Hanson’s Restaurant

In 1927 William H. and Martha Hanson established Hanson’s Restaurant at 140 West Water Street in downtown Sandusky. Mr. Hanson learned how to cook when he lived in New York. As a young man he was a cook aboard Great Lakes steamers, where he earned a good reputation. He was known as “Bill” to all who knew him. This advertisement for Hanson’s Restaurant, from the May 28, 1927 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal, features fresh frogs (apparently a popular entree at the time). Special Sunday dinners were served for seventy-five cents.

 Hanson’s was a popular location for business meetings. Several traditional glass bottles of steak sauce, hot sauce, and ketchup can be seen on the table in the lower right section of the picture below. The restaurant was decorated in the fish and wildlife theme.

 After the death of Mr. Hanson in 1936, Mrs. Hanson continued operating the restaurant. In the 1940s, for several years, a Hanson’s Annex was at 240 West Water Street, and the original Hanson’s was still at 140 West Water Street. From 1948 through the late 1950s, Daniel Hanson, son of the original owners, took over proprietorship of Hanson’s Restaurant. By the 1960s, various owners operated a restaurant at the former Hanson’s location. Later in the 1960s and 1970s, the building served as a private residence, with an apartment on the upper level. Now a parking lot is located at the site of the former Hanson’s Restaurant, just west of the State Theater. Below is an undated postcard from Hanson’s Restaurant, from the historical postcard collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.