buerkle was a leading figure among those of German birth and descent in Sandusky, and was prominent in German organizations.” He was survived by his wife, the former Sophia Giedeman, and two daughters, Mrs. W. B. Moon and Mrs. Charles J. Neff, and five grandchildren. The two sons in law of Philip Buerkle were partners in the Neff-Moon Toy Company from 1923 to 1927.

To read more about the business leaders of Sandusky and Erie County, Ohio, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

East Side of Columbus Avenue in the Early Twentieth Century

The picture above shows the east side of Columbus Avenue between Washington Row and Market Street in the first decade of the twentieth century. At the southeast corner of Columbus and Market is the Mayer Lebensburger Company, which sold men’s clothing and hats. The overcoat department was on the upper level of the store. John A. Giedeman’s shoe and boot store was next to Lebensburger's. Mr. Giedeman had a shoe store in Sandusky for several years, with a variety of locations and business partners. The bookseller S.T. Lemley took over the bookstore that was formerly owned by Mr. Huntington. S.T. Lemley sold books and stationery, and offered a picture framing service.  According to the 1908 Sandusky City Directory, Amelia Homegardner and Helen Zimmerman sold art and needlework supplies at the A. Zimmerman & Company. S.D. Arvanite was a manufacturer and jobber of confectionery and ice cream in the building just north of the Kingsbury Block. Oliver Marble, architect, had his office in the upper level a storefront on Columbus Avenue, and so did two dentists, J.E. Herman and H.S. Rogers. In the Kingsbury Block, Doctors D.D. Smith and J.K. Douglass also had busy dental offices. The Kingsbury Block was located at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Washington Row from 1894 until the early 1920s. We do not know positively what band is playing in the parade down Columbus Avenue. At the time this photograph was taken, the streetcar was a popular mode of transportation, but area residents still used the horse and buggy as well.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view this and several thousand more vintage photographs of Sandusky and Erie County.