Stone Houses Owned by Eleutheros Cooke

Between 1827 and 1835 several structures in the 400 block of Columbus Avenue were built by Eleutheros Cooke, Sandusky’s first lawyer.  You can see the properties on the 1893 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map.

You can still see the brackets along the top of the home, under which are geometric designs.

On the porch of the home that is now 410 Columbus Avenue, General William Henry Harrison was presented with a flag made by the ladies of Sandusky. That flag is now in the historical collections of the Follett House Museum.

This home is considered to be Sandusky’s oldest standing house, according to the Ohio Historic Places Dictionary. It was built in the Greek Revival style of architecture in 1821. In the 1890s, Dr. C.T. Stroud and his son had their dental offices at this location. An advertisement which appeared in the Sandusky Register Star News of April 4, 1945 indicates that a beauty shop and “normalizing salon” was in business here.

Through the years, several different medical practices were in business at his location. 

Just to the south of 410 Columbus Avenue is a double stone house, built from limestone, now with the address of 412-414 Columbus Avenue. William Robertson purchased this property in 1865 from the Cooke estate. For many years this structure has been used as apartments. There are doors on either side, at the street level and lower level.

The third stone building, now 416 Columbus Avenue, was razed in 1918 to make way for a Bell Telephone Company office building. The United Way now has its offices at this location. 

To learn much more about the many historic homes and businesses in Sandusky, see At Home in Early Sandusky by Helen Hansen, and Treasure by the Bay, by Ellie Damm, both available at the Sandusky Library.