Late 1880s Hotel/Clubhouse with Cellars

In the late 1800s, the wealthy of northern Ohio sought refuge from the summer heat in small communities along the south shore of Lake Erie and on some of the nearby islands. The Middle Bass Island Club was one of these communities. With about three dozen summer "cottages" (these are medium-to-large Victorian homes lacking central heating and kitchens), a large clubhouse, a boathouse, and a large dock for medium size steamers, the club was high-brow enough that it was visited by three sitting U.S. presidents. A large clubhouse served as a hotel for guests and the dining hall for the community. The first clubhouse, built in the 1870s, was quickly outgrown, so about 1881 the "old" building was literally picked up off of its foundation piers and moved up the road, leaving behind a cellar that was filled in. The second and larger clubhouse, a two-to-three story affair, was then erected just a couple dozen feet to the north; again it stood on piers and had a small cellar. The club was nearly abandoned in the 1930s and eventually the big clubhouse was torn down. Today, many of the houses remain standing, with updated kitchens and bathrooms, and the former site of the clubhouse is a park-like, privately owned area.

The second clubhouse built circa 1882	President Taft and some other Gentlemen on the dock
In the three slices above, each about 30 cm thick, a variety of different features are visible--none of which can be seen on the surface today. In the shallow slice, some pipes and roads or paths are evident. In the middle slice, ceramic pipes are visible on the right and the foundation piers of the clubhouse have appeared, as well as two cellars. In the deepest slice the cellars are the clearest. The cellar on the bottom, which has a stair leading out of it to the right, belonged to the first clubhouse built in the 1870s. The second, rectangular cellar was underneath/adjacent to the kitchen of the second clubhouse built in the early 1880s.
In this view the radar data in the clubhouse area is positioned on a map of the southern end of the club. Many of the houses are still standing today, though the dock and the dockhouse are now gone and the seawall has succumbed to the relentless bashing of Lake Erie's winter storms.