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.

Henry D. Seele and the Ice and Fish News

In the 1880 U.S. Census, Henry D. Seele listed his occupation as editor of Ice and Fish News.

At this time, Mr. Seele and his wife, the former Ora Dick, lived at the West House in downtown Sandusky. The Ice and Fish News was a monthly trade newspaper, eight pages in length, established in 1872. Advances in technology led to the demise of the natural ice industry, but in the 1870s and 1880s, the Ice and Fish News informed people all over the eastern U.S. about business in the Great Lakes region. An entry in the C.A. Cooke and Co. Newspaper Directory stated that this publication was “the only paper by which advertisers can reach ice dealers, brewers, commission merchants, fish packers and dealers, oyster packers and restaurants.” This listing appeared in Rowell’s American Newspaper Directory about 1880.

In 1882 Mr. Seele was one of the proprietors of the Buckeye Business and Telegraph College, along with J.J. Dauch and H.O. Stafford. This college later became known as the Sandusky Business College. He also was the senior partner in a wholesale lake ice business at this time; the Ice and Fish News was probably beneficial for the promotion of his ice business. 

In 1884 Henry D. Seele and his family moved to Indiana, where he worked in horticulture. He died in Elkhart, Indiana in the fall of 1934. At the time of his death, he was the second oldest member of Sandusky’s Perseverance Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.