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The popular eatery Joe Sundae’s has been in operation
at the northeast corner of Shelby and West Washington Streets since 2007, but
this commercial property has been home to several other businesses since the
1850s. Ellie Damm wrote in her book Treasure
by the Bay that Henry Lotz had this building constructed between 1850 and
1852, along the edge of the Old Plat of the city of Sandusky, and ran a grocery store at this location
for over thirty years. Below is a portion of page 61 from Hellrigle’s 1876
Sandusky City Directory. This listing states that Henry Lotz resided at the
same address as his grocery store.
After Lotz died in 1887, a variety of different businesses
were located in this historic brick structure. It was briefly a millinery shop.
For a time, Mr. Lotz's granddaughter Myrtle L. Meagher had her piano studio on the
upper floor. In the early 1920s the Maschari Brothers had their fruit store
here, before moving to the current location. On Friday, April 17, 1925, a Kroger’s store opened at 1119 West
Washington Street. Bread sold for ten cents a loaf, and flour was $1.35 for
twenty four and a half pounds.
The Kroger’s store was in business at
1119 West Washington Street until the early 1940s. (In 1932 there were seven
Kroger stores in Sandusky.)
From 1945
until about 2005 Cronin’s Tavern was at this location. Dan Cronin had a tavern
on West Market Street before moving to this location. Later the proprietor of
Cronin’s was Bee Bumgardner. In 1964 Cronin’s customers were entertained by
Adrian “Foxey” Fox on drums and Phyllis Kromer at the piano and organ. During
the 1960s a large advertisement for P.O.C. pilsener beer was painted on the Shelby Street side of Cronin’s Tavern. You
can see a picture of Cronin’s Tavern on page 72 of Ellie Damm’s book Treasure by the Bay. The building at
Shelby and West Washington has seen
thousands of local residents pass through its doors through its many years of
existence in our community.
