Pictured above is a picture the Official Information Car of the Lake Shore Route Association, taken in the 1930s. The Lake Shore Route Association promoted the
Lake Shore Routeas the shortest, safest, most scenic automobile route between
Buffalo,
New York and
Chicago, Illinois. The opening of the old
Sandusky Bay Bridge on February 2, 1929 allowed automobiles to travel in a direct route from
ErieCountyto
OttawaCountyacross
SanduskyBay. The
SanduskyBayBridge was a key component of the
Lake Shore Routein the 1930s.
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In June of 1933, three members of the Lake Shore Association took an automobile tour along the Lake Shore Route, en route to the World’s Fair in Chicago. Along the way, members distributed maps and brochures promoting the SanduskyBayBridge, Cedar Point, Lakeside, and other points of interest in Erie and OttawaCounties. In 1939 the Lake Shore Route Association compiled a booklet which promoted the Lake Erie area. Highlighted were beaches, CampPerry, the Blue Hole, Cedar Point, campsites, and areas for fishing and boating.
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According to an article which appeared in the January 29, 1931 issue of the
Sandusky Register, a very early
Lake Shore Routewas built in 1808 from
Cleveland to
Sandusky. Geauga County Commissioners were instrumental in creating the plan for a road to extend from the west bank of the
CuyahogaRiver to the western most lands of the Firelands. Seven hundred dollars were appropriated for digging and the building of bridges over brooks and creeks. The contractor requested extra funds for the construction of a log bridge to be built over Old Woman’s Creek. By the 1940s, the
Lake ErieIslands region was promoted as
Vacationland. Today
Lake Erie’s Shores and Islands is instrumental in providing information about the many attractions and natural features of
Erie and
OttawaCounties.
