Middle Bass Club (Present)
The Middle Bass Club today contains twenty six family cottages of which the majority were the original structures built on the William Rehberg Subdivisions over a hundred years ago. The oldest cottage built by Francis Pilgrim Isherwood was completed in 1874 at the time the Original Club House was built within the Toledo and Lake Erie Boating and Fishing Association. Francis Pilgrim Isherwood’s cottage and the Original Club House were moved from their original, prominent locations to make way for a bigger, grander Club House and a larger, more ornate member cottage around 1882. Thankfully, the oldest cottage of Francis Pilgrim Isherwood is preserved and enjoyed today by a family at its location on Grape Avenue.
First Middle Bass Club Cottage, as it looks today in 2021. Photograph by Marie Rader
Unfortunately, both the Original and New Club Houses were eventually torn down so the location in the Grove (New Club House) and William Rehberg’s 1st Addition lots 36 and 37 (Original Club House) are empty. The “Grove” where the Club House once stood is a park with access to Lake Erie to the south, west and north sides. It’s remains an amazing place from which to view the Lake Erie sunsets and spectacular sky post sunset.
Sunset View from the Middle Bass Club’s Grove, 2021. Photograph by Marie Rader
The only hints of the past life of the Toledo and Lake Erie Boating and Fishing Association, besides member cottages, are pieces of the Club Dock and seawall (that only show when the Lake Erie water is low), concrete patches in the Grove from the Club House, big sandstone sidewalks along Grove Avenue and Grape Avenue, cottage sidewalks that stand alone in the grass because a cottage burned or was torn down and a few pieces of the Delco system.
Original Middle Bass Club Dock sections, as seen in 2021. Photograph by Marie Rader
Midde Bass Club Dock and Sea Wall pieces, as seen in 2021. Photograph by Marie Rader
Middle Bass Club Dock and Sea Wall pieces, as seen in 2021. Photograph by Marie Rader
Middle Bass Club House foundation pieces in the Grove in 2021. Photograph by Marie Rader
Middle Bass Club walkway in 2021 leading to a cottage that once existed but decades prior it was either torn down or burned. Photograph by Marie Rader
Thankfully, one original structure remains on the Middle Bass Club grounds: a brick Pump House built in 1900 sits on the western most point in the grove. Because of the Pump House’s location, it’s the first thing on Middle Bass Island that you see when you ride over on the Miller Ferry to Middle Bass Island…
Middle Bass Club’s Pump House in 2021. Photograph by Marie Rader
Being a present member of the Middle Bass Club, I completely understand why the Toledo and Lake Erie Boating and Fishing Association chose this location; it is an incredibly special place to many people: past, present and future.
Video: Unearthing the Toledo and Lake Erie Boating & Fishing Association's Club Houses, 2023
In this video, archaeologist Dr. Jarrod Burks, Director of Archaeological Geophysics at Ohio Valley Archaeology, Inc., describes where the Lake Erie Boating & Fishing Association's 1st and 2nd Club Houses were located on Middle Bass Island in Lake Erie.
Credits: Dr. Jarrod Burks, Brian Betz, Laura Whitney Reitz, Dr Martin Taliak & Marie Rader
Aerial videos
Middle Bass Club from the air, 2019. Credit: Todd Rader
Middle Bass Club Drone footage, 1 of 3. Credit: Charlie Reitz
Middle Bass Club Drone footage, 2 of 3. Credit: Charlie Reitz
Middle Bass Club Drone footage, 3 of 3. Credit: Charlie Reitz
References
1. Articles of Incorporation and Constitution and By-Laws of the Middle Bass Club, 1895.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Middle Bass Chapel Association Record Book.1881-1908.
5. Constitution & By-Laws, The Middle Bass Club, Historical Sketch,1902.
6. Clark Waggoner. History of the City of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio. New York: Munsell & Company, 1888.
7. Constitution & By-Laws.
8. Articles of Incorporation and Constitution and By-Laws of the Middle Bass Club, 1895.
9. Constitution & By-Laws.
10. Ibid.
11. The Middle Bass Club Compendium of Newspaper Articles and Historical Documents 1874-1950, Dr. Martin Taliak.
12. Edward L. Strater. "A Short History of the Middle Bass Club, 1874-1964." In The Middle Bass Club Compendium of Newspaper Articles and Historical Documents 1874-1950, Dr. Martin Taliak. Note: same source for 12, 14, 15, 18. It's an article within Dr. Taliak's Compendium book.
13. Lisa Fine Collection, Circa. 1920.
14. Strater, "A Short History of the Middle Bass Club, 1874-1964."
15. Ibid.
16. Maggie Kinsey Wood, "Oral History" documented by Marie Demer Rader (2018-2021). Note: same source for 16, 17, 20 (2018-2021).
17. Ibid.
18. Strater, "A Short History of the Middle Bass Club, 1874-1964."
19. Margaret Mennel, Personal Diary (2009-2010), received from her son David Bailey in an email that was "quoted."
20. Maggie Kinsey Wood, "Oral History."