The Bijou Restaurant after a Snowstorm

A large group of individuals are pictured above in front of the Bijou Restaurant on West Water Street, next to the West House Hotel (where the back of the State Theatre is today) in downtown Sandusky in 1910 or 1911. The huge mound of snow behind the men (with an interesting statue on top) indicates that Sandusky must have recently had a large snowfall. An obituary for Charles W. Herzog, which appeared in the 1950 Obituary Notebook at the Sandusky Library, stated that Mr. Herzog operated the Bijou Restaurant and Café from 1908 until 1916. 

A woman and child can be seen in an upper floor window, just to the right of the restaurant sign. Could that be Mrs. Herzog and their daughter? Probably. A little genealogical research lets us come to that conclusion: According to the 1912 city directory, the Herzog family residence was at the same address as the business. Searching for Mr. Herzog in Ancestry.com, we find a record for the 1930 census that shows that Charles & Suzanna Herzog had a 22-year-old daughter named Mildred, as well as a 10-year old son Charles and a 3-year old daughter Rosemary. We know that the two youngest were not around yet in 1911, but with a little math we know that Mildred was born around 1908 or 1909. So, seeing the child in the photo who looks around 2 or 3 years old, it might be reasonable to assume that the people in the window are Suzanna Herzog and her daughter Mildred. Isn't genealogy fun?!