Seele’s Restaurant, Later Hanson's Restaurant

In 1892, Charles J. Seele opened a restaurant at 724 Water Street between Columbus Avenue and Jackson Street, not far from the West House hotel in downtown Sandusky. In 1907 Seele’s sold fresh bulk oysters for thirty-five cents a quart (about $10.40 today). An advertisement from the December 17, 1909 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that Seele’s Restaurant sold pork sausage, buckwheat cakes, homemade mince and pumpkin pies, along with oysters and fish. Another listing from the June 4, 1919 Register offered a 21 meal ticket for $3.50 (about $55 today). The advertisement below appeared in the August 16, 1910 issue of the Sandusky Register:

In 1917, Adolph Stamm, who formerly worked for Mr. Seele, took over management of Seele’s restaurant. 

In the 1920s, Mr. Seele ran a grocery store on Hancock Street. In 1925, he moved to Florida, where he died in 1927. His obituary was in the Sandusky Register of September 2, 1927.

By 1927, Hanson’s Restaurant was in business at the site of the former Seele’s restaurant, at what became 140 West Water Street after 1915. Hanson's was in business at that location for about 30 years. A parking lot is now located where Seele’s and Hanson’s restaurants were in business long ago.

Matchbook Covers from Sandusky Businesses

Do you remember when you could grab a free book of matches on your way out of a restaurant or store?

Journalist and author Harry Van Stack donated several matchbook covers from Sandusky businesses to the Sandusky Library. The matchbooks were from five restaurants and a service station that were in operation primarily in the 1930s and 1940s in downtown Sandusky. The Boulevard Cafe can be seen in the picture below next to the Ohio Theatre on West Market Street in 1937.

In the 1931 photograph of downtown Sandusky, the Pelican Restaurant is on the west side of Columbus Avenue, just north of Rosino’s, and Martin’s is at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street.

Hanson’s Restaurant

In 1927 William H. and Martha Hanson established Hanson’s Restaurant at 140 West Water Street in downtown Sandusky. Mr. Hanson learned how to cook when he lived in New York. As a young man he was a cook aboard Great Lakes steamers, where he earned a good reputation. He was known as “Bill” to all who knew him. This advertisement for Hanson’s Restaurant, from the May 28, 1927 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal, features fresh frogs (apparently a popular entree at the time). Special Sunday dinners were served for seventy-five cents.

 Hanson’s was a popular location for business meetings. Several traditional glass bottles of steak sauce, hot sauce, and ketchup can be seen on the table in the lower right section of the picture below. The restaurant was decorated in the fish and wildlife theme.

 After the death of Mr. Hanson in 1936, Mrs. Hanson continued operating the restaurant. In the 1940s, for several years, a Hanson’s Annex was at 240 West Water Street, and the original Hanson’s was still at 140 West Water Street. From 1948 through the late 1950s, Daniel Hanson, son of the original owners, took over proprietorship of Hanson’s Restaurant. By the 1960s, various owners operated a restaurant at the former Hanson’s location. Later in the 1960s and 1970s, the building served as a private residence, with an apartment on the upper level. Now a parking lot is located at the site of the former Hanson’s Restaurant, just west of the State Theater. Below is an undated postcard from Hanson’s Restaurant, from the historical postcard collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.