B.P. Sexton Company

Idlewood Rye was just one of the products that was carried by the B.P. Sexton Company in Sandusky, Ohio. The company was incorporated in November of 1898, and was dissolved in 1920. Signers of the Articles of Incorporation were: J.C. Scheufler, C.L. Wagner, C.C. Bittner, Fred Beier, and George W. Zimmerman. The purpose of the company was buying, selling, and dealing in foreign and domestic beers, wines and liquors…and all other kinds of delicacies. The business was at 530 Market Street, near Wayne Street.

The namesake of the company, Burton P. Sexton was born in Catawba Island, Ottawa County, Ohio in 1866, to Mr. and Mrs. Philander Sexton. He married Viola Wolfe in 1890, and they had a son and three daughters. He was a superintendent at the American Crayon Company when his company was founded.

 Another brand the company distributed was Atmore Rye.

An advertisement in the April 10, 1916 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal said about Atmore Rye whiskey, “It is just like anything else – if you use it to excess, it’s harmful – used properly it’s beneficial.” A pint of Atmore Rye whiskey sold for 25 cents at local taverns (equivalent to about $6.37 today).

A third brand from Sexton was Cream of Kentucky whiskey. The slogan was “Next time you take a trip, put a bottle in your grip.”

In February of 1919, President Wilson passed a revenue bill which greatly increased taxes on liquor. At that time, the B.P. Sexton Company decided to halt liquor sales. By January of 1920, Prohibition was enacted in the United States with the passage of the Volstead Act. In 1921, Burton P. Sexton moved his family to England. He passed away in Bedforshire, England on February 15, 1931. His obituary appeared in the Sandusky Star Journal of February 19, 1931.

Charles L. Wagner, Pioneer in the Natural Ice Industry

Charles L. Wagner was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1852, to German-born parents, Mr. and Mrs. Julius Wagner. As a young man, he was a clerk in several different stores in Sandusky, Ohio, and later was associated with the company Wagner, Powers and Brodbeck. In 1885, he founded the Wagner Brothers Wholesale and Retail Ice Company, later known as the Wagner Lake Ice Company, serving as president and general manager. In 1907, the Wagner Lake Ice Company became a part of the Interstate Ice Company.

In 1913 the City Ice & Fuel Company acquired the Interstate Ice Company. C.L. Wagner was the wholesale manager of this business at the time of his death in 1921.

Charles L. Wagner had interests in several businesses during his long career in Sandusky.  At one time he was the manager of the Sloane Hotel. He was listed as one of the incorporators of the Sandusky Portland Cement Company, along with Arthur St. John Newberry, Spencer B. Newberry and F.D. White. This company was later known as the Medusa Cement Company. Wagner Avenue, which leads north from Barrett Road in Bay Bridge, Ohio, next to Clemons Boats, was named for him.

When Mr. Wagner died in 1921, his obituary appeared on the front page of the August 6, 1921 issue of the Sandusky Register.

C.L. Wagner was buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery in the family plot.

Charles E. Frohman Family

Charles E. Frohman (1901-1976) was a prominent attorney, author, and civic leader in Sandusky. Related to the famous theatrical managers Charles, Daniel, and Gustave Frohman, he wrote several books of local history about Sandusky and the Lake Erie Islands region. The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center is fortunate to have several family photos from the Frohman family in the historical photograph collection. 

Below is a portrait of a young Charles E. Frohman, taken at the Platt Studio in Sandusky. Charles was the only child of Daniel and Helen (Wagner) Frohman.

This picture of Helen Wagner was taken at the Bishop studio when Helen was a young woman. Helen Wagner and Daniel Frohman were married in Sandusky on October 24, 1900.

Below are undated pictures of the parents of Charles E. Frohman, Mr. Daniel Frohman and Mrs. Helen (Wagner) Frohman. Daniel Frohman passed away in 1934, and Mrs. Helen Frohman died in 1936. Both were buried at Oakland Cemetery.

Charles E. Frohman died on September 10, 1976.His wife, the former Ruth E. Dinsmore died in September of 1996. The final resting place of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Frohman is Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. 

Visit the Sandusky Library to read several local history books written by Charles E. Frohman. Also available on microfilm is an index to the Sandusky Register and Star Journal, created by Mr. Frohman. It covers topics of special interest to Charles E. Frohman dating from the nineteenth century through the mid-1970s.

Frank Cable and Family

The Frank Cable family is pictured above in the late 1890s. Frank’s wife was the former Ida Schwind. Their daughters were Clara, Florence and Stella. Frank, along with his father Laurence Cable and his brother Edward, was active in real estate development in Sandusky in the early twentieth century. The Cable family developed Cable Park, a residential neighborhood on Sandusky’s Wayne Street, and they were key donors to the former Providence Hospital. Below we see Frank Cable standing outside the home in which he grew up, at the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Monroe Street.

Frank and Ida’s daughter Clara Cable married Leo Wagner, who operated a florist shop in Sandusky for many years on Columbus Avenue.

