The History of the AB House

Before cars and airplanes or even highways, people escaped the summer heat and smog of the city by coming to the islands for fresh air and of course, wine. With no air conditioning, island visitors flocked to the hotel porches and Deisler’s Bathing Beach. It was located where the beach is today, but much larger than today. Thousands of visitors on weekend afternoons inspired Deisler to build a huge changing house. This is where he offered over a thousand bathing suits – for rent!

Directly across the street from AB Carts, stood two huge “Aerial Railways” (roller coasters). Two big hotels sprang up on Toledo Avenue. The Conlen House was built and operated for many years by a man of the same name. It got bigger and then it got smaller, it had a fire, but somehow it survived. The Episcopal Church was next to operate the property for many decades. It spawned a world famous boys’ choir. The remnants of its fieldstone porch are still visible two doors down at our friend DJ’s Ice Cream. The other big hotel was built by the guy who built the AB House, Benjamin Smith.

Benjamin L. Smith arrived here just after the turn of the 20th Century from Bellevue, Ohio. He worked for a few years and then in 1911 he bought a boarding house from Julius Wurtz with big plans about building a hotel in time for the opening of the Perry Memorial right next door. It is pictured above as the section furthest to the right. He ssaw Perry’s corner stone laid and then got to work to make his deadline. In 1912 he had room for 12 guests. In 1913 he had room for 40 guests. And in 1915 for the grand opening of the Smith Cottage and the national monument he had rooms for 150 guests! Within a few years of finishing the Smith Cottage, sometime between 1919-1924, he built a small home next door which still stands to this day and houses AB Lodging.

He did very well for about 30 years featuring an excellent combination of a room for the night and a chicken dinner all for $7.00. Later he even added harbor boat cruises.

His taxi driving son Walt who was a bit of a partier and later lost the Smith Cottage to the bank. Now, you might guess the partying taxi driver lost the hotel in a card game or something careless but that’s not it. In fact, Walt was a hard working family man who went on to run another successful hotel in town (The Smith Hotel, currently the Country House). The property was lost because Walt went to jail for his dad’s bootlegging charge! Incredible, but it is true. The bank first loaned it to a guy named Morgan for a year but that didn’t work so they sold it to a cook from the Bay View House down the road, India Boelcher, who ran it successfully as the Bashore Hotel (no misspelling) until a fire took her kitchen in 1953. The wrecking ball finished the job in 1967.

Yes, it’s true, AB Lodging Put-in-Bay is the former home of a real-life bootlegger.

The house then went on to the Reinhardts for two generations and then to the Massie family for two generations. The Massie Wildlife Preserve, in Bill Massie’s name, was recently dedicated and is open to the public on the east side of the island. Many islanders, and I, fondly recall Bill Massie. He was an old musician and a fix-it man out of necessity, just like me. Thirty years ago, at an old traditional annual island gathering, I met Bill and by chance backed him up a little on guitar. He liked it and we became friends. Many years later his family thought it fitting that the next chapter for lots 4 and 17, home to a former hotelier and bootlegger be written by Andrea and myself.

Andrea and Bobby G