This Week In Toledo History

Dec. 29 – Jan. 4

December 29

1873 - City of Toledo’s new public water system and supply is operating and providing clean, fresh water to homes through a system of underground pipes.

1894 - The Dayton and Michigan grain elevator in East Toledo erupts into flames, killing one workman and destroying over 600,000 bushels of corn.

1910 - A young Neapolis man is in the Lucas County jail after police say he swallowed a bullet and then hit himself in the stomach with a pan in hopes of committing suicide. He was arrested on a charge of lunacy.

1937 - Erie Isles Airways plane crashes on Starve Island. Three passengers are killed, but the pilot is rescued.

1939 - The popular Glenn Miller Orchestra performs at the Tri-anon Ballroom in Toledo.

1955 - Toledo’s only TV station, WSPD-13, features evening shows like Fun Farm, Nature Trails, Deadline 13, Gildersleeve, The Millionaire, Aurthur Godfrey and I’ve Got a Secret.

December 30

1852 - First train arrives in Toledo via the newly established Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad Company.

1890 – Post Office established in the small burg of Bays, Ohio in Wood County. Bays is now merely a ghost town of the era.

1903- The Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago kills more than 600 theater goers. Three of the victims were Toledo natives.

1918- Influenza deaths continue in City of Toledo with 350 reported to have lost lives for the year, and 6,000 cases of influenza overall.

1932 - Toledo’s mob wars continue as two booze runners, Sam Kaplan and “Speedy Lampert” are slain.

1938 - Car accident claims the life of BGSU President Roy Offenhauer.

December 31

1901 - The popular Casino theater on Maumee Bay at Point Place burns to the ground.

1924 - The ice harvest on Lake Erie underway near Port Clinton as workers are now cutting the heavy layer of ice reported to be about 8 inches thick.

1925 - Excitement building in Point Place as hundreds prepare for the Ice Yacht Races on Maumee Bay. This year will see 14 new racers on the ice.

1949 - The last trolley car runs on the streets of Toledo as the Monroe Street long-belt streetcar makes its final run. Hundreds line up to watch its end-of-the-line trek through downtown Toledo.

January 1

1897 - The new (and present) Lucas County Courthouse opens to the public.

1923 - Six thousand fans of Scott High School fill the Terminal Auditorium to listen to a special radio broadcast from state of Oregon where Scott High’s football team plays a championship game.

1931 - Depression worsens. More than 8,000 people in Toledo are on direct relief.

1937 - Point Place is officially annexed to City of Toledo.

1942 - War rationing begins. Lucas County allotted 271 car tires for entire month of January.

January 2

1910 - Toledo Policeman George Casey becomes first officer ever to arrest an entire police department when he takes the Perrysburg Marshal and a deputy into custody for fighting on an Interurban platform.

1915 - A new concept in retail butter marketing begins as Toledo's Page Dairy starts selling butter in paper cartons instead of in bulk.

1925 - Larry Weiss born in Toledo. He later changed his name to Larry Harmon and portrayed "Bozo the Clown", helping the character become an American icon.

1932 - Five top officers of Toledo’s Security Home Bank are indicted by Lucas County for swindling millions from bank depositors.

1953 - Nine inmates escape from the Lucas County jail after sawