Historic Photos from the Sandusky Library

In commemoration of National Library Week, we are sharing some historical photos from the Sandusky Library.

Cora Rehfus looks up from her duties in the adult department of the Sandusky Library in the 1940s. Note the portrait of Andrew Carnegie above the book shelves. Through the efforts of Sanduskian Mrs. Jay O. Moss, in 1899 Andrew Carnegie, wealthy philanthropist, offered to give $50,000 for a public library in our city. 

In the picture below, Miss Mary McCann, longtime Head Librarian at Sandusky Library, checks out books in the Bookmobile, which operated in the 1950s and 1960s throughout Erie County. 

Long before Netflix and Hoopla, Mrs. Louise Kuemmel inspected and cleaned 16mm films from the Sandusky Library’s circulating collection of films. The film department of the library was in the basement, where the Sandusky Library Archives Research Collection is currently located. 

In August of 1980, Sandusky Library staff was delighted to have completed its inventory project.

Miss Mary McCann, Longtime Head Librarian of Sandusky Library

Mary McCann was a 1923 graduate of Sandusky High School, and served as the secretary-treasurer of her class. A verse next to her senior picture in the 1923 Fram read, “She was as tidy as a cherry blossom and her steady, frank , blue eyes looked out from the intrepid depths of an unshadowed soul.” Miss McCann was a graduate of the Western Reserve University, now known as Case Western Reserve University.

The Sandusky Star Journal of June 9, 1939 reported that Mary McCann had been appointed the Head Librarian of the Sandusky Library effective September 1, 1939. During her tenure, around1949, the library acquired a Bookmobile that took library books out to residents of Erie County who were not served by other libraries. The Bookmobile was in operation through the early 1970s.

During World War II, Miss McCann served as a Junior Hostess at the U.S.O. in Sandusky. For many years, she was often the featured speaker at Sandusky area clubs and civic organizations. Her professional accomplishments were recognized in several professional library periodicals, especially regarding the popular film showings at the Sandusky Library in the 1940s and 1950s. In the February 19, 1954 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News, Miss McCann stated that there had recently been a shift from reading for pleasure to reading for information. She said, “ The old idea of a library as a place where women and children got story books to read has gone out with ‘Silence’ signs. Nowadays people call for useful information, questions, how to make or do things, facts, technical books, and so on. However a good book, read for pleasure, is still the library’s greatest gift to its patrons.”

Miss McCann retired as Head Librarian of the Sandusky Library in 1976. On June 19, 1991, she passed away at the Huron Health Care Center. She was buried at Oakland Cemetery, near her parents, James and Lizzie (Kratz) McCann. Miss McCann had been one of the founding members of the Erie County Historical Society. She was a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, the College Club, Women's Civic Club, the Harlequins, Ohio Library Association, North Central Arts Council, Sandusky Federation of Women's Clubs, and the Sandusky Business Women's Club.

Miss McCann is pictured below with several other Sandusky Library staff members in the 1940s.

Garment Care in Sandusky

The 1896 Sandusky City Directory lists a variety of businesses which advertised services that helped area residents maintain their clothing. While we not know the specifics of what types of renovation were offered, four individuals were listed as "Clothing Renovators": John Conley, Louis Dietz, John M. Fox, and Mrs. Otto Peter.  Businesses which offered to dye clothing in 1896 were: Burt Moskovits, C. F. Rathke, and Waibel & Knoebel. Three laundries appeared in the 1896 City Directory: Beilstein & Pfanner, Henny Frank, and Till & Wagner. Ten merchant tailors and dozens of dressmakers were also included in the 1896 Sandusky City Directory.

By 1919, C.A. Rathke had expanded his business to a dry cleaning and dyeing works. Mr. Rathke also made suits to order. Mr. Rathke was a tailor in Sandusky for many years.

In 1906 Henry Beilstein and Philip Pfanner were the proprietors of the Beilstein Steam Laundry at 630 Market Street. In later years, there were Dry Cleaning establishments owned separately by the Beilstein and Pfanner families.

The people in the photograph below are not identified, but notes on the back of the photo state that some of the last names of the people pictured are: McLaughlin, Ryan, McCann, and Conley. The Sandusky Dyeing and Cleaning Works was on East Park Street in the 1890s.

By the 1950’s, there were several dry cleaners in Sandusky. The Sun Way Dry Cleaners offered “One Hour Martinizing” at its East Market Street location in the Hubbard block.

There were many more laundries and dry cleaners in Sandusky for which we do not have photographs. The Mahala Steam Laundry operated in Sandusky for many years, with various owners and locations. Visit the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library to view historical city directories. The historical city and county directories will provide information about the citizens and the businesses of Sandusky and Erie County dating back to the nineteenth century.

Sandusky Library’s Bookmobile

From the late 1940s through the 1980s, the Sandusky Library operated a Bookmobile to bring library services to rural areas and housing developments in Sandusky and Erie County. Pictured above in this 1949 photo in front of the Erie County Courthouse are:  Ray Speers, County Commissioner; Mary McCann, head librarian; Mrs. Leland Spore, president of the Library Board of Trustees; L.G. Parker, County Commissioner, and Robert Crecelius, County Commissioner. Though Miss Mary McCann was the Head Librarian, on occasion she worked on the Bookmobile. She is the first person on the left on this interior view of the Bookmobile.

