In September of 1928, a dance pavilion was constructed on the Hicksville-Defiance Pike (State Route 18 today), to be known as the Sunset Gardens. The location was about 2 1/2 miles east of Sherwood and the man behind the idea was Charles W. Seibert.
**Charles Siebert is in the back row of this family photo. He is the young man in the center with his hair parted in the middle.
Charles William Seibert was born on September 4, 1884, in Hicksville, Ohio, to George J. and Charlotte (Miller) Seibert who operated a boarding house or hotel there. Charles married Gertrude Wilson on June 1, 1907, with whom he had two children: Helen, born in 1909, and Robert Miller Seibert, born in 1911. The family lived with his parents in Hicksville at the time of the 1910 census and they were in the theatrical trade, trying to work in vaudeville.
Sometime after the birth of Robert, the second child, Charles and Gertrude divorced and Charles headed for the U.S. Navy and New York City. Gertrude stayed in Hicksville with his parents. Always interested in the field of entertainment, Charles lived at the dance hall while it was constructed and in the 1930 census was listed as the manager of an amusement park.
The front page of the Defiance Crescent-News on July 31, 1928:
Once opened in early 1929, the dance hall proved to be a very popular spot for drinking and dancing . Soon it began to bring in bands from all around. In 1929, WOWO, Ft. Wayne, broadcast music from Sunset Gardens.
Occasionally, trouble ensued among the customers. One newspaper report in 1929 reported drunkenness charges against Bernard, Virgil and William Carpenter, brothers. They all were charged $5 on the charge. Bernard declared that he was not drunk or involved in any way, but he paid just to end the matter.
In August,1930,tragedy struck when the dance hall caught fire and was completely destroyed. The Defiance Crescent-News reported on August 16, 1930 on page 1:
"FLAMES RAZE SUNSET GARDENS.
SCHEUERMAN SUMMONS FIRE MARSHALL'S DEPUTY, SUSPECTING INCENDIARISM IN $12,000 BLAZE
Suspecting an incendiary, Fire Chief John Scheuerman has summoned Deputy State Marshall C. O. Figgins, West Unity, to come this afternoon to investigate fire which at 2 a.m. today razed Sunset Gardens, a dance hall on the Hicksville-Defiance Pike, two and half miles east of Sherwood.
Owner Charles Siebert, reached by telephone at the Wellington Hotel restaurant, Napoleon, where he is employed as a cook, estimated the value of the destroyed building between $12,000 and $15,000. Insurance totaling $5,000 is carried in two companies. Representatives of these companies here conferred with Chief Scheuerman before Deputy Figgins was summoned.
More than a year ago, an attempt to burn the dance hall failed. Following a investigation at that time, the case was presented to a Defiance county grand jury which returned an arson indictment against Robert Sanders, Delaware Bend, who kept his cattle near the pavilion. For want of evidence, Prosecutor Jay R. Pollock later nolled this bill. He said today he did not think Sanders had anything to do with the former attempt to fire the place.
The investigation last year was the result of a $25 blaze. There was indications that oil had been sprinkled about the building and lighted, but that the fire had smothered since the building was closed and no air could reach the flames.
Firemen Harvey Hughes, Francis Beadel, and Rolla Dunn of the Defiance department took the small chemical truck to the hall this morning after an alarm was sent here from Sherwood. They said they were unable to learn any cause for the flames which were widespread by the time they arrived.
The Sherwood department was already on the job. Firemen devoted their time to checking spread of the flames through the dry grass and protecting buildings on the David Fair farm across the Hicksville-Defiance Pike. Only a motor connected with the Delto-light system was saved.
Mrs. Marie Miller who lives near by, notified the Sherwood department and spread the alarm. Defiance firemen said they talked to Carl Kuhn, Hicksville milk truck drier. Kuhn, according to the Defiance men, had driven past the dance hall a few minutes before the alarm was spread and saw nothing wrong. When about a mile and half up the road, he happened to look back, he said, and one end of the structure was enveloped in flames.
Siebert, in discussing the fire over the telephone from Napoleon, expressed the theory that possibly persons camping near to sleep there, had set the place afire. It was recalled that several months ago, Siebert, while sleeping in the dance hall, was aroused by intruders who fled when he opened fire on them. Campers are known to have been in that vicinity on Friday...
Siebert constructed the pavilion in September of 1928 and conducted dances and served dinners there during fall, winter, and spring months each year. The place was closed for the summer and changes had been made with a view to reopening in the fall."
Charles died in Hicksville on November 21, 1939 of cancer. He is buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Hicksville, Ohio.
👉 Many thanks to Dan Hasch who provided all this information on Sunset Gardens and Charles W. Seibert.Are there any photos of Sunset Gardens out there??/
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