When M.J. Bender opened a grocery store at the
southwest corner of Monroe and Hancock Streets in Sandusky on February 18,
1891, a newspaper ad stated that it was “one of the finest and largest grocery
stores in Sandusky.” Bender’s carried a full line of fancy and staple
groceries, flour, and feed. The store was located on the site of Ohly’s old
stand. By 1908 Mr. Bender moved his store to the corner of Hancock and Water
Streets. For a brief time, sometime between 1910 and 1920, Wendt’s grocery was
at that location.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the Lazarra and Maschari
families ran a fruit market on this site. From at least 1940 through 1960,
Otto’s Ice Cream was in business at 701 Hancock Street. This advertisement
appeared in the Sandusky Register Star
News on January 25, 1946.
By 1990 a flooring business was in operation at 701
Hancock Street.
Many different businesses have been in operation at
this busy Sandusky intersection. Some years, no business was at this location.
To learn more about any specific location in Sandusky, visit the Sandusky
Library to view historic Sandusky city directories. The street listings are
helpful in determining what businesses were at what address at a given time.
