When M.J. Bender opened a grocery store at the southwest corner of Monroe and Hancock Streets in Sandusky on February 18, 1891, a newspaper ad stated that it was “one of the finest and largest grocery stores in Sandusky.” Bender’s carried a full line of fancy and staple groceries, flour, and feed. The store was located on the site of Ohly’s old stand. By 1908 Mr. Bender moved his store to the corner of Hancock and Water Streets. For a brief time, sometime between 1910 and 1920, Wendt’s grocery was at that location.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the Lazarra and Maschari families ran a fruit market on this site. From at least 1940 through 1960, Otto’s Ice Cream was in business at 701 Hancock Street. This advertisement appeared in the Sandusky Register Star News on January 25, 1946.
By 1990 a flooring business was in operation at 701 Hancock Street.
Many different businesses have been in operation at this busy Sandusky intersection. Some years, no business was at this location. To learn more about any specific location in Sandusky, visit the Sandusky Library to view historic Sandusky city directories. The street listings are helpful in determining what businesses were at what address at a given time.