Ira C. Jordan, Hotel Proprieter

An article in the August 14, 1919 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that the Hotel Laural at Wayne and Water Streets was to open on Saturday, August 16, under the management of Ira C. Jordan. Formerly affiliated with the Employees' League of Columbus, Ohio, Mr. Jordan was one of the best known caterers in the state. The conclusion of the newspaper article stated: "For some time Afro-Americans of Sandusky have felt the need of a first class hotel and their need will be realized when Mr. Jordan opens the Hotel Laural to the public." The Sandusky Register featured an article about Mr. Jordan and the Hotel Laural in its March 28, 1920 issue. While every employee from the manager down to the clerk was a person of color, Mr. Jordan welcomed customers of any race.

In October 1921, Ira C. Jordan advertised a one-half fried chicken dinner at the Hotel Laural to be served every Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Regular lunch every day cost thirty five cents.

Below is an advertisement from the Hotel Laurel which appeared in the December 9, 1921 issue of the Sandusky Register. Ormonde A. Forte, a Cleveland newspaper man was to be the speaker at a banquet at the Hotel Laurel.

Ira C. Jordan’s wife passed away in February of 1920. While Mr. Jordan is listed as the proprietor of the Hotel Laural in 1922 newspaper advertisements, it appears that he moved away from Sandusky in the mid 1920’s.

The Hotel Laural was known as the Steamboat Hotel in 1842, when Charles Dickens stopped to spend a night in Sandusky. Other names the hotel was known as include: Porter House, Verandah Hotel, Scott’s American Hotel, Hotel Crystal Dome and the Ideal Hotel. (The frequently-told story that the porterhouse steak had its origins in Sandusky is a myth. According to an article in the New York Times, the name of the porterhouse steak had its origins in an establishment located at 327 Pearl Street in New York City in about 1814.)

Lydia Mahala Todd West

Lydia Mahala Todd was born in 1824 to Amos and Lurana Strong Todd in Cortland County, New York, and moved to Sandusky as a youngster. In 1844, Lydia married William T. West, a Sandusky merchant, and co-owner of the West House. Their wedding was the first wedding in the upper part of Grace Episcopal Church. In 1892, William T. West built the Mahala Block on East Washington Row, and named it after his wife’s middle name.

During the cholera epidemic of 1849, Mrs. West was a hard worker, and helped to alleviate the suffering of those taken ill. She gained a reputation for kindness to the soldiers during the Civil War. The December 25, 1902 Sandusky Register reported that “in later years charity and aiding the poor and needy have been her main objects.”

Mrs. Lydia Mahala Todd West died on Christmas Eve in 1902. Her obituary was headlined with the phrase “Death of an Esteemed Lady.” The funeral services for Mrs. West were largely attended, and many floral tributes were sent. The active pallbearers were four African American employees of the West House Hotel. Among the mourners at her funeral was Ban Johnson, president of the American Baseball League. While it is not known how they met, the Sandusky Evening Star stated that Ban Johnson knew Mrs. West well. Mrs. West was survived by her husband William T. West, and her children: Mrs. C. L. Hubbard, Mrs. W. B. Jordan, George C. West, and William G. West. Burial was in Oakland Cemetery.

The William T. West family is the subject of Article 11 in Helen Hansen’s book
At Home in Early Sandusky, available at the Sandusky Library. The book is also for sale at the ongoing book sale of the Sandusky Library’s main circulation desk.

Pictured below is the wedding handkerchief of Mrs. Lydia Mahala Todd West, from the collections of the Follett House Museum.