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A public fountain was at the foot of Columbus
Avenue in downtown Sandusky in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, not far from the waterfront. In
the picture above, the Post, Lewis and Radcliffe building, which dates back to
1866, can be seen just to the east of the fountain. Ellie Damm wrote in her
book Treasure by the Bay, (Bucknell University Press, 1989), that the square
where the fountain was located was often filled with activity as people
gathered to meet the trains and boats as they arrived in Sandusky.
The photograph below was taken sometime before 1903. The
steamer "Arrow" is at dock; the "R.B. Hayes" is approaching
(or leaving) the dock; another unidentified steamship is visible in the
background, heading out into the bay. A fruit stand is at the lower right of
the image; a newsstand/cigar shop is next to the dock; the Sandusky Fish Co. is
slightly visible at the extreme left of the image.
We know that this photograph was taken in either
1903 or 1904:
Just past the railroad tracks, to the northwest of
the fountain, the building with the large balcony was the Terminal Inn. This business opened in 1903 and was
destroyed by a massive fire on June 21, 1904. Today a modern fountain at the Schade-Mylander Plaza welcomes visitors
to historic downtown Sandusky.
2 comments:
I remember when the foot of Columbus was a turnaround area after the old fountain was relocated. You could go north and make a u turn to go back south and it was not a violation to do that.
In my day that was called "Buzzin the Av."
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