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.


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G.A.R. Encampment

1908: Toledo grabs the attention of the entire nation as the host of the official Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) 42nd Encampment, held on September 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. The Encampment included a massive parade in downtown Toledo featuring an ...…

G.A.R. Encampment Photo

Houdini Makes First Visit to Toledo

1873: Harry Houdini makes his maiden visit to Toledo at the age of nineteen with his brother Theo (aka “Dash") as the Houdini Brothers at the Curio Hall at the Wonderland Theatre, near Monroe and Summit Streets. For more Toledo history, ...…

Houdini Makes First Visit to Toledo Photo

Battle of Fallen Timbers

1794: In the culmination of the Northwest Indian Wars, General Anthony Wayne led American troops to a decisive victory against a confederation of Native Americans at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, just west of present-day Maumee. For more Toledo ...…

Battle of Fallen Timbers Photo

Wrong Way Corrigan visits Toledo

1938: Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan receives a rousing Northwest Ohio welcome when 10,000 people meet him at Toledo Municipal Airport (today called Toledo Executive Airport, renamed from Metcalf Field in 2010). For more Toledo history, visit ...…

Wrong Way Corrigan visits Toledo Photo

Suzee Pai is Born

1962: Suzee Pai, actress (Big Trouble in Little China) is born in Toledo. After appearing on Star Search in 1984, Pai began her career as a fashion model in New York City before joining the Liberty Bells cheerleading squad for the Philadelphia ...…

Suzee Pai is Born Photo

Otto Kruger is Born

1885: Otto Kruger, actor (Suspense radio show, host of Lux Video Theater, High Noon, and Perry Mason) is born in Toledo. Originally a Broadway matinee idol, Kruger established a niche as a charming villain in films, such as Hitchcock's Saboteur. He ...…

Otto Kruger is Born Photo

Owens Invents the Glass Bottle Machine

1904: Micheal Owens patents a machine that automatically manufactures glass bottles. His invention revolutionizes the glass industry and creates tremendous growth in the soft drink and beer industries, as these firms now have a less expensive way of ...…

Owens Invents the Glass Bottle Machine Photo

Frederick Douglass Visits Toledo

1864: Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth speak to a packed house at College Hall on Summit Street in Toledo. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com.…

Frederick Douglass Visits Toledo Photo

Jumbo Visits Toledo!

1880: Jumbo the Elephant makes his Toledo debut. The giant circus performer was showcased at the beginning of each performance in Ring Number One, right after the Triumphal Pageant and Grant Entrée. For more Toledo history, visit ...…

Jumbo Visits Toledo! Photo

Toledo Welcomes Amelia Earhart

1928: On July 23, 1928, Toledo throws a one-of-a-kind welcome celebration for Amelia Earhart, just one month after she became an international celebrity for being the first woman passenger to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Amelia Earhart (center) ...…

Toledo Welcomes Amelia Earhart Photo

WSPD Is On the Air!

1813: British and American Indian forces begin a one-week second siege of Fort Meigs by using subterfuge to draw the Americans out of the fort. The plan fails. 1825: Work begins at Middletown on the Miami and Erie Canal. The state legislature only ...…

WSPD Is On the Air! Photo

Toledo Scale is Incorporated

1901: The Toledo Computing Scale and Cash Register Company is incorporated, later called Toledo Scale, and known for its slogan: "No Springs, Honest Weight." 1949: The first practical rectangular TV tube is announced in Toledo. For more Toledo ...…

Toledo Scale is Incorporated Photo

Jack Kennedy Gunned Down

1933: Club owner and bootlegger, Jack Kennedy is murdered on Edgewater Drive in Point Place. It was the culmination of Mr. Kennedy's Prohibition-era battles with the Licavoli gang, led by Yonnie Licavoli. For more Toledo history, visit ...…

Jack Kennedy Gunned Down Photo

Dempsey-Willard Fight

1880: George Mullin, baseball pitcher (Detroit Tigers; no-hitter 1912) is born in Toledo. 1919: In what Jimmy Breslin wrote was the birth of the "roaring twenties," Jack Dempsey meets Jess Willard in the "fight of the century" in an 80,000-seat ...…


Swayne Field Opens

1909: Opening day at Swayne Field, Toledo's tenth home to organized baseball since 1883. Noah H. Swayne, the donor of the land, hoped to change Toledo's poor baseball image by constructing the finest ballpark the minors had ever known. Swayne Field ...…

Swayne Field Opens Photo

Jamie Farr is Born

1934: Jamie Farr, actor (Klinger on M*A*S*H, AfterMASH) is born in Toledo. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com.…

Jamie Farr is Born Photo

Marcy Kaptur is Born

1946: Marcia Carolyn (Marcy) Kaptur, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is born in Toledo. After attending St. Ursula Academy in Toledo, she graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1968 and completed a Master of Urban ...…

Marcy Kaptur is Born Photo

Roger Bresahan is Born

1879: Roger Bresnahan, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher, outfielder and manager (St. Louis Cardinals; invented shin guards and batting helmets after getting beaned in the head ) is born in Toledo. For more Toledo history, visit ...…

Roger Bresahan is Born Photo

Blanche Scott Arrives in Toledo

1910: Blanche Scott arrives in Toledo in a customized Overland runabout, fitted with its own built-in wardrobe trunk and toilet, on her way to San Francisco to become the second woman to complete a cross-country trip by automobile. For more Toledo ...…

Blanche Scott Arrives in Toledo Photo

Auto-Lite Strike Ends

1934: Auto-Lite and FLU 18384 reached a tentative agreement settling the Auto-Lite Strike. The union won a 5 percent wage increase, and a minimum wage of 35 cents an hour. For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com.…

Auto-Lite Strike Ends Photo

Battle of Chestnut Hill

1934: National Guard troops guarding the Auto-Lite plant during the 1934 Battle of Toledo, fired into the crowd while trying to push them away from the plant, up Chestnut Street—killing 27-year-old Frank Hubay (shot four times) and 20-year-old ...…

Battle of Chestnut Hill Photo

Kiwanis Club is Chartered and Jack Ford is Born

1916: The Kiwanis Club of Toledo is chartered. Known today as the Downtown Kiwanis Club of Toledo. 1947: John Marshall "Jack" Ford is born in Springfield, Ohio. After obtaining his Master's degree in Public Administration and his law degree from ...…

Kiwanis Club is Chartered  and Jack Ford is Born Photo

Dudley's Massacre

1813: On the bloodiest day of the first siege of Fort Meigs, nearly 600 men are lost to a combined force of British regulars, Canadian militia, and Native American warriors. Despite this major loss to the Americans however, many Native Americans ...…

Dudley's Massacre Photo

WDHO Goes Live!

1966: WDHO (now WNWO) TV channel 24 in Toledo (ABC) begins broadcasting For more Toledo history, visit www.holytoledohistory.com.…

WDHO Goes Live! Photo