This Week In Toledo History

August 18
1895 - Six prisoners escape from Lucas County jail after tying up the jailer.
1908 - Race riot reported at Camp Perry between the white waiters and the Negro cooks in the mess hall.
1921 - It’s reported in News Bee that Fred Neidhamer of 1300 block of Yates Street in Toledo has a tomato plant that is nine feet high. He calls it his “Jess Willard” plant.
1967 - A powerful explosion rocks the Sohio refinery in Oregon. Fourteen workers injured.

August 19
1888 - Oil fever continues at record pace in Wood County. Population of tiny Cygnet swells to over 3,000 residents as more oil wells are drilled and production of oil becomes a promising new industry for the region.
1906 - Feathers are flying on Colfax Street in Toledo about a noisy and talkative parrot. Neighbors say the bird is too loud. They wrote a letter to the owner: “For heaven's sake, either sell, give away, choke, or chloroform, or pulverize this squawking parrot. We can't stand him anymore.”
1924 - An alarming increase is noted in the cases of smallpox in Toledo with three more deaths on this date, making five deaths in the past two weeks.
1929 - First glider makes debut at Toledo Transcontinental Airport as thousands of spectators watch a pilot from Michigan demonstrate the motorless aircraft. It was catapulted into the air after being towed by a car.
1937 - Hundreds of fishermen flock to Maumee River between Waterville and Grand Rapids, trying to catch a large mouth bass tagged as “Oscar.” It was released into the river and is worth 50 dollars if caught.
1942 - Roth Furs in downtown Toledo features “August” fur sale with prices starting at $59 for fur coats.

August 20
1794 - Battle of Fallen Timbers is fought near the banks of Maumee River as General Anthony Wayne defeats Indian tribes for control of Northwest Territory.
1899 - Good Shepherd Church in East Toledo burns to the ground.
1912 - Annual week long Elks Carnival underway at Armory Park, but one popular show called a "Trip to the Moon" featuring scantily clad women is being shut down.
1924 - Large area of East Toledo is under quarantine after five smallpox deaths are reported.
1935 - WSPD Radio holds ceremonies at its new transmitter on Oregon Road that can now transmit with 2,500 watts a day.
1965 - The first Ottawa County Fair opens between Oak Harbor and Port Clinton.
1980 - A rare earthquake of magnitude 2.5 shakes the Western Lake Erie region from Toledo to Detroit.

August 21
1838 - Fever and ague epidemic in Northwest Ohio continues. Many in Toledo area are sick and dying.
1909 - King Wamba of Spain makes first visit to Toledo for the first annual gala called the Wamba Carnival of Toledo.
1915 - Tipped off by a phone operator, Perrysburg police ambush a carload of suspected car thieves, wounding five and capturing two others.
1937 - Inmates at Lucas County Jail go on hunger strike, protesting the food that is served.

August 22
1904 - Judge Sherman W. Lott of Toledo sets record for fastest wedding ceremony in his court by taking just four seconds to tie the knot for Frederick Hooper and Jesse Pearl Kall of Toledo.
1947 - Findlay residents complain about large and rare invasion of horseflies that have been harassing just about everyone in recent weeks. One resident says he killed more than 160 in one day at his home.
1955 - Thousands of spectators flock to the annual Water Circus and show at Scott Park pool featuring synchronized swimmers and competition diving as part of the Toledo Recreation festival.

August 23
1878 - Toledo businessman are proudly saying Toledo is now the greatest “grain center” in the world as its port has handled over 3.5 million bushels of grain since July 1st, surpassing Chicago which had recorded only 2.6 million bushels in that time period.
1917 - The Leavitt Diving Armour Company of Toledo announces it has set a deep-sea diving record of 170 feet as they recover a large cache of treasure copper from the sunken freighter “Pewabic” on Lake Huron near Alpena, Michigan.
1932 - Beebe House Hotel at Put-in-Bay is destroyed by massive blaze.
1957 - Big changes for phone users in Toledo as Ohio Bell begins changeover from old alpha-numeric exchanges to numerical-only prefixes for telephone numbers that will eventually lead to direct long distance calling.

August 24
1908 - A Toledo courtroom is filled with laughter when 24 people are arrested for running a “disorderly house” on South Erie Street. The accused perform a “minstrel show” to the delight of the court.
1951 - A very special train takes 750 people from the Elmore area on a ride to Toledo using the old NYC tracks. This was the last time a passenger train would be run on the historic tracks.

1986 - A fuzzy image of Jesus said to be visible on side of soybean silo at Fostoria, thousands of people line up to see the vision. The image becomes nationally famous as “Soybean Jesus”.