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Ottawa County Time Traveler Eastern Ottawa County Past & Present FEBRUARY 2026 |
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by Linda Higgins To say that Verdi von Thron left her mark on Port Clinton’s history would be a bit of an understatement: She was a dynamo! Agnes Verdi Cangney was born on Catawba Island on March 5, 1899, to J.P. and Rachel Cangney. She graduated in 1917 from the Oak Harbor Normal School, where her family believes she met her future husband. Verdi and Leonard Carl von Thron married on June 18, 1923, at Immaculate Conception in Port Clinton. They and their children, Joseph and Judy, first lived in Toledo, where Leonard worked as a securities salesman for the Toledo Bond Company. They often relocated with Leonard’s job (Florida, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Illinois, for example), settling on Catawba in 1938. Verdi was the Catawba Island correspondent for the Sandusky Register from 1938 through 1941, responsible for the society column. She and Leonard also operated Catawba’s Cottage Inn, inherited by Verdi's mother. Leonard became ill in August of 1939 and died in January of 1940, at age 44. He was buried in the von Thron family plot in Port Clinton’s Riverview Cemetery. Verdi, a single mother, continued running the Cottage Inn, and became deeply involved with the war effort, clubs and politics on Catawba and in Port Clinton, as well as with the county. World War II saw Verdi become County Rationing Secretary and Inspector, a member of the Ottawa County Office of Price Administration’s War Price and Rationing Board, and of the War Meat Program Committee. By 1945 she was Chief Clerk of the county’s Office of Price Administration. She remained proprietor of the Cottage Inn, leasing it during summers until 1950, when it and its parking lot were sold to Miller Boat Livery. It was razed in 1951 to become the Livery’s parking lot. In her spare time (!), Verdi was an officer and active member of numerous high-profile clubs and community organizations. She had graduated from the Bowling Green, Miami University, and Ottawa County Normal Schools, and taught on Catawba, in Port Clinton, and in Gypsum. She also taught night school for the Federation of Women’s Club. Verdi was active in Ottawa County Democrat politics as an officer of the Democratic Women’s Club; campaign co-chairman for the Charles W. Sawyer for Governor campaign; and county delegate to the Democrat State Convention, where she was invited to tea with Governor and Mrs. Frank J. Lausche. In 1950, Verdi was endorsed unanimously for Postmaster of Port Clinton by the Ottawa County Democratic Central Committee and Congressman Thomas Burke. She became acting Postmaster, President Truman nominating her shortly thereafter for the Postmaster position. The Senate confirmed her in December of 1950 and Verdi became Port Clinton’s first female Postmaster. The Daily News named her Port Clinton's Woman of the Year in 1955. Unsurprisingly, she was the first female President of the Ohio Chapter, National Association of Postmasters of the United States in 1961-62, and served as Postmaster for the State of Ohio. After she resigned her position on December 30, 1966, she continued actively in her clubs and in support of community services such as Ida Rupp Public Library. An expert bridge player, she also taught bridge and traveled. Verdi eventually moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida, with her son, Dr. Joseph C. von Thron, as her caretaker. She died on May 3, 1994, at 95 years of age, and was buried next to Leonard in Riverview Cemetery. A memorial, made possible in 1998 through generous family and community donations, took form as the Verdi von Thron Community Tennis Center at Port Clinton High School. The Tennis Industry magazine awarded “Court of the Year” to the complex in 1999. In 2003 it was renamed the von Thron-Hablitzel Tennis Center in honor of Dr. Mark A. Hablitzel and the von Throns, first cousins once removed. Verdi von Thron made quite an impact on the community, while setting a strong and loving example for her family. When her daughter, Judy von Thron, married Walter L. Burdorf, this von Thron family line ended, but her family’s admiration for her continues: Walter L. Burdorf III provided the concept and data from which this very abbreviated profile of Port Clinton’s first female Postmaster was taken. Use this link to see or share the article online: Linda |
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by Lorrie Halblaub In this series we are taking an historical look at an area that covers approximately a mile of Main Street in downtown Marblehead. Heading east from the Village limits, we will discover the facts and the stories of how Marblehead became what it is today. [This is article #11.] Heading east on Main Street from the corner of Main and Frances Street, the first building is a private home. The next area on Main Street is a public parking lot. Note there is a small unpaved road that goes from Frances Street past the home and north of the parking called Limestone Drive. There stands a garage and a beautiful two-story stone house that was built by a man named Frederick Roesling (1830-1909). He emigrated from Bavaria, Germany and came to Marblehead in 1870. At first, he built a store on the corner of Main Street and Alexander Pike, which later became Mutach’s Market. He also began quarrying. He started with a small quarry, then bought up other small quarries and consolidated them. He built a dock to move the stone by water. Frederick ran the post office from this house for a time. He also had the first telephone on the peninsula and ran the early telephone exchange. Most importantly, he was the first person to sell out his quarries in 1887 to Kelleys Island Lime and Transport Company (KILT,) the forerunner of the quarry we know today. KILT purchased Roesling’s stone house along with his quarries, and used it for employee housing.
