Oswald Zistel was aboard his sailboat in the picture
above, taken in the early twentieth century. Behind him is the old railroad
bridge. In the 1896 Erie County Atlas, a swing bridge is shown along the railroad
tracks just past the cove on Sandusky’s northeast side, near present day
Battery Park.
A late nineteenth century stereographic image shows
the drawbridge of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, along with Ben
Icsman’s lumber yard in the east cove area of Sandusky.
The bridge and tracks were in use by several
different railroads from 1853 until the 1970s, including the Lake Shore and
Michigan Southern Railroad, and the Baltimore and Ohio. In June of 1908, a
train wrecked at the drawbridge, causing a large crowd to gather.
According to the New York Times of June 22, 1908, an
engine carrying a heavy trainload of tourists from Indianapolis who had spent
the day at Cedar Point, plunged through an open drawbridge in the east end of
Sandusky. While none of the passengers was hurt, J. J. Perrish, the engineer,
had both legs broken, and Fred Sullivan, fireman, had cuts on his head and
shoulders. Both had internal injuries as well. The gatekeeper of the bridge
says the train pulled out at 9 p.m., but had not been scheduled to leave until
9:30.
