When Railroad Tracks Ran Through Downtown Sandusky

Beginning in the 1850s, when a landfill project added more land to downtown Sandusky, moving the shoreline well north of Water Street, railroad lines traveled along the north end of downtown Sandusky, along the bay.

This view of the foot of Columbus Avenue was taken from the water, around 1900-10. Sandusky’s waterfront has been the hub of a variety of modes of transportation in Sandusky, including horse and buggies, boats, trains, the interurban, and later automobiles, motorcycles, and even Segwave tours.  The West House hotel was popular with tourists in Sandusky for many years. The State Theatre is now at the site of the former West House hotel. 

Below, we see the train tracks on Railroad Street (now Shoreline Drive) in downtown Sandusky about 1908.

The A. Booth and Company’s fish house and the Johnson’s Island boat landing were just north of the tracks. A water tower on the roof of the Hinde and Dauch factory is visible in the distance. 

The 1905 Sanborn Map shows three different railroads in operation through downtown Sandusky at that time: the Baltimore and Ohio, the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company (later known as the “Big Four”), and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway.

A recent view of this location can be seen at Google Maps.  

Look at the huge crowd gathered in downtown Sandusky to hear Theodore Roosevelt when he visited here during his unsuccessful race for the presidency in 1912:

  

Society has changed in many ways throughout the last one hundred years, but downtown Sandusky remains a popular destination for visitors and area residents alike. Visit the Sandusky Library to learn more about the city of Sandusky’s rich history. The website of the Erie County Historical Society hosts several historic walking tours of sites around town. 

Fountain at the Foot of Columbus Avenue

A public fountain was at the foot of Columbus Avenue in downtown Sandusky in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, not far from the waterfront.  In the picture above, the Post, Lewis and Radcliffe building, which dates back to 1866, can be seen just to the east of the fountain. Ellie Damm wrote in her book Treasure by the Bay, (Bucknell University Press, 1989), that the square where the fountain was located was often filled with activity as people gathered to meet the trains and boats as they arrived in Sandusky.  

The photograph below was taken sometime before 1903. The steamer "Arrow" is at dock; the "R.B. Hayes" is approaching (or leaving) the dock; another unidentified steamship is visible in the background, heading out into the bay. A fruit stand is at the lower right of the image; a newsstand/cigar shop is next to the dock; the Sandusky Fish Co. is slightly visible at the extreme left of the image.

  

We know that this photograph was taken in either 1903 or 1904:

Just past the railroad tracks, to the northwest of the fountain, the building with the large balcony was the Terminal Inn. This business opened in 1903 and was destroyed by a massive fire on June 21, 1904. Today a modern fountain at the Schade-Mylander Plaza welcomes visitors to historic downtown Sandusky.

Views of the Foot of Columbus Avenue

As Leola M. Stewart noted in her 1948 article, Sandusky,Pioneer Link Between Rail and Sail, Sandusky has one of the finest natural harbors on the Great Lakes. In the picture above, three excursion boats can be seen in Sandusky’s harbor around the turn of the twentieth century. After the passengers got off the steamships, this is what the view of Sandusky looked like from the waterfront, facing south.

  

By 1920 automobiles parked at the foot of Columbus Avenue. At this time, streetcar lines ran down Columbus Avenue as well.

    

In this scene from the mid to late 1950s, you can see cars from the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad which was still in operation in downtown Sandusky. The Cedar Point boat dock had a festive sign which was brightly lit at night.

       

Today the Schade-Mylander Plaza welcomes visitors to downtown Sandusky, providing beautiful views of Sandusky Bay, Marblehead, and Cedar Point.