Clara Cable Wagner

 Florence Cable married attorney George C. Steinemann.

Florence Cable Steinemann

Youngest daughter Stella went on to marry Dr. M.A. Wagner. After the the doctor's death, Stella wed Roman Burnor, and they made their home in Toledo, Ohio.

Mrs. Ida Schwind Cable died at the young age of 40, in a hospital in San Antonio, Texas following a serious illness. The telegram announcing her death was delivered to the Cable family on the very day that the Providence Hospital dedication took place, in April 1904. The original Providence Hospital had once been the home of C.C. Keech on Hayes Avenue.

  

Frank Laurence Cable died at the Sawyer Sanitarium in Marion, Ohio on December 14, 1913. Sadly, his brother Edward Cable had died just a few weeks earlier. The Cable family left their mark on Sandusky, Ohio. If you would like to learn more about this family and their many contributions to our community, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, where you can view the Cable Family Collection.

Mothers and Grandmothers

In honor of Mother’s Day, here are some images taken from the historical photograph collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Mrs. Mary F. Eschenberg is holding her baby grandson Robert Merrill in this picture from 1890.

Mrs. Anna Hauser Lange, mother of professor Dr. Norbert A. Lange,  is tidying up the yard around her home in this postcard.

Mrs. Mary Ellen Johnston and her children are pictured below in a picture taken about 1898. Mary Ellen’s daughter, Mary Elizabeth Johnston, became a librarian and bequeathed several thousand dollars to Oberlin College after her death.

Mrs. Helen Wagner Frohman, the mother of local historian and business man Charles E. Frohman, seems to have an expression on her face that shows the wisdom of her years.

Leo Wagner, Florist

Leo Wagner began as a florist in Sandusky in 1910. He opened a new shop at the corner of Columbus Avenue and East Monroe Street in 1918. Two interior views of the Wagner flower shop are found in the historical photograph collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

              

A company aadvertisement in the November 12, 1927 issue of the Sandusky Register declared that flowers could be telegraphed anywhere.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Wagner hosted the October 1931 meeting of the Sandusky Garden Club. The program included viewing architect’s drawings of the garden planned on the property of the Wagner home on Monroe Street, adjacent to the flower shop. Later, Mr. Wagner showed club members an exhibit of shrubs and hardy chrysanthemums at his shop. In the photograph below, the flower shop can be seen on the left side of the picture, and the Wagner home is on the right.

  

An article in the October 10, 1941 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News reported that the Wagner flower shop was considered one of the finest shops in the country. In the fall of 1941, he sold the property to Dorothy and Edward Russell, a brother and sister who were florists. Many local residents will recall Russell’s Flower Shop which was in business at that site for fifty years.

The Wagner Palace, at the Junction of Columbus and Hayes Avenues

The road once known as the Columbus and Sandusky Pike, now Route 4, began at the intersection of Columbus and Hayes Avenues in Sandusky, Ohio.  Michael Wagner built a structure at the junction of these two key streets in Sandusky about 1882. He and his family lived on the upper floor, and at the street level was a saloon known as the Wagner Palace. In the book Treasure by the Bay, Ellie Damm describes the architecture of the building, designed in the Second Empire style, with a front tower and arched windows.  

In 1893, Michael Wagner founded the Wagner Quarries, now a part of Lehigh Hanson. This listing for Michael Wagner from the 1902 Sandusky City Directory indicates both of his business ventures.

The Wagner Palace was considered a fine saloon. This picture shows the interior of the business. Note the large fan, ornate ceiling, and mirrored bar.

   

     

This postcard image, which was published in the Sandusky Register on February 23, 1909, shows the downed wires in front of the saloon after a severe sleet storm hit the city on February 14, 1909.

By 1910, Anthony Uhl and John Oswald were the proprietors of the business. From about 1912 to 1919, Mr. Uhl was the sole proprietor. After Prohibition, Mr. Uhl served soft drinks at the former saloon.  In the late 1930s, Edward Brindley operated a sandwich shop at the site. For several decades, the building was home to a beauty salon, first as the Vogue Beauty Salon from 1941 to 1961.  For many years in the 1960s and 1970s, the Marge Marie Beauty Salon operated here. Since the mid 1990s, an insurance company has been in business at this location. 

Through the years, many different businesses have been in operation at this prime site, including a bookstore, thrift shop, meat market, and an appliance store. The historical Sandusky City Directories provide the exact years of operation for these businesses. As you drive down Columbus Avenue or Hayes Avenue in Sandusky,  take a few moments to look at this historic building. Many of the fine architectural details remain from its early days, especially the designs above the arched windows and the tower on the northern most point of the building.

Sandusky Held a Fall Festival in the 1950s

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Sandusky held a Fall Festival in September. In 1950 it was held at Cedar Point from September 7 to September 10. The co-queens of the 1950 Fall Festival were Arline and Darline Landin, twin daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Landin. The Landin twins are pictured below with Jay Wagner and Dan Apel, from the Chamber of Commerce.

