Bernard Lodick Sold Carriages and Wagons

From about 1860 until his retirement in the 1910s, Bernard Lodick had a carriage and wagon shop at the corner of Washington and Jackson Streets.

         

Mr. Lodick had several “elegantly furnished” vehicles on display at the carriage hall at the Fair, according to the September 30, 1870 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal. He made and repaired carriages and wagons.

The Lodick shop was next to the old Methodist Church building, as seen on this 1893 Sanborn Map.

By 1911, William Thom and Son operated a horseshoeing business at the former Lodick Carriage Shop.

     

In 1916 and 1917, there was a garage at the same location, run by the Sandusky Motor and Vulcanizing Company.

A news article in the March 25, 1916 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that the former Lodick site was favored for the construction of a new Post Office building.

Ground was broken for the new Post Office on November 1, 1925, and the new Post Office officially opened in March of 1927. The former Post Office is now home to the Merry Go Round Museum.

Sandusky’s Former Post Office

Seen here in the 1930s or 1940s, this building was opened as Sandusky’s Federal Building in March of 1927.  In 1923, Congressman James T. Begg introduced a bill in the U.S. House which requested an increase in the appropriation for the proposed Federal Building at Sandusky, making a total of $215,00 in funds to be used for the project. Congressman Begg pointed out that the current Post Office and Customs House had been built before the Civil War, and was very congested.  Ground was broken for the new Post Office on November 1, 1925.  T.M. Samford was the superintendent of the project, under the leadership of contractor Algernon Blair. M.J. Callan and Sons, of Sandusky, did the excavation work at the building site, beginning November 6, 1925. The building site was located at the intersection of Central Avenue, Jackson Street, and Washington Street. Formerly Bernard Lodick’s carriage shop and Trinity Methodist Church were at this location.

You can see the layout of the Post Office in 1939 in the portion of the Sanborn Map below.

The new Federal Building was built in the Neo-Classical style. It features a very large portico with fluted columns. Besides housing the Post Office in 1927, this building held offices for U.S. Customs, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Weather Bureau. During war years, the U.S. Armed Forces had recruiting offices here as well. The men in this picture are the first draftees from Erie County in January of 1941, standing on the steps of the Post Office:

           

Of course the former Sandusky Post Office and Federal Building is now home to the Merry-Go-Round Museum. When you walk into the lobby of the Museum, you can still see one of the windows where stamps were sold.