Toledo Time Travels

Toledo Time Travels is your source for the Toledo story—past, present, and future. We host engaging conversations about local history venues, long heard about but rarely seen spaces, Glass City artifacts, and historical preservation.

Toledo Diocese is Erected

1910: Pope Pius X erects the Toledo Diocese in territory taken from the Diocese of Cleveland. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com.…

TPD is Born and Fiberglas Tower is Topped Out

1867: The Ohio Legislature creates a full-time police force in Toledo and the city marshals are released from their duties. 1897: Samuel "Golden Rule" Jones is elected Mayor of Toledo. 1957: The lake freighter "Champlain" is torn loose from its ...…

Fred Hartwell is Launched

1908: The 524-foot lake freighter Fred G. Hartwell is launched at Toledo Shipbuilding Company. The 514 feet long, 58 feet wide steel freighter was originally owned by Mutual Steamship Co. of Duluth, Minnesota. Mutual sold the vessel in 1915 to ...…

Fire Strikes Fort Miami Racetrack

1957: Tragedy strikes at Fort Miami Racetrack in Maumee at the Lucas County Fairgrounds, when fire races through a barn near Key Street killing 27 racehorses. More than 60 horses were turned loose and created havoc as many panicked and ran out onto ...…

The Auto-Lite Strike Begins

1934: A strike is called by the secretly organized Automobile Workers Federal Union Local 18384, American Federation of Labor, which became the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 12, against the Electric Auto-Lite company of Toledo. Anti-unionism, ...…

Willys Buys Overland Automotive Division

1908: John Willys bought the Overland Automotive Division of Standard Wheel Company in Toledo. In 1912 he renamed it Willys–Overland Motor Company. From 1912 to 1918, Willys was the second-largest producer of automobiles in the United States ...…

Cancelled Speech Causes Riots

1919: Thousands of supporters of Eugene V. Debs stormed Memorial Hall where the controversial Socialist leader was to speak. His speech was banned by city officials and a riot followed. The clash ended with 75 protesters going to jail. 1921: ...…

Selma Rubin is Born

1915: Selma Rubin, American environmental activist (Earth Day co-founder) is born in Toledo. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com…

Gloria Steinem is Born

1913: Massive flooding spread across the state of Ohio. Thousands of people are left homeless and more than 400 people perish. The Sandusky River at Tiffin came out of its banks, surging through town, carrying away homes and businesses. Nineteen ...…

Teresa Ganzel is Born

1957: Teresa Ganzel, actress (Teachers Only, Duck Factory) is born in Toledo. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com…

Libbey Breaks Ground and Woman Suffrage Association Constitution is Adopted

1888: Libbey officially breaks ground for a new glass factory in Toledo. Five months later, a special train of glassworkers and their families, together with 50 carloads of equipment, arrived in Toledo from Boston. The current Libbey glass factory ...…

The Great Sarah Bernhardt Toledo Debut

1881: French actress Sarah Bernhardt, dubbed “Divine Sarah” by her worldwide legion of fans, makes her Toledo debut at the Wheeler Opera House. 1955: Gary Louris, American singer-songwriter and musician (Jayhawks) is born in ...…

Toledo Woman Suffrage Association Constitution is Drafted

1869: A public meeting is held at Hunker's Hall (on Summit, between Madison and Adams) to draft a constitution for the Toledo Woman Suffrage Association. Many local women helped carry the banner for legal and political equality for women in ...…

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton visit Toledo

1869: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton speak at a reception held at the Superior Street home of Israel and Olivia Hall. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com…

33 Consecutive Strikes

1976: John Pezzin, a 46-year-old bowler from Perrysburg rolled 33 consecutive strikes last night in a sanctioned bowling league at Miracle Lanes. Pezzin rolled games of 259, 300 and 300 for an 859 series. For more Toledo history, visit ...…

Mammoth Snow Storm Hits Toledo

1900: During a winter storm that ended on March 1st, 22" of snow fell at Toledo. This was the greatest storm total snowfall ever in Toledo history. 14" fell at Detroit and this storm also brought heavy snowfall (10" or more) at Chicago, Cleveland, ...…

Michael Owens patents a glass-blowing machine

1895: Michael Owens patents a glass-blowing machine. Just eight years later, Owens, a self-taught inventor, propels the glass industry into the mechanical age with the introduction of the world’s first completely automatic glass-forming ...…

Stacy Lewis is Born in Toledo

1985: Stacy Lewis, American golfer (2011 ANA Inspiration and 2013 Women's British Open Champion) is born in Toledo. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com…

Kate Shindle is Born

1977: Kate Shindle, American actress, is born in Toledo. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com…

Anita Baker is Born

1958: Anita Baker, American singer (Giving You the Best That I Got), is born in Toledo. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com…

The Blizzard of 1978

1978: Over a two-day period, the Blizzard of 1978 blows into Toledo as one of the greatest storms of the century for the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. There were severe wind conditions with heavy snow for many hours. There was 12" of snow at Toledo ...…

Ed Ford is Born

1843: Edward Ford, the founder of the Edward Ford Plateglass Company which later merged with Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Company to become Libbey-Owens-Ford in 1930, is born in Greenville, Indiana. Ford was the son of “Captain” John B Ford ...…

Mark Twain Visits Toledo

1869: Mark Twain entertains a crowded White's Hall (Summit and Jackson) with his stories from The American Vandal. The Toledo Blade wrote: “White’s Hall was filled from cellar to garret, last night, by one of the best tickled audiences ...…

First U.S. All-Glass Windowless Structure

1936: The first all-glass windowless structure in the United States is completed in Toledo as the home of the Owens-Illinois Glass Company Laboratory. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com…

The City of Toledo is Chartered

1837: The City of Toledo, Ohio is chartered. Toledo's first tax levy will soon follow in April. Although the villages of Port Lawrence and Vistula voted to merge and form Toledo in 1833, Toledo, Ohio did not receive a city charter until 1827, after ...…

The King-Quale Elevator Fire

1894: The Chamber of Commerce Building, on the Southeast corner of Summit Street and Madison Avenue in Downtown Toledo, is destroyed by one of the worst fires in Toledo's history, the "The King-Quale Elevator Fire." Heavy winds drive flames from ...…

Toledo Hospital Opens

1930: The $2 million, 250-bed Toledo Hospital (a major upgrade from the old building located at Cherry and Sherman Streets, which had been in service for 35 years) opens on North Cove. Some 35 patients are moved from the Cherry Street location into ...…

Pat Brady is Born

1914: Pat Brady , American actor, known for Man from Music Mountain (1943), Down Dakota Way (1949), and The Roy Rodgers Show (1951), is born in Toledo. Early in his career, he was used for comic relief in westerns produced by Columbia and Republic. ...…

Cliff Arquette is Born

1905: Cliff Arquette, comedian (Charlie Weaver), actor, pianist, composer, and songwriter, is born in Toledo. He was a nightclub pianist, later joining the Henry Halstead orchestra in 1923. He created the character of 'Charlie Weaver' for The Jack ...…

Michael J. Owens Dies

1923: Michael Owens dies in Toledo. Born in Mason County, West Virginia in 1859, Owens left school at the age of 10 for a glassware apprenticeship in Wheeling. Within five years, he became a master glassblower. He moved to Toledo in 1888 to work ...…