Area residents of all ages enjoyed the convenience of checking out items on the Bookmobile! 

Though we no longer have a Bookmobile, anyone with a Sandusky Library card can get free and easy delivery of books, streaming videos, music and recorded books through Clevnet's eMedia offerings and Hoopla. Check out the Quick Start guides at the home page of the Sandusky Library to learn more about getting started with digital downloads.

In Celebration of National Library Week

The Library Association of Sandusky was incorporated in Ohio on November 4, 1895, and has provided free library service to residents of Erie County ever since.  For more history of Sandusky Library, visit the library’s website. In honor of National Library Week, here are some pictures of readers and library patrons from the collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Three young ladies are seen reading in the back of a truck in front of the library in 1926.

In the early 1950s, the Follett House was home to Home Economics classes from Sandusky High School.  These young readers were a part of the early education unit of the Home Economics class.

Long time Head Librarian Mary McCann sometimes worked on the Bookmobile.

We do not know the exact date of this picture, but notes on the back indicate that these women and girls were all members of Mrs. Emrich’s Reading Club.

Besides tradional books in hard copy, Sandusky Library now offers books for your Smart Phone, Kindle, or tablet, and eBooks for your mp3 player.  Click on the eMedia link on the Sandusky Library’s home page to get started.

A Look Back at Sandusky Library Staff Members in the Twentieth Century

In the historic photograph collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center are several vintage pictures of staff members of the Sandusky Library throughout the years. Pictured above are several employees of the library standing on the steps in front of the Adams Street entrance in 1914. In the undated picture below, staff members are enjoying a picnic outside the library.

In the picture below, three young women are reading books on the back of a truck on Adams Street, in front of the Sandusky Library, around 1926. They may be promoting reading for a community event.

This  picture of Sandusky Library employees in the 1940s included notes that listed their names.

In the front row are: Marjorie Owings, Esther Moreland (Rowland), Barbara Pitcher, Mary Zeitzheim (Tone.)  In the back are: Susan Stoffler, Eleanor Millott, Mary McCann, Ruth Schaefer, and Jane Murschel Andersen.

Below, Miss Mary McCann, longtime director of the Sandusky Library, is checking out books in the library’s Bookmobile in the 1940s or 1950s.

Today Sandusky Library patrons are able to download ebooks, music, and access movies on a computer or mobile device, and the Sandusky Library’s Facebook team  posts pictures from library events on the Library’s Facebook page. Visit the home page of the Sandusky Library to learn more about our many services.

Sandusky Post Office

From 1857 until 1927, the Sandusky Post Office was at the southwest corner of Columbus Avenue and West Market Street. An annex building was just west of the Post Office on Market Street. Here are some of the earliest mail carriers in Sandusky, from about 1896:

Front row: Mose Doyle and John Gilbert. Middle row: James McCann, Adam Rice, Gust Heiberger. Back row: Henry Schimminger, John Schaub, Charles Schoepfle, and William Twigs.

Former Librarian Miss Mary McCann donated this picture of mailmen posed inside the Post Office Annex building in about 1912.

The men in the photo are: Harry Schimminger, Jim McCann, Tim Ryan, John Schaub, Harry Gosser, Charles Schippel, Charles Schoepfle, Ed Ernst, Dan Schwab, Roman Ott, Jimmy Davis, Bill Twiggs, and Louis Holzhauer.

A new Post Office opened at the intersection of Jackson Street, West Washington Street, and Central Avenue in 1927. This facility was in operation until 1987, when a new Post Office building opened on Caldwell Street. The Merry Go Round Museum is now located at the site of the former Post Office.

You can read more about postal service in Sandusky in Article 68 of From the Widow's Walk, by Helen Hansen and Virginia Steinemann.

Charging Desk at the Sandusky Library in 1941

Below is the blueprint for the wooden charging desk which served the Sandusky Library from 1941 through the early 1980’s. The desk was purchased from Gaylord Brothers in Syracuse, New York, but was customized to meet the needs of the Sandusky Library.

An article in the August 31, 1941 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News reported that new furniture for the Sandusky Library was purchased as a result of a monetary gift bequeathed to the library by Mrs. Clifford King in her will. Along with the new charging desk, new reading tables and bookshelves were also purchased. Some of the furniture that had been used in the library prior to 1941 had originally been in use when the library was still in the Masonic Temple. At the new charging desk, books were returned at the left side of the desk, and checked out at the right side of the desk. A feature of the desk was a modern filing system, which allowed employees to sort the cards according to fiction and nonfiction. A multi-functional pencil allowed library personnel to manually write down the library patron’s library card number, and a metal device held the date due stamp, which was stamped on the slip in the back of every book that was circulated. The dates had to be manually re-set every day the library was open.

Sandusky Library’s charging desk is pictured above, in 1977. During much of the lifetime of this desk, the library did not have air conditioning. Summer days could get quite warm inside the library. In the 1960’s patrons were limited to four books, and usually no more than two books on a particular topic could be charged out.

Library personnel in the photograph below (taken prior to 1941) include: Marion Neil, Dorothy Keefe, Evelynn McDowell, Yvonne Fievet, and Mary McCann. Miss McCann is seated to the right, in front of the other four librarians. Miss Fievet and Miss McCann spent many hours at the charging desk during their long tenures at the library.