The Kilbourne Family Had Many Ties to Sandusky

 In the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center is a book entitled The New Eden: James Kilbourne and the Development of Ohio, by Goodwin Berquist and Paul C. Bowers, Jr. (University Press of America, 1983.) The authors detail the life of James Kilbourne (1770-1850), who contributed significantly to the development of Ohio and the Old Northwest. Of particular interest to local residents is chapter 5, “The Sandusky Enterprise.”            

James Kilbourne saw the importance of a community along the shores of Lake Erie  that could be developed for trade and commerce. He discussed this idea at length with Zalmon Wildman, and eventually Kilbourne helped to settle the land dispute between Wildman and Isaac Mills and George Hoadley. It was James Kilbourne who surveyed the land between Columbus and Sandusky, where a roadway was to be built between the two towns. Known as the Columbus and Sandusky Turnpike, today this route roughly follows Ohio routes 4 and 23. Kilbourne encouraged business owners to settle in Sandusky, and he influenced legislators to see that a post office and customs port were established  in the young community. 

James Kilbourne's son, Hector, is credited with platting the city of Sandusky. The streets were laid out to form the Masonic emblem. Hector Kilbourne was the first postmaster of Sandusky, and he also served as the first master of Science Lodge No. 50, the earliest Masonic lodge in Sandusky.

The Masonic symbol can clearly be seen in the map of the city of Sandusky below, with the diagonal layout of the streets representing the square and compass of the Masonic emblem.

The final resting place of several descendants of James Kilbourne is Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. After attorney George Reber’s first wife died, he took as his second wife Anna Stiles Kilbourne, who was the widow of Dr. James Kilbourne, the youngest son of James Kilbourne (1770-1850.) Anna, often known as Nancy, had a young son named Lincoln P. Kilbourne. Lincoln and his wife, and several members of the extended family are buried at Oakland Cemetery in the Kilbourne family lot.

Read The New Eden: James Kilbourne and the Development of Ohio to learn more about James Kilbourne and the role he played in the early development of the state of Ohio

Looking Towards Sandusky Bay from St. Mary’s Steeple, Circa 1920

Robert Frank donated this photograph which features the view from the steeple of St. Mary’s Church, looking down Central Avenue towards Sandusky Bay about 1920.  Many landmarks (some no longer standing) are visible in the picture. At the top left of the picture is the Sloane House. To the right of the Sloane House (across Columbus Avenue) is the Kingsbury Block, shortly before a portion of it was replaced by the Commercial National Bank building. In the far distance, northeast of the Kingsbury Block, are storage silos and buildings in the waterfront district of Sandusky, close to the B & O Railroad tracks. The Erie County Courthouse is in the same location as it is today, but in 1920 it had not yet been remodeled in the Art Deco style, which was a WPA project in the 1930s.  You can see Sandusky High School to the east of the Courthouse, before it was expanded. (This building later became Adams Junior High School.) The steeple of Emmanuel Church is visible, at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Adams Street. Only the rooftop of the Sandusky Library can be seen, opposite the Courthouse on Adams Street, which is very close to the Erie County Jail. A private residence and later Dr. J.D. Parker’s office, stood between the library and the jail for many years. At the upper right of the picture is the smokestack of the Water Works. Apartment buildings and businesses are seen along Central Avenue. The diagonal direction of Central Avenue forms a portion of the Masonic emblem. Hector Kilbourne laid the city of Sandusky out in the shape of the square and compasses of the Masonic emblem.

  

This historical marker in Washington Park honors Hector Kilbourne, the surveyor who laid out the original plat of Sandusky in 1816.

Sandusky’s Masonic Temple

In the picture above, hundreds of people have gathered for the laying of the cornerstone for the Masonic Temple, located at 302 Wayne Street, on June 24, 1889. Ellie Damm wrote in Treasure by the Bay that Sandusky’s Masonic building was made of buff sandstone and blue limestone, and built in the Second Romanesque-Revival style. H.C. Lindsay of Zanesville was the architect, and Adam Feick and Brothers were the builders.

The Science Lodge No. 50 F & AM was established in Sandusky in 1818. The first master of the lodge, Hector Kilbourne, platted the city of Sandusky in the pattern of the Masonic emblem. Former museum curator Helen Hansen holds a copy of the original plat map in this image.

In 1940, the Sandusky Chamber of Commerce had its offices in the street level of the Masonic Temple.

A fire damaged the roof and top floors of the Masonic Temple in January of 1943.

A view of the Sanduksy Masonic Temple in 1983 shows how the building was redesigned after the fire, with changes to the roof and removal of two towers:

Sandusky physician Dr. Charles Hope Merz was an outstanding Masonic scholar who wrote several Masonic books, and served as editor of the Masonic Bulletin in Sandusky for nearly twenty eight years. Guild Masonry in the Making, by Dr. Merz, is available full text at Google Books. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view several copies of The Sandusky Masonic Bulletin from the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Sandusky’s Columbus Avenue

Columbus Avenue was located in the very center of the 1818 Plat Map of Sandusky. Known as the Kilbourne Plat, downtown Sandusky was laid out in the shape of the Masonic emblem.

Local historian James A. Ryan wrote in the January 20, 1932 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal that while Water Street was the location of the very earliest Sandusky businesses, Columbus Avenue saw significant growth in development between 1850 and 1880. W.T. and A.K. West operated a dry goods store on Columbus Avenue before they opened the West House hotel located at the southwest corner of Columbus Avenue and Water Street in 1858.

William A. Graham operated a drug store on the southeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Water Street.
Columbus Avenue continued to be part of the major transportation and business center of the city of Sandusky. Several modes of transportation can be seen at the foot of Columbus Avenue about 1900. (The steamers A. Wehrle, Arrow, and R.B. Hayes are visible in this image.)

Parades held in Sandusky were often routed down Columbus Avenue. A parade held by the Knights of St. John took place in 1910.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view a variety of books, newspapers, photographs, and other archival resources relating to the history of Sandusky and Erie County.