An article in the September 23, 1950 issue of Billboard magazine reported that 40,000 people attended the Fall Festival in 1950.  There were fifty indoor displays and twenty outdoor displays, including an exhibit of cars, trucks and farm implements. Livestock, poultry, dogs and rabbits were also on display by area 4-H members. Below are the queen and her court from the 1951 Fall Festival.

Karl Kurtz, charirman of the Festival committee is pictured with Queen Lee Gregg, and members of  her court, which included Delight Furst and Marlene Sue Trueman. A leading attraction of the 1951 Fall Festival was the steer auction, held on Saturday night of the festival weekend. Local 4-H and FFA members brought their steer to Cedar Point to be auctioned off on September 8, 1951. Below is an undated group picture of the members of the Fall Festival Committee from the late 1940s or early 1950s.

Most of the men have been identified in notes found on the back of the original picture, which was a gift from Karl Kurtz.

Limestone Quarrying Has Been Important to Sandusky and Erie County for Generations

Hewson Peeke wrote in his book A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio, about the limestone underlying the ground in Sandusky and the Lake Erie Islands region. In Sandusky, the upper portion of stone is corniferous limestone, which is bluish in color and found in thin strata. The stone quarried at Marblehead and Kelleys Island is lower in the ground than the corniferous limestone, and lighter in hue. 

Ellie Damm wrote in her book Treasure by the Bay that many limestone mansions were built in Sandusky between 1834 and 1872. The stone for most of these buildings was quarried near the building sites. It is thought that the stone for Grace Episcopal Church and the Oran Follett House was quarried in the area of the triangular park at the corner of Wayne Street, Huron Avenue, and East Adams Street. 

At one time, Sandusky and the Lake Erie Islands region were dotted with quarries, many which were filled in and used as building sites. There were lime kilns in Marblehead and in Sandusky in the 1800s.

                                           

Some individuals ran stone quarries. In the 1880s, Ira Davis established a quarry along Sycamore Line.

Charles Schoepfle had a quarry on the west of Hancock Street, south of McKelvey Street in the 1890s. Here is a receipt for items purchased by Jay Bogert from Charles Schoepfle.

In 1893  Michael Wagner established the Wagner Quarries, now a part of Lehigh Hanson. This post card created by Ernst Niebergall shows Wagner Quarry employees in 1926, at Plant Number 2.

  

         

Below is an aerial photograph of the Wagner Quarry in Perkins Township, taken by Thomas Root in 1950; it is still operating today.

                    

 Limestone and crushed stone quarried and processed from Erie and Ottawa Counties continue to provide needed materials for the construction of roads, highways, businesses, and homes in our area and beyond.  This area is fortunate to have so many natural resources, including the limestone bedrock as well as a natural harbor from which the stone can be transported to where it is needed.  To read more about the geology of Erie County, see A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio by Hewson L. Peeke and History of Erie County, Ohio, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich, both available at Sandusky Library. 

WLEC Radio Began Broadcasting in 1947

Now a part of BAS Broadcasting Ohio, WLEC Radio began broadcasting on December 7, 1947. At that time WLEC was operated by the Lake Erie Broadcasting Company, an affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System. The premiere broadcast on WLEC featured a program which commemorated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

This picture was taken on the first anniversary of WLEC Radio in 1948. From left to right are: Bill Frankel, Al Heiser, John Kohler, Marie Pascoe, Father Hartman, Ed Gangware, Karl Whinnery and Jay Wagner.

 Marie Pascoe is seen on the left side in the picture below. In the 1950s, she narrated radio programs on WLEC Radio using the name Nancy Lake.

Jay Wagner and Dan Appel are on either side of the Landes twins during a WLEC broadcast.

  

 In 1958 WLEC Radio took its mobile studio the dedication of the City Building.

Below is a picture of WLEC Radio staff from the 1970s.

Do you have any special memories of listening to WLEC Radio?

Postcards from the Echo Cafe

The Echo Cafe was established about 1901 by Julius Brengartner. It was located at 725 Market Street in its early years. After street numbers changed in Sandusky in 1915, the address became 201 West Market Street. An article in the October 4, 1921 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal stated the bar at the Echo was said to be one of the longest in Northern Ohio.

       

In the October 5, 1921 issue of the Sandusky Register, a brief article was entitled: “Echo Cafe a Thing of the Past After Today.” The article said that the son of Julius Brengartner, Ralph, had taken over the Echo after his father needed to give his full attention to his position with the Ulmer Mortgage Company in Pennsylvania. The Echo Cafe was purchased by Alex M. Wagner. The building where the Echo Cafe once stood is now a parking lot, but it was the site of a hardware store in the 1920s and 1930s, and later was home to B.F. Goodrich and City Loan. This vintage picture shows a portion of the Echo Cafe on West Market Street in the early twentieth century.

Another business called the Echo Tavern later operated on Columbus Avenue in Sandusky from about 1948 until the early 1980s.