Home >
Sandusky, Ohio
The City of Sandusky has a unique location on the Southern Shore of Lake Erie midway between Cleveland and Toledo. Sandusky offers small town living with easy access to both of these major urban areas.
Sandusky continues its downtown renaissance as a cultural and recreational destination with quality shopping, dining and entertainment for residents and visitors to enjoy. The distinctive historic architecture, beautifully-landscaped parks and friendly atmosphere offer a charm that makes Sandusky a memorable place to visit.
Sandusky History
Fort Sandusky was a British trading and military outpost established around 1794. The Native Americans inhabiting the area were the Seneca, displaced at the outset of the American Revolution. The generally accepted theory is that the name "Sandusky" is an Anglicization of the phrase "San Too Chee," meaning "cold water." A less accepted theory is that the that the city was named after a Polish fur trader by the name of Antoni Sadowski or Jacob Sodowsky.
The Greater Sandusky area was a safe haven and a new start for refugees of the Firelands refugees of the Revolutionary War in Connecticut. Norwalk, the Huron County seat (just south of Erie County) is named for Norwalk, Connecticut, as is New London, a small town south of Norwalk.
Sandusky was a major stop on the Underground Railroad. Many slaves seeking to reach freedom in Canada made their way to Sandusky, where they boarded boats crossing Lake Erie to the port of Amherstburg in Ontario.
Sandusky was the largest ice producer west of New York City during the latter half of the 19th century. Noted for its solid, "crystal blue, clear as glass" ice, the city became known as the "Ice Capital of the Great Lakes." Icemen eagerly watched the waters of Lake Erie until they froze to a depth of 8" - 16". For as long as "good ice makin' weather" held, Sanduskians endured 10 hour days of harsh winds and frigid temperatures for a daily wage of $2.
Sanduskians retrieved about 400,000 tons of ice each winter. The greater portion of the harvest was stored in some 50 sheds that dotted Lake Erie's shoreline. Sandusky provided most of Ohio's cities with ice. According to the local paper, Sandusky's "crystal quality put the murky, sewer-tainted" Cleveland ice to shame. Most of the ice was shipped across the lake as needed from a string of icehouses located on Put-In-Bay's Peach Point. But ice dealers from distant cities such as St. Louis took advantage of the cold weather and shipped their ice by rail immediately. As many as 500 ice-laden cars departed Sandusky each day during the season.
Sandusky Floral Clock
Firelands area
During the American Revolution Connecticut citizens manufactured supplies for the Continental Army. While of no strategic importance, the British tried to destroy these areas through a series of raids. The raids got out of hand and many homes, churches and schools were destroyed.
People who lost property had no insurance and no federal disaster grants to help them rebuild. An example of the destruction is found in the story of Norwalk, Connecticut. It was raided July 11, 1779 and 80 of the 86 dwellings in the town were burned. Two churches, 87 barns, 4 mills and 5 vessels were also lost in that raid. The other towns raided during the war were New London, New Haven, East Haven, Greenwich, Danbury, Fairfield, Ridgefield and Groton.
After the war, the Connecticut legislature received petitions from residents who lost property during the war. These petitioners were called "Sufferers." Their 1787 appeal was referred to a legislative committee which reported back in 1792 that they should be paid, but the state only had title to western lands. This land was part of northern Ohio now known as the Western Reserve. Connecticut's 1662 royal charter had granted land from one ocean to the other. When the western claims of various states were settled after the American Revolution, Connecticut kept only a tract 120 miles long on the south shore of Lake Erie.
Instead of paying the Fire Sufferers cash payouts, they were given a half-million acres at the west end of the Western Reserve. The claims totaled $538,495.26 in 1792 dollars and the land was allocated at a value just over $1 per acre. A major problem to be overcome was paying off the Indian tribes who owned the land and then surveying it. This took until 1808 and by then most of the Sufferers had died or had sold their claims to land speculators. Very few of the actual Fire Sufferers ever saw the Fire Sufferers Lands (a name soon shortened to Fire Lands or Firelands) in Ohio.
Thus the area became known as the Firelands.