Stereographs
are a pair of nearly identical images that give a three dimensional effect when viewed through a device called a stereoscope. Several stereographic cards are found in the
collections of the Sandusky Library and the Follett House Museum. Above is a
stereograph card of the Erie County Courthouse created by Sandusky photographer
A.C. Platt, probably around 1876. A group of stereographs created by Mr. Platt were
donated to the Sandusky Library by Mrs. John H. Jacques. The cards originally
belonged to her father, Willis Merry. Mrs. Jacques was a direct descendant of
Ebenezer Merry, a pioneer settler of the Firelands. A view of Sandusky High
School and the old academy building can be seen in the stereograph card below.
The academy building was used as a courthouse prior to the construction of the Erie
County Courthouse in 1875. It was torn down in 1884.
This view of downtown Sandusky was taken from the
upper level of the Erie County Courthouse. The steeples of the Congregational
Church, then in Washington Park, are visible. This church was demolished in
1896, and a new church was built at the northwest corner of Columbus Avenue and
Jefferson Street. In the background, you can see a portion of the Cedar Point
peninsula
In 1875, the first city water works was under construction, at Meigs and Washington Streets. Here you see construction scaffolding around the standpipe. If you look closely, you can see men at the top of the scaffolding.
Below is a view of the Sandusky’s waterfront in the
early 1880s. The vessel Chief Justice Waite is partially obscured by an unidentified ship in Sandusky Bay.
Thanks to A.C. Platt’s stereograph cards, we can get
a sense of what life was like in Sandusky in a bygone era.
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