The Lester S. Hubbard House

Sandusky businessman and banker Lester S. Hubbard built the lovely stone house at the southwest corner of Wayne and Adams Streets in 1852. Helen Hansen wrote in At Home in Early Sandusky that the house was originally on an L-shaped lot, and a large barn and barnyard were located at the rear of the lot. Lester S. Hubbard and his wife, the former Jane Patterson Livingston, had a family of ten children.

A Hubbard descendant, Mrs. Garcia Denig Shaw, wrote in 1958 that six generations of the Hubbard family had lived in the Hubbard house, as the home had remained in the family for almost one hundred years. After the death of Jean Hubbard Denig, the home was purchased by Dr. V.A. Killoran a Sandusky physician who lived next door to the Hubbard house. Mrs. Hansen noted in her book that though Dr. Killoran converted the home into apartments and offices, he “preserved the original charm of its outward appearance.”

Here are two interior views of the Hubbard house, taken in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

The Hubbard house has been named to the List of Registered Historic Places in Ohio. In the biographical files of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center is a letter by Mrs. Lester Hubbard in which she describes the death and funeral of her husband’s business partner, William Durbin. Mr. Durbin died on May 21, 1863, though he had the “untiring attention of devoted friends.” His coffin was taken to the library of Hubbard house, and it remained there the entire weekend. The funeral for William Durbin was held at the Hubbard residence on Sunday morning, May 24, 1863. Several members of the extended Durbin family stayed with the Hubbard family for several days at the time of Mr. Durbin’s death.

See Ellie Damm’s book Treasure by the Bay to learn more about the architectural history of the Hubbard house. Helen Hansen’s At Home in Early Sandusky features several articles about the Hubbard family and many other early residents of the city of Sandusky.