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An Important Tool in the Early Library
The pencil dater pictured above was recently found by a member of the Sandusky Library’s administrative staff. This piece of library equipment was devised by the Milwaukee Public Library in the late...
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Judge Edmond H. Savord
Judge Edmond H. Savord was born in 1889 in Sandusky, Ohio, to Alexander J. Savord and his wife, the former Jennie Kelley. He attended both parochial and public schools in Sandusky, and graduated from...
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Famous "Visitors" at the West House
The West House was Sandusky's first "high-rise" hotel, opened in 1858 at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Water Street (now the site of the State Theatre). Its location in the heart of downtown near...
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When First Christian Church was at 1325 Hayes Avenue
Local historian Helen Hansen took the picture above of the First Christian Church in the early 1950s, when it was located at 1325 Hayes Avenue. She took another photo of the same church in 1957.The...
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John W. Stevenson, Pioneer Merchant
John Wesley Stevenson was born in Maryland in 1825 to Mathew and Jane (Gilson) Stevenson. Mathew Stevenson was a pioneer physician in Ohio. The photograph above was taken by Sandusky photographer...
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Mrs. Mary Buyer, Parochial School Teacher
Mary E. McGoldric (sometimes spelled McGoldrick) was born in Sandusky in 1843, to Irish immigrants, John and Ann McGoldric. Mary’s father and several siblings died in the Cholera epidemic of 1849. In...
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Valentines Given to Ralph Spahn
Ralph Spahn was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1891. He was the son of Fred Spahn and his wife, the former Philipine Hinkey. In the historical collections of the Sandusky Library and the Follett House...
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Thomas R. McGeachie
The photograph above, taken by W.A. Bishop, appeared on page 21 of the 1903 publication, What: Souvenir of Sandusky, Ohio and the Islands of Lake Erie. In 1903 Thomas McGeachie was a general...
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Mary Schott's Autograph Album
The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has in its collections an autograph book owned by Sandusky resident Mary Schott, with autographs collected when she was a young woman. She was born in...
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The Only Legal Execution in Sandusky
On a day in May 1840, the peaceful life in Sandusky was shattered by an unprovoked, unmotivated murder in the heart of downtown. Four months later, the murderer paid for his crime in a field on the...
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Doctors Edwin Gillard, Sr. and Jr.
The pencil sketch pictured above was done by Edwin Eugene Gillard in 1889 at around age 16, when he was a student in the Sandusky Public Schools. The son of Dr. Edwin and Ida (Stroud) Gillard, Edwin...
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A Visit from Sandusky's First Shopkeeper
On April 10, 1861, a special visitor checked into the West House hotel in downtown Sandusky; he was special enough that the desk clerk wrote a note in the guest register. After fifty years, John...
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Esther Rose Miller, Educator and World Traveler
Around 1912, Willard A. Bishop took this picture of Robert and Esther Rose Miller, who were the children of former city commissioner Charles F. Miller and his wife Rose. Robert C. Miller, about 15...
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The Spirit of the Times
In the archives of the Sandusky Library is a bound volume of a newspaper called the Spirit of the Times. It was published in Batavia, New York, beginning in 1819. You might wonder why this library in...
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Morris Platte, Baseball Star, Soldier in War, Victim of Influenza
On the left of this photograph of the Shamrocks baseball team is Morris "Baldy" Platte, star pitcher for the 1914 Sandusky city champions. He accomplished much in his tragically short life.Born in...
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Rosemary Schultz Riccardi, aka Xavora Pove
Rosemary Schultz became a talented pianist at a very young age. She was the daughter of Sandusky residents Frank and Mary Schultz. Her mother, the former Mary Walker, had been an opera singer. At the...
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Sandusky Downtown Street Fair 1960
In 1960, the downtown merchants of Sandusky hosted a street fair, which was held on July 28, 29 and 30. A committee of thirteen men planned the details for the event.Four blocks of the downtown area...
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School Children 100+ Years Ago
Pictured above is a group of children from classes 3-A and 4-B at Sycamore School in 1919. Most of the young people look very serious. While the students have not been identified, we know that Polly...
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The Tragic Life and Death of George Scudder
According to an article in the August 11, 1884 issue of the Sandusky Register, George T. Scudder took his own life on August 9, 1884. The article states that George shot himself on Friday evening, and...
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The Dorastus Snow Family and a Wartime Raid in Margaretta Township
According to the September 1860 “Firelands Pioneer,” Dorastus P. Snow was the first white settler in MargarettaTownship. He built a log house and also constructed a grist mill on Cold Creek. In 1813,...
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Sandusky and Vacationland in WPA Guides
The Federal Writers’ Project was a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s W.P.A. - known as the Works Progress Administration from 1935 to 1939, and the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to...
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John V. Brost, Marble Worker
John V. Brost was born in Germany in 1811, to Jacob and Sophy Brost. His wife was the former Christina Meck. By 1860 John and Christina Brost and several children were residing in Sandusky, Erie...
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Happy Thanksgiving
This is a repost from 2006As many of you might remember learning in grade school, the first "official" Thanksgiving was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln during the height of the Civil War, in...
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John Dean's Pew at Grace Church
This is the deed to pew number 67 in Grace Episcopal Church, issued by the parish to John Dean on August 27, 1866, granting him and his heirs the right to exclusive use of the pew in perpetuity, for a...
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Dominick Cua, War Veteran and Businessman
Dominick Cua was the son of Salvatore and Maria Cua, born in Italy in 1890. He served in the Quartermaster’s Corps during World War I. In the 1920s, he operated a billiards hall in downtown Sandusky....
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