Showing posts with label Scott Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Park. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 03, 2020

Picture Postcards by Louis Pesha


Louis Pesha was a photographer who was well known for his photographs of the Great Lakes area in the early twentieth century. The Pesha Postcard Company was located in Marine City, Michigan.

Pictured below is a Pesha postcard of Scott Park in downtown Sandusky. Scott Park was the original home of the Boy with the Boot statue, along with two maids of the mist statues.



The Erie County Courthouse can be seen in the postcard below, which features a fountain in Washington Park.



The steamer G.A. Boeckling is just one of the many Great Lakes vessels photographed by Louis Pesha. The G.A. Boeckling was christened on June 12, 1909, and transported guests to Cedar Point until 1951.


Tragically, on October 1, 1912 Mr. Pesha died in an automobile accident as he was traveling to visit his childhood home in Euphemia, Ontario.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

The Early Days of the Boy with the Boot


In 1895 Sandusky hotel owner Voltaire Scott made improvements to the small park opposite his hotel, then located at the southwest corner of Water and Wayne Streets.  Mr. Scott paid for the park’s improvements himself, under the supervision of the city park superintendent. A statue of the Boy with the Boot was the focal point of the Scott’s Park. The statue had been cast by the J.W. Fiske ironworks in New York City. 

Other statues in the park included two dolphins that sprayed water and two females known as “Maids of the Mist.”  A drinking fountain at the park’s entrance was topped by a statue of a lady with an urn.

 
Scott’s Park was a favorite spot for picture taking by visitors to Sandusky as well as local residents.

    
The tornado of 1924 severely damaged Scott’s Park. In the 1930s, Scott Park was leveled, and the Boy with the Boot was moved to a fountain in Washington Park. After being vandalized in the early 1990s, the original Boy with the Boot was moved to Sandusky’s City Building, and a bronze replica was placed in the fountain. 

Here is a picture of the Boy with the Boot fountain in 1963:


The lady with the urn statue is now housed at the Follett House Museum, after having been repaired from the damage it incurred during the tornado:

    
You can read much more and Sandusky’s Boy with the Boot in Article 58 of From the Widow’s Walk, by Helen Hansen and Virginia Steinemann, as well as an article on the Sandusky Register website by Special Collections Librarian Ron Davidson.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Scott’s American Hotel

In 1865, Voltaire Scott and his father Jacob Scott bought a two story frame hotel on the southwest corner of Water and Wayne Streets. The hotel was originally known as the Steamboat Hotel, and was later known as Verandah Hotel. In the pioneer days of Sandusky, Water Street was the most northern street of the city. Sometimes the waves on Sandusky Bay were so high that they almost touched the entrance to the hotel. The old strap railroad ran right past the hotel. According to the advertisement pictured above, from the 1874 Sandusky City Directory, guests could request a feather bed, and the table was “always supplied with the best the market affords.” When Jacob Scott moved to Wisconsin in 1876, Voltaire Scott took over as proprietor of Scott’s American Hotel. An advertisement which appeared in the 1878 Sandusky City Directory stated that “Strangers and the public will find Scott’s American a pleasant home, every comfort and accommodation extended to all its patrons.”

Voltaire Scott established a park across the street from his hotel. In 1895 he installed the “Boy with the Boot” statue, along with statues of dolphins and maidens. In the evening hours, colored lights illuminated the park. The electricity was controlled by a switch in the hotel.

Mr. Scott willed the contents of his park to the city of Sandusky, along with funds to maintain it. The tornado of 1924 severely damaged Scott Park, and the statues were stored at the city greenhouse. In 1935, the “Boy with the Boot” was given a new home in Washington Park. After being damaged by vandals, the statue in Washington Park was replaced by an identical one made of bronze. The damaged statue was repaired, and is now on display at the City Hall building on Meigs street.

The hotel at the corner of Wayne and Water Streets had several different owners after Voltaire Scott’s death in 1899. The building was razed in 1923. An interesting story from the January 12, 1911 issue of the Toledo Blade reported that in 1911 a plumber who was working at the former Scott’s American Hotel found $1,300 in currency in the basement of the building. The article reported that Voltaire Scott did not have much faith in banks, so he kept his money in an old vegetable can in the basement. Eventually the money was turned over to descendants of Voltaire Scott living in Michigan at that time. Ironically, the property at the southwest corner of Wayne and Water Streets is now home to the Citizens Banking Company.