The Wilke Building in Downtown Sandusky

According to an article from the Sandusky Register of January 30, 1986, the Wilke building at 129 Columbus Avenue was originally part of the West House hotel.

The article said that retail stores were on the street level, while hotel rooms occupied the upper floors. 

In the early 1900s Carl H. Wilke purchased the building, and added a brick facade. (You can still see the surname Wilke at the top of the building.) The building has had a number of tenants through the years. In the mid-1910s, Carl F. and John M. Holzaepfel sold sporting goods and photography supplies at their store at 129 Columbus Avenue.  An article in the April 2, 1920 issue of the Star Journal reported that the Lake Shore Electric would soon occupy the Wilke building. The headline stated that the new home for the Lake Shore Electric would be the “finest on system,” as the stations in Cleveland and Toledo were not nearly as grand as Sandusky’s new station.

After the Lake Shore Electric interurban ceased operations in the late 1930s, 129 Columbus Avenue became the bus station for the Lake Shore Coach Lines and, for a time, the Greyhound Bus Lines. During World War II, a U.S.O. Service Center opened in the rear portion of the Lake Shore Coach station. Having started in 1941, the primary mission of the United Service Organization was giving social support to America’s troops. In contrast to the regimentation of military life, the U.S.O. strived to create a warm homelike atmosphere.

Many different businesses have been in operation in the Wilke building. In October of 1954, the Byer Brothers opened a new store at 129 Columbus Avenue. The new location was triple the floor space of its precious location which had  also been located on Columbus Avenue.

Eventually Marv Byer became the sold proprietor of the business, which became known as Marv Byer Clothiers; he and his wife purchased the property in 1967. In 1986 he was honored for his work in restoring the downtown building. By 2000, the By Design store was located at the site. The  Fabulous Female Boutique currently occupies 129 Columbus Avenue.

Holzaepfel Kodaks Baseball Team

In the 1910s, the Holzaepfel store sponsored a baseball team known as the Kodaks. When you look closely at the players, the name Kodaks is printed on the center of their uniform tops, and the large H on their uniform stands for Holzaepfel.

In another team picture of the Holzaepfel Kodaks, the name of the teams appears in cursive writing on the players’ uniforms.

 The Holzaepfel Brothers store was an official processor of pictures taken with Kodak film.

From 1908 through the 1950s, the Holzaepfel Brothers store was at 157 Columbus Avenue. In the early years, the store was listed as a business that sold novelties, but by the 1920s the store was known for selling sporting goods, and of course for processing Kodak film. Though you cannot read the name Holzaepfel Brothers, the business was in the building where the words Sporting Goods appear, on the west side of Columbus Avenue in this picture taken in 1955.

From the 1960s through the 1980s, the Holzaepfel Brothers store was at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street. Many area athletes bought their letter sweaters at the Holzaepfel Brothers store.

Cooke Block

Sandusky’s Cooke Block, at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street, has been in existence since the 1850s. Ellie Damm wrote in Treasure by the Bay that the north section, known as the Union Building, was built first, along Columbus Avenue. Wildman Mills erected a large building at the corner of Columbus Avenue & Market Street, and he sold the building to Charles E. and George A. Cooke in 1866. In about 1876 the Cooke Block and the former Union Building were consolidated. Sandusky city officials met in the Union Building and the Cooke Block in the early days of the city’s history. From 1882 until 1899, the Melville Brothers ran a wholesale and retail drug business in the main corner building of the Cooke Block. Josh B. Davis and J. H. Wagenet were insurance agents in the upper levels of the building. When the men of Company B returned home from the Spanish American War, a huge parade in downtown Sandusky welcomed them home.

By 1908 the Commercial National Bank was the main business in the corner building of the Cooke Block. A variety of other businesses were located in the Cooke Block, including insurance and real estate agents, lawyers, doctors, restaurants, and retail stores.

From about 1923 and into the 1930s, Fred A. Martin operated a wholesale and retail confectionery business in the Cooke Block. In the picture below, you can just barely read the name Martin’s under the Dining Room sign. By the time Martin’s Confectionery was in the Cooke Block, streetcars and automobiles had replaced horse drawn vehicles.

At the time of the Northwest Territory Celebration Parade in 1938, Walgreen’s Drugstore was located at 172 Columbus Avenue, where Martin’s had formerly been in business.

Holzaepfel Brothers Sporting Goods was at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street from the 1960s to the 1980s. More recently, antique shops have been located at this address. The street numbers have varied slightly through the years on Columbus Avenue and Market Street, and businesses have changed hands numerous times. Check the historical Sandusky City directories for the names and addresses of specific businesses that have been located in the Cooke Block through the years. Article 51 of From the Widow's Walk, Volume II, by Helen Hansen and Virginia Steinemann provides a concise history of the east side of the first block of Sandusky’s Columbus Avenue.

Thanksgiving Weekend Snowstorm in 1958

Bob Frank took this photograph in November, 1958 in downtown Sandusky. Columbus Avenue businesses in the picture include: LaSalle’s, Marsh Shoes, J.C. Penney, Gray Drugs, Holzaepfel Brothers, and Burns & Gove Jewelers.

The November 29, 1958 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that a major snowstorm paralyzed traffic throughout the Midwest, and knocked out power lines in three states. Gale force winds downed trees and power lines, and at least 226 individuals had been killed throughout the United States since the beginning of the holiday weekend, which had begun the previous Wednesday. Snow began falling early Friday morning, and continued for twenty-four hours.

Former longtime Hinde and Dauch Paper Co. employee, Roland Sloat, suffered a fatal heart attack after shoveling snow. The Bay Bridge post of Ohio State Patrol reported six accidents on Erie County highways on Friday night, with three of them resulting in injuries. Columbus, Ohio police said that minor accidents were being reported every six minutes.

Below is another photograph of Sandusky during the 1958 snowstorm, taken by Bob Frank. Mr. Frank was looking south from West Adams Street. The office of Dr. J. D. Parker is seen just east of the Erie County jail. Both these properties are now part of the Sandusky Library.