Engels And Krudwig Wine Company Buildings

Along East Water Street in Sandusky, a long limestone building records more than seventy years of winemaking. The Water Street front has three sections: the original winery of 1863, a pedimented center section of 1900 with a round-arched entry, and a 1934 section with tall windows and stone pilasters. Behind them, two-story additions from 1885, 1900 and 1934 form a modified L. Jacob Engels founded the winery, and the firm became Engels and Krudwig Wine Company in 1878. It was the largest and best known of over twenty German-immigrant wineries in the area and is the last bonded winery left in Sandusky. The 1885 additions reused cast iron columns and timbers from demolished buildings and used early steel I-beams and brick arches, while the 1934 work used reinforced concrete. Inside, the cellar holds about 25,000 gallons of storage with many original casks, and wine presses remain on the second floor. Family descendants ran the business until 1961.