Cask Villa – Part 1

Cask Villa was undoubtedly one of the more unique places for travelers to spend a night on the shores of Lake Erie beginning in the 1920s and into the 1960s.

Courtesy OhioLINK Digital Resource Commons

Located just west of Vermilion, the small tourist camp with cabins fashioned from discarded wine casks was a source of fascination, and as a result was featured on postcards.

Due to the novelty of its cabins, Cask Villa was also the subject of many small newspaper filler items throughout the time it was in business.

Here are a few of its appearances in newspapers around the country during the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

From the August 13, 1937 Zanesville Times Recorder

From the June 10, 1943 Akron Beacon Journal

The year 1949 seemed to be one in which Cask Villa was heavily promoted.

From the Daily Eagle of May 17, 1949

From the Austin American Statesman of May 26, 1949

From the Dayton Daily News of June 12, 1949

The “Strange As It Seems” feature as it appeared in
the St. Louis Star and Times of  August 1, 1949

(Click here to read about the “Strange as It Seems” syndicated cartoon feature.)

The year 1957 was another busy year for Cask Villa in the newspapers.

From the Alamogordo Daily News of Sept. 16, 1957

From the Clarke County Tribune of Sept. 13, 1957

From the Austin American Sun of Oct. 6, 1957

And here’s a small blurb from a year later.

For more information about the history of Cask Villa, click here to visit the Sandusky Library history blog.

Today, Cask Villa’s former location is the home of a same-named condo development.