WILLIAM ROBERTSON WHOLESALE GROCERY – THE GRANERY
149 E. Water St.
William Robertson was an immigrant from England who had been in the grocery business in his native land. Once in Sandusky he opened up a grocery business and operated it for many years from this building. In the early 1890s, George and John Esch ran a store that sold draperies and carpets at 611 and 613 Water Street. From 1898 to 1908, T.C. Adams, and later his son Robert Adams, sold flour and feed at 611 Water Street. Many local residents will recall that the Gallagher Brothers ran a granary at this location from about 1911 until 1950. The business operated as an outlet for Gallagher’s Mill in Venice, Ohio. In 1915 the street number was changed to 149 East Water Street.
From the mid 1950s to the mid 1970s the Merrill Mank Plumbing Company was in business here. For a time, Lake Erie Rusco sold storm doors and windows at this location. When it ceased being a granary, it was renovated and became a physician’s office. This building is limestone covered with mastic, a form of cement used as protection or weatherproofing of masonry. The High Victorian styling includes bracketed eaves and arched braiding over the upper windows. A signboard is indented between the upper floors. Notice the iron posts at the street door.
