Page 21 - Leisure Living Magazine Autumn 2019

A New Exhibit At Maritime Museum
Focuses On The Coal Industry
By JD Noll, Feature Writer
Not many realize the importance of the coal and railroad industries to the city of Sandusky. During its formative years and today, they are leading industries according to John May, Executive Director of the Maritime Museum of Sandusky.
The museum is a treasure chest of historically significant maritime artifacts and nautical displays. This year, celebrating the museum’s 25th anniversary, a new permanent exhibit has been created which emphasizes the magnitude of coal shipping as it relates to Sandusky and its harbor. “In addition to a brief film, visitors will see an operational scale model of the rail yard and coal dumper of Pier #3 on Sandusky’s western waterfront and the city skyline,” May emphasizes.
Since the late 19th century, coal mined in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky was shipped by rail directly to Sandusky to then be transported by lake freighters to Midwestern steel mills throughout the Great Lakes. “Most of the coal shipped out of Sandusky today is not the combustible ‘steam coal’ mixture of decades ago. It is primarily metallurgic coal used as an ingredient in high carbon steel, which then becomes a part of the equipment used to produce solar and wind energy,” May emphasizes. “As domestic steel production goes up so does the
need for coal. Sandusky evolved
as a natural shipping port due
to its maritime geography and
proximity to major rail lines
and between industrial cities
of Toledo and Cleveland, and
others throughout the region.”
Coal has remained one product
that has stood fast, and is still
the driving force in keeping lake
shipping at the forefront for
Sandusky.
a 24 year career in the
Marine Corps, and a six
year teaching stint. On
the Sandusky Maritime Association’s Board of
Trustees for five years,
May was appointed
recently to the position
of Executive Director.
He’s excited to share
his love of the area
with others and gives
credit to his volunteers
and the people he
encounters daily as
well as the museum’s
strategic partners like
Shores and Islands and the railroad.
Admission fees to any museum are not enough to sustain it, so other activities are necessary. For the 15th year, the museum’s annual fundraiser the “Big Splash Raffle” was held in August. It raises nearly 60% of the museum’s revenue for operating expenses, educational programs, summer camps, and more.
Please visit the Maritime Museum of Sandusky, 125 Meigs Street, Sandusky, OH 44870, 419.624.0274, www.sanduskymaritimemuseum. org.
Passionate about Lake Erie, May who was born and raised in the Sandusky area, was a natural to return home after
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Sandusky has evolved as a natural shipping port.
John May, Executive Director of the Maritime Museum of Sandusky
Autumn 2019 LeisureLiving | 21