The Three Sons of Mr. and Mrs. John Rieger

Pictured above are the three sons of John L. and Mary (Biehl) Rieger, in a photograph taken by C.W. Platt. Standing is Edward F. Rieger, born in 1882. Seated on the left is Walter Rieger, born in 1883. Youngest son Pierre Rieger, who was born in 1886, is seated in the chair. John Rieger was a pioneer resident of Sandusky. He had a shoe business on Hancock Street in the 1870s and he founded the Hotel Rieger in 1912. 

Another picture of the boys was taken at a later date. 

You can see that same portrait of the young Rieger boys in the family’s parlor in the picture below.

Edward F. Rieger died in an accidental fall from the fourth floor of the Hotel Rieger in 1921, when he was only 39 years old. Pierre Rieger died after a brief illness on January 30, 1951. Both Edward and Pierre Rieger were involved in the management of the Hotel Rieger. Dr. Walter H. Rieger graduated from the University of Michigan as a medical doctor in 1906. Dr. Rieger was the house surgeon at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Infirmary in New York, and he was the visiting otolaryngologist at Fairview Park Hospital and St. Vincent’s Charity Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio; he was the last surviving member of his family at the time of his death on June 27, 1951. Mr. and Mrs. John Rieger and all their sons are buried in Block 94 of Oakland Cemetery. The Hotel Rieger, which played an important role in the lives of so many members of the Rieger family, is pictured below in 1927.

Pipe Creek Bridge at Oakland Cemetery

Now in the historical collections of the Follett House Museum, this iron plaque once marked the old bridge over Pipe Creek, just north of the residence at Oakland Cemetery.

The Erie County Commissioners in 1907 were: J.L. Rieger, Lewis Neill, and David Riedy. (John L. Rieger may be best known in Sandusky for the Hotel Rieger, which he founded in 1912; the former hotel has since been repurposed as the Rieger Loft apartments.) The surveyor for the bridge was R.B. Smith Co. and the contractor was L.P. Battefeld. You can see where Oakland Cemetery borders Pipe Creek in the map below, taken from the 1896 Erie County Atlas.

Pipe Creek runs through Erie County from Groton Township to Sandusky Bay, and is often mentioned in local county histories as being a site where pioneers first settled. It is believed that the name Pipe Creek came from the clay found in the creek bed, from which Native Americans made pipes. Today there is a Pipe Creek wildlife area at the mouth of the bay. 

Early Sandusky Shoe Stores

Before John L. Rieger built the Rieger Hotel, he was in the shoe business. He began working as a shoemaker in 1876, and continued until 1917. Mr. Rieger’s advertisement read in part, “Protect your feet from the wet and cold, and thereby save your health. You can do this for the least money by buying your boots, shoes, rubbers and overshoes at Jno. L. Rieger’s.” His shoe store was at the corner of Hancock and Madison Streets. Many people will remember this location as the site of the former Wholf Hardware Store.

Another pioneer in the shoe and boot business in Sandusky was Leopold Federer. His ad from the late 1800s was printed in both English and German. In this particular advertisement, Mr. Federer offered boots and shoes that were “somewhat damaged” by fire and water at a reduced cost.

Long before online shopping became popular, people purchased their clothing, shoes, and other necessities of life at local stores that were close to their homes.

Unidentified Shoe Store

A Look Back at the Hotel Rieger

The Hotel Rieger was opened by businessman John Rieger at the southeast corner of Jackson and Market Streets in downtown Sandusky in 1912. (The former hotel is now undergoing renovations in order to provide affordable housing units for area seniors.) The postcard pictured above shows the fifth floor addition which increased the room count of the hotel. In the postcard, you can see the former Third National Bank building on the east side of the hotel, and to the south of the hotel is the Odd Fellows Temple. The image below shows the hotel in 1917, before its expansion.

In this postcard below, from the Rich-Holt Company, the Hotel Rieger is pictured along with the Sloane House and the Boy with the Boot fountain in Sandusky’s Washington Park.

The picture below was taken in the lobby of the Hotel Rieger in 1926, shortly after renovations had been made to the hotel.

The Buckeye League Band marched past the Jackson Street entrance of the Hotel Rieger in the 1930s.

This picture shows an improved entrance at the Hotel Rieger in 1942.

According to an article in the October 17, 2004 issue of the Sandusky Register, Kermit Price bought the Hotel Rieger in 1964, and converted it to the Sandusky Nursing Home. The nursing home closed in 1989, and in 1992, Mr. Price reopened the building as the Sanduskian Hotel.. The building was sold in 1995. Since then the property has had several different owners, and currently the former hotel is under renovation by The Douglas Company. To read more about the history of hotels in Sandusky, read the StreetWise column, Hotels Rotated through Downtown Sandusky, which appeared in the July 13, 2013 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Photograph Album of Sandusky High School Graduates, Class of 1902

In 1902, C. W. Platt had a photographic studio at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Water Street in downtown Sandusky, which had been started by his father, A.C. Platt. C. W. Platt’s daughter Winifed H. Platt and her future husband Edward C. Schnaitter were both graduates of Sandusky High’s Class of 1902.

Miriam and Oliver Rinderle donated a photo album to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center which features individual portraits of each of the graduating seniors from the Sandusky High School class of 1902.

Unfortunately only four of the students’ pictures were identified in the album.  They are:

W. Leroy Slate

Alice Judson

Norma Zistel

and Frank Prout, who would later become Superintendent of Sandusky City Schools, from 1921 to 1939, and would serve as President of Bowling Green State University from 1939 to 1951.

Two African American young women graduated from Sandusky High School in 1902: Emeline Gilkeson and Iona Scott.

Other noteworthy students from Sandusky High’s class of 1902 were Dr. Walter Rieger, a physician who resided in Cleveland, and Mary Klingbiel, who became a nun and observed fifty years as a parochial educator in northern Ohio schools in 1957. After entering the Notre Dame order, Mary was known as Sister Mary Josephine. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view these and other vintage photographs of residents of Sandusky and Erie County, Ohio.

Businesses in the 600 Block of Hancock Street in 1888

In 1888, three different businesses were in operation at the southeast corner of Hancock and Madison Street in Sandusky. The proprietors of the businesses, along with family members and employees are seen standing in front of their stores.

August M. Koegele had a dry goods store at 600 Hancock Street. “Gents Night Shirts” sold for fifty cents, and yards of percale fabric sold for under $1.00:

John L. Rieger, who also built the Rieger Hotel in 1912, sold boots and shoes at 602 Hancock Street:

Claussen Bros. Grocery was located at 604 Hancock Street. Canned goods can be seen in the window, and brooms and baskets were for sale outside the store. An advertisement on the door read “Drink Grain-O.” Grain-O was a cereal based coffee substitute, popular in the late nineteenth century.

A variety of businesses were in operation at this location throughout the years. Wholf Hardware was in business at the 600 block of Hancock Street from 1952 through the mid-1990’s. This property is now privately owned.