Next to the Roesling House is a yellow brick building that started out as a hospital. Quarrying was a dangerous business. So, KILT contacted Dr. A. B. Jordan and proposed that if he would come to Marblehead, they would build him a hospital. The building was built in 1914 and many local people remember going there for care. In 1941, the hospital closed and the building was used during World War II as a barracks for the extra Coastguardsmen who patrolled the lake. After the war, it was used as offices for KILT, then for the new quarry owners, Chemstone, and then Standard Slag until 1993 when they moved their main office to Quarry Road in Danbury Township. Since then, the hospital has stood empty.
The first picture [below] of the hospital is a view of it from the side facing the lake that you don’t see from Main Street.
The second picture shows the start of the hospital being built and on the left is the Roesling house. To the right of the Roesling house in this interesting photo, are some of the homes that were moved or torn down when the James Park was created. The next building to the right was the station of the Interurban Railroad on Frances Street. That station was torn down when the motorman misjudged the turn and crashed into it. The motorman was killed in the accident and after that the interurban train used the steam train’s station on Main Street. The last building to the [far] right is the Marblehead Lifesaving Station, which was the start of the Coast Guard Station that is located at the north end of Frances Street today. You can use this link to read or share this article: Lorrie This photo should have appeared with the January article last month, Marblehead Mile #10 - Casa Roma It was included in the January blog. |
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Hidden History of Lake Erie
by Jennifer Boresz Engelking
Author Jennifer Boresz Engelking explores the intriguing history of Lake Erie. What lies below the surface of Lake Erie? Gold coins from long-ago shipwrecks, like the tragic sinking of the G.P. Griffith. The menacing, mysterious Lake Erie Monster. How about a whiskey ship that vanished more than a century ago in the western basin? The lake is filled with little-known tales, including legends like Joe Root in Erie and legendary places like the Belle Isle Boathouse in Detroit. Tragedies, like the Ashtabula bridge disaster, and triumphs, like the day Niagara Falls was turned off, changed the way we live today.
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Bill Griffeth was a longtime genealogy buff and spent more than 10 years documenting the family tree. He started as the unofficial family historian when a cousin introduced him to family history research in the summer of 2003. He had traveled tens of thousands of miles, visiting places in England and the Netherlands, where the family story's began. Retracing descendants' east-to-west migration over the next 200 years, from Europe to American, through Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. But in 2012, at 56 years old, he got the results of his DNA test and learned that he was not his father's son. As Bill finds, family histories don't give up their secrets easily. That's why genealogical research is painstaking and time-consuming when done properly. Bill now has to go back through everything he's researched and find out how he came into a family that was only partly his.  929.2097 GRIFFETH 2016 |
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Sweethearts Candy has a long history.  The heart-shaped conversation candies got their start in 1901. Sweethearts were made by the New England Confectionery Company, or NECCO, before being purchased by the Spangler Candy Company in 2018. And for Valentine's candy, only chocolate is more popular than these sweet treats. |
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Hopefully you didn't miss this great program on Saturday, Feb. 21st, at the Ida Rupp Library - Illuminating the Great Lakes: Lighthouses of Lake Erie, a special screening with WBGU and The Port Clinton Lighthouse Conservancy. From Fairport and Fairport West to Lorain, Marblehead, Port Clinton, South Bass Island, Toledo, and Vermilion – each lighthouse has a unique story. Their designs, their purposes, and the people who care for them demonstrate how much these places continue to matter today. Also included are the historians, preservationists, museum curators and lighthouse conservancy members who have brought these places to life. Their passion keeps the lights burning, not only for ships, but for all of us who love the stories, scenery, and mystery of the lake. Whether you're into maritime history, old architecture, or just want to learn something different, Illuminating the Great Lakes: Lighthouse of Lake Erie tells great stories of our great lake. Click HERE to sign up for the monthly library programing newsletter to get information on future library programs. |
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