Here in Toledo, we love our pets! Like Detroit and Cleveland, its industrial neighbors to the north and east, Toledo has been buffeted by changes in the American economy over the years. At the height of production during World War II, there were 16,000 people working in the local Jeep plant making vehicles for the U.S. military. After years of automation and consolidation of ownership in the auto industry, the Jeep workforce is below 6,000 today.
But the factory—which has partnered with or been owned by American, French, German and Italian interests since the 1970s—is has been rebuilt and is still operating. Jeep remains a name tied to the history and image of Toledo.
The city on the western shore of Lake Erie is on Ohio’s northern border with Michigan, but there was a time when that border was disputed. Mapmakers following instructions from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 alternately placed Toledo and the mouth of the Maumee River in Ohio or Michigan. The dispute escalated until Ohio officials were arrested and a Michigan sheriff was stabbed. Congress eventually settled what became known as the Toledo War by placing Toledo in Ohio and giving Michigan it's Upper Peninsula.
Lake Erie is a commercial and recreational resource. About 10 million tons of coal, ore, grain and other cargo pass through the Port of Toledo annually. Just a few miles away, Maumee Bay State Park offers 1,300 acres of beaches, boating, fishing, and other activities. Toledo isn’t prone to the lake-effect snow that hits the eastern end of Lake Erie; an annual snowfall of 31 inches is only slightly above the national average.
Toledo has been known as the “Glass City” since the late 1800s when Edward Drummond Libbey relocated his glass-making company from New England. Libbey Inc., which makes glassware and tableware, is still headquartered there. So is Owens-Illinois, which makes glass containers. The Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion—its exterior walls are all glass—houses a renowned glass collection.
The city also is known for its minor-league baseball team, the Toledo Mud Hens, which was popularized by native son Jamie Farr on the 1970s TV series, “M*A*S*H.” Farr’s character would talk often about his hometown. He also made a tourist attraction out of Tony Packo’s, a restaurant whose celebrity visitors autograph hot dog buns.
Toledo is home to nearly 275,000 people, making it the fourth-largest city in Ohio and the 75th-largest in the United States.