Businesses on Tiffin Avenue

The 1855 Sandusky City Directory lists several businesses on Tiffin Avenue, including a barber, cooper, blacksmith, and a grocer. David Bruckner and Florian Ulmer had a blacksmith shop on Tiffin Avenue near Monroe Street in the 1880s.

Mrs. Conrad Frank’s bakery was located first at Tiffin Avenue, but later moved to Columbus Avenue.

The Kuebeler brewing plant was built on Tiffin Avenue near Broadway Street in 1893, after the previous brewery was destroyed in a fire. In 1896 the Kuebeler and Stang breweries merged to form the Kuebeler-Stang Brewing Company. Two years later the Kuebeler- Stang Brewery became part of the Cleveland and Sandusky Brewing Company. Most of the breweries in Sandusky closed during Prohibition. One of the Kuebeler-Stang plants survived by making soft drinks, but it too closed in 1935, and all remaining beer production moved to Cleveland.

The Industrial Nut Corporation, which began as the Brightman Nut and Manufacturing Company, has been located on Tiffin Avenue for one hundred years.

George J. Bing built carriages at his garage on Tiffin Avenue in the early twentieth century, before his untimely death in 1914.

Many businesses have come and gone (and many still remain) on Tiffin Avenue, including Kerber’s Marine Grocery, Pietschman’s Shoes, and a variety of restaurants, gas stations, drugstores, and other businesses. A major Erie County employer, Ford Motor Company, now known as Automotive Components Holdings, opened an assembly plant on Tiffin Avenue in 1955. The picture below shows local Ford employees working in the 1960s.

Fred J. Hinkey, Blacksmith and Boiler Maker

Fred J. Hinkey was blacksmith in Sandusky for sixty one years. (Here he is pictured in the uniform of the Knights of the Maccabees or the Knights of Pythias -- if you know which it is, let us know in comments.) He started working as a helper in a blacksmith shop, and later he opened his own shop on Market Street, near Franklin Street. In the 1935 Sandusky City Directory, Mr. Hinkey listed these services at his shop: dealer in sheet and bar steel, general blacksmithing, power forging, ship work, and boiler making and repairing. His ad stated that his work was promptly done to order and at the lowest rates. An article in the January 22, 1921 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that Mr. Hinkey did not have to lay off employees, as his business kept the workers busy at all times of the year. During the spring fishing season his shop turned out thousands of iron grab hooks used by fisheries for their trap nets.  In the summertime, boats and barges needed repairs and new parts for their machinery. Fall fishing season brought in more repair work. The winter ice season brought with it “a myriad of orders” for new ice handling equipment and repairs to the old equipment. Besides providing repairs to machinery, Mr. Hinkey also had six boiler makers who made and repaired boilers in an area of about a sixty mile radius around Sandusky.  He stated that the three things which contributed to his success were courtesy, good workmanship, and promptness.

These ice tongs were made at Fred Hinkey’s shop, and can be seen at the Industry Room of the Follett House Museum.

In the 1920’s and 1930’s, Fred’s son Leroy M. Hinkey provided portable arc welding services to Sandusky area residents. Leroy Hinkey later moved to the Dayton area.

Fred J. Hinkey passed away on June 27, 1939. His funeral was held at his home on West Market Street. The Garfield Company of the Knights of Pythias held graveside services for Mr. Hinkey at Oakland Cemetery. Fred J. Hinkey was survived by three sons and a sister. His wife Dorothy had died in 1932.

Veterans Day, Nov. 11: Leonard J. Thom, Naval Hero

Leonard J. Thom was the oldest of eight children, born to Walter and Maye Thom. Walter Thom worked as a blacksmith. Walter’s father J. J. Thom, pictured below, had a blacksmith shop on Hayes Avenue, next to the American Crayon plant.
In 1936, Leonard J. Thom graduated from Sandusky High School, where he was a standout football player. He went on to play football at Heidelberg College, and Ohio State University. Thom was a guard for the Buckeyes. After playing semi-pro football for the Columbus Bulls, he coached high school football for a year in Columbus.

During World War Two, Leonard J. Thom, became an Ensign in the Navy, and was an Executive Officer of the PT-109, serving under John F. Kennedy. When the torpedo boat was cut in half in August of 1943, Leonard Thom and Jack Kennedy both assisted in the rescue of the men aboard ship. Both men were awarded the Purple Heart.

In 1944, Leonard Thom married Kate Holway in Youngstown, Ohio. He was working at an insurance agency and commuting to Columbus for college classes when he was tragically killed in an automobile accident in October of 1946, at the age of 29. The “Leonard J. Thom Memorial Scholarship Fund” at Sandusky High School helps to keep his memory alive.