West Water Street Businesses from Behind in 1926

Sandusky photographer Ernst Niebergall took this picture of the rear side of the buildings along West Water Street between Columbus Avenue and Jackson Street about 1926. Today we know this area as the newly renovated Shoreline Drive. The first building on the eastern part of this block is known as Hubbard’s Block, at what is now 101 West Water Street. The building was originally owned by Sandusky businessman Lester Hubbard, and designed by Sheldon Smith, was built in the Romanesque Revival style of architecture. Hubbard’s Block was home to the Cosmopolitan Art and Literary Association in the 1850s. Moving down the street, next is the Stiles E. Hubbard building at 115 West Water Street, which had as its first tenants a grocery and dry goods store, and Austin Ferry’s hat shop. In 1926 George M. Rinkleff had a hardware store at 121 West Water Street. This advertisement shows us some of the items that were carried by the Rinkleff Hardware store in the 1910s, a few years before Mr. Niebergall took the picture of the block.

Known as the Lawrence Cable building, the structure at 121 West Water Street was built in 1868. Samuel Love had a men’s clothing store at 201 West Water Street in the mid-1920s. Charles R. Carroll ran a transfer business and a second hand store at 211 West Water Street. Many of the vintage trucks parked on the street were probably used to transport goods to local residents by employees of Mr. Carroll’s transfer business.

Chicken dinners were served at a restaurant to the west of Mr. Carroll’s business. At the corner of West Water Street and Jackson Street is the Freeland T. Barney building, which was built about 1870 and renovated in 1892. Most of the buildings that are pictured had businesses on the street level and apartments on the upper floors. You can read more historical details about the commercial property on West Water Street in Ellie Damm’s book, Treasure by the Bay. Pages 53 to 58 are devoted to the architectural background of these historic buildings.

George M. Rinkleff

George M. Rinkleff was born in June of 1864 in Sandusky, Ohio to Frank and Caroline (Molter) Rinkleff.  In 1885 he married Louise Taubert. Sadly, Louise Taubert Rinkleff died in 1887, when her daughter was just an infant. The Rinkleff infant had the same name as her mother, Louise Rinkleff. Louise, the daughter, was about three years old in the picture below, taken at the studio of C.W. Platt in Sandusky.

Mr. Rinkleff married Olive Orton in 1895, and they had a son, Roy, in 1899.

George Rinkleff started his hardware business in Sandusky in 1885. The store dealt in wholesale and retail hardware and building supplies, as well as supplies for ships. Besides operating the hardware store, Mr.. Rinkleff also served as president of the Klotz Machine Company and vice president of the Sandusky and Islands Steamboat Company, and was a director of the Third National Exchange Bank. He was the owner and operator of the steamer Chippewa.

Mr. Rinkleff was active in the Masons, the Rotary Club, and the Plum Brook Country Club. On June 9, 1934, George M. Rinkleff died at the age of 69. Funeral services were held at Grace Episcopal Church, and burial was at Oakland Cemetery.

Pictured below is the Rinkleff Hardware Store at 710 Water Street during the winter of 1913.

Keep the Sidewalks Clear of Snow! (That is, if we ever get any this year)

On February 1, 1881, the following proclamation was made by Sandusky Mayor Rush R. Sloane.

Mayor’s Proclamation

To whom it may concern

Mayor’s Office

Sandusky, O. February 1^st, 1881

Whereas, it is by ordinance of said city ordained

“That it shall be unlawful for the owner or occupant of any premises in the city of Sandusky, or the owner or agent of any occupied premises in said city, to allow any snow or ice to remain upon any stone, brick or plank sidewalk abutting on his or her premises, for more than twenty four hours after the same shall have fallen or accumulated on said sidewalk.”

And any person violating said ordinance is liable to prosecution before the Mayor upon complaint of the City Commissioner of Streets and upon conviction shall be fined from one to twenty five dollars and shall be imprisoned until the fine and costs are paid.

It is also made the duty of the Commissioner to clean all sidewalks not cleaned by the owner or occupant and to report the names of the occupants on the premises thus cleaned that they may be proceeded against as required by said ordinance.

I hereby give notice that said ordinance will be duly enforced.

Witness my hand and seal this 1^st day of February A.D. 1881

RUSH R. SLOANE, Mayor

The Mayor’s proclamation appeared in the Sandusky Register of February 5, 1881. It appears that someone in the city of Sandusky was not clearing off  their sidewalks in a timely manner. Mayor Sloane wanted to inform all the citizens of Sandusky that this ordinance was to be diligently enforced. Anyone who has spent the winter in Sandusky knows that the snowfall can be quite heavy and frequent. Below is just one example of how snowy the city can become. In 1913, the snow was piled high along West Water Street, in front of George Rinkleff’s hardware store.

Sandusky Chapter of the American Red Cross was very Active during the Great War

Prior to the entry of the United States into World War I, and throughout the war years, hundreds of volunteers in Sandusky and Erie County worked tirelessly for the local chapters of the American Red Cross. Here are some of the volunteers of the Sandusky Chapter:

In 1916 a sewing room on the third floor of the Parish House of Grace Episcopal Church was used by local volunteers to sew night shirts for the office of the American Fund for French Wounded. Later work done at this location was for the American Red Cross. During World War I, the Sandusky Chapter of the American Red Cross made 59,043 surgical dressings; 13,775 knitted articles; and over 20,000 other articles. The members participated in five parades and raised money for Red Cross Nurses. Red Cross members participated in collecting items for the Tin and Lead Foil Drive and provided financial support to the emergency hospital for victims of influenza in Erie County. Mrs. Elizabeth D.G. Moss Marsh served as chairman of the surgical dressing committee of the Red Cross during the Great War years.

This 1917 American Red Cross display helped to promote the services of the local chapters of the American Red Cross during the War. It depicts a Red Cross nurse giving medical aid to a wounded soldier.

The participation of members of Sandusky and other Erie County chapters of the American Red Cross have been chronicled in detail in the Honor Roll, Erie County Edition, from pages 179 to 213. Many pictures are included on these pages, as well as the names of key individuals and their length of service with the Red Cross. Inquire at the Reference Services Desk to view this valuable local history resource. Military records of servicemen, including family details and brief service records are provided for hundreds of local men who served their country during World War I. Also included are details about the hundreds of local residents who lent aid to the war effort on the home front.

Portrait Photo of Louise Rinkleff

Louise Rinkleff is pictured on a cabinet card created by Sandusky photographer C.W. Platt about 1890. Louise was born in 1887 to George and Louisa (Taubert) Rinkleff. When Louise Rinkleff was just a small child, her mother died. An article in the June 19, 1923 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal stated that Louise spent many happy hours at her maternal grandparents’ home when she was a youngster. In the 1910 U.S. Census, Louise Rinkleff was aged 23, and she still resided with her maternal grandmother, Kate Taubert, in Sandusky. In the 1910 Sandusky City Directory, Louise Rinkleff’s occupation was listed as music teacher. Several newspaper articles through the years reported Louise Rinkleff as providing musical entertainment for church services, dances, and other community events. Her future husband, Frank Curtis, was also a popular local musician. In June of 1923, Louise Rinkleff married Frank Curtis. Both Mr. and Mrs. Curtis provided musical entertainment at the graduation ceremony of the Providencde Hospital School of Nursing in June of 1928. Mrs. Louise Rinkleff Curtis passed away on March 3, 1962 at the age of 75. She was survived by a half brother, and several nieces and nephews.

By looking at vital records, census records, and newspaper accounts about Louise, we were able to glean a few more details about the little girl in this lovely cabinet card.