Downtown Sandusky Historic Walking Tour

Southwest Corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street

Although mail service began in Sandusky in 1820, no official post office building existed in the community until 1854 when the U.S. Treasury Department purchased the corner of Columbus Avenue and West Market Street. Continue Reading >

109 - 119 East Water Street

Built in 1849 by W.H. Caswell, the Phoenix building was so named because it “rose from the ashes” of an earlier building that had burned. Continue Reading >

Northeast Corner East Washington Street and Columbus Avenue

Halsey C. Post, Lucius W. Lewis and James B. Radcliffe purchased the corner lot on Columbus Avenue and East Water Street in 1866 and built a three story Romanesque style building of limestone with a brick façade to house their grocery and ship chandlery. Continue Reading >

133 - 143 East Water Street

From 1817 until 1852 the first wood frame building in Sandusky sat on this site. Continue Reading >

Southeast corner of Jackson and Market streets

The Rieger Hotel was opened by businessman John Rieger in 1912. A fifth floor was added in 1917 to increase the number of rooms in the hotel. Continue Reading >

Northwest Corner of West Market Street and Columbus Avenue

In 1864 Henry Ritter established a cigar factory on the second floor of the northwest corner of Columbus Avenue and West Market Street above a bank where the Bertsch Jewelry Store is today. Continue Reading >

314 West Market Street

Although the Sandusky Register building was built in the early 1920s, the Register traces its history back to the early 1820s. Continue Reading >

Corner of Jackson and West Market Streets

The Schade Theater opened in 1915. The owner was Sanduskian George J. Schade. According to the local newspaper, the Star-Journal, the theater cost an estimated $100,000, a very substantial sum at the time. Continue Reading >

Foot of Columbus Avenue

Standing at the foot of Columbus Avenue, the view is little changed in the last 100 years. The plaza itself is reconstructed with a new fountain and reminiscent of the open plaza that existed here a century ago. Continue Reading >