Toledo, << tuh LEE doh >> (pop. 270,871; met. area pop. 606,240), is an industrial and transportation center in northwestern Ohio. It also serves as a major Great Lakes port (see Great Lakes). Toledo lies on both banks of the Maumee River. At Toledo, the river widens into Maumee Bay at the western end of Lake Erie. For many years, the city was a key glass-manufacturing center and was often called the Glass Capital of the World. However, several of the firms that specialized in glassmaking now make other kinds of products.
The first permanent white settlers in what is now the Toledo area arrived in 1817. The settlers chose the site because of its location on the Maumee River. The city was named for Toledo, Spain, but no one knows why.
Description.
Toledo, the county seat of Lucas County, covers 84 square miles (217 square kilometers). Its downtown area lies along the Maumee River. The port is on Maumee Bay.
Institutions of higher education in Toledo include the University of Toledo. The Toledo Museum of Art includes one of the largest collections of rare glass objects in the world. Toledo is also the home of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Opera. The Toledo Zoo ranks among the finest zoos in the United States. Promenade Park stretches along the riverfront. Concerts and other events are held in the park during the summer. Several historical monuments are located near the city. They commemorate General Anthony Wayne’s victory over Indians in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 and General William Henry Harrison’s defeat of British forces in the War of 1812 (1812-1815).
Economy.
Most of Toledo’s workers are employed in service industries. Many of these people work in hospitals. Others are employed in retail trade. Many of the city’s workers hold jobs in manufacturing. The chief manufactured products are glass products, motor vehicle parts, and motor vehicles. Several large corporations make their home in the metropolitan area.
The port of Toledo handles millions of tons of cargo every year. Coal and iron ore are the leading products shipped. Other products include grain and petroleum. Toledo is one of the leading U.S. Great Lakes ports in the handling of international cargo. Toledo Express Airport serves Toledo and the surrounding area.
Government.
Toledo has a mayor-council form of government. The voters of the city elect a mayor and 12 council members, all to four-year terms. Six districts each elect a council member, and six members at large are elected by the city as a whole.
History.
Erie Indians lived in the Toledo area before Europeans came there. In 1615, Étienne Brulé a guide for the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, became the first European to see the area (see Brulé, Étienne). In 1817, land speculators established a settlement on the site of Fort Industry, a stockade built about 1795. They called this settlement Port Lawrence. Port Lawrence and the nearby village of Vistula united in 1833 to form Toledo. The community received a city charter in 1837.
The city’s growth as a transportation center began in 1836, when railroads first reached Toledo. The Wabash and Erie Canal in Indiana and the Miami and Erie Canal in Ohio began operating during the 1840’s. They had a joint outlet in Toledo. The city, with its natural lake port, became an important water gateway to the West (see Lake Erie).
In 1888, Edward Libbey, a glass manufacturer from East Cambridge, Massachusetts, brought skilled workers to the Toledo area and founded the Libbey Glass Company. He was later joined by Michael Owens. The glass industry helped increase the city’s population from 3,829 in 1850 to 131,822 in 1900. An automobile plant opened in 1908. By 1930, 290,718 people lived in the city.
In 1950, Toledo had about 303,600 people. The population grew rapidly in the next decade and reached a peak of 379,104 in 1960. The population declined through the rest of the 1900’s and the first two decades of the 2000’s. In 1987, SeaGate Convention Centre (now called Glass City Center), a convention hall, opened in downtown Toledo. In 2002, a minor league baseball stadium opened in the downtown area’s Warehouse District.
