Wichman's Grocery

Built in 1890 at the corner of Washington and Shelby Streets in Sandusky, this two-story brick building was designed as a neighborhood grocery and still serves that purpose. Its Eastlake-style front carries a fascia board bearing the date 1890 beneath a finial, a decorative cornice with large brackets, and a stone string course. Stone drip-mold lintels and sills accent the single and double windows, dentils run above the first-floor windows, and pilasters with stone accents mark the corners. Two stone pillars flank the recessed entrance. Wooden panels under the large windows were replaced with brick around 1920. The lot was bought by Frederick Wichman in 1856, and he lived there until the 1880s, when he moved out and turned the property into a store; the earlier building was moved to make room for the present one. In 1890 Sandusky had sixty-eight independently owned grocery stores, and this is the only one that survives, still operated by the founder's descendants.