Lutheran School

After holding classes in the old Lutheran church in Washington Park since 1891, Zion Lutheran Church dedicated a new parochial school at the southeast corner of Decatur and Madison Streets on September 24, 1899.  A diagram of the Lutheran Parochial School is visible on the 1905 Sanborn Fire Insurance map.

The builder of the school was George Feick, a member of the Zion Lutheran Church’s congregation.

George Feick was also the architect and builder of Zion Lutheran Church’s new building which was under construction at the time that the school opened. The first service in the new Zion Lutheran Church building was on November 19, 1899.

The Reverend G. Mochel of Fremont gave a sermon on “Christian Education” at the dedication of the Lutheran School. An article in the September 25, 1899 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that the school, constructed from Sandusky limestone, was “one of the finest and most complete” buildings in the city. The lot for the school had been purchased for $1000, and the schoolhouse was built for $6000. Rev. Theodore J.C. Stellhorn concluded the dedication service with prayer, and all were invited in to view the new Lutheran school.

The teachers at the Lutheran Parochial School, from 1891 to 1923, included: Emil Meyer, F. Wiechert, C.F. Knauer, G. Al Allwardt, Carl Schaub, Walter Wietzke, Frank Ruprecht, Otto Woelke, Katherine Dornbirer, Minnie Dornbirer, Lena Lehman, Ella Brehmer, Laura Bing, Elise Gerlach, Bertha Jahraus, Fannie Kahler, Clara Arheit, Katherine Feddersen and Louise Neubiser. The last year that there were students at the Lutheran School was 1923. In 1927, the Board of Education of Sandusky Schools purchased the former Lutheran School, and it became a part of the Junior High School, known for many years as Jackson Junior High School. You can see the former Lutheran School on Madison Street in this view from Google Maps. The former Lutheran school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The Ohio Historic Places Dictionary states that the Lutheran school was significant because of its role in the education of Protestants of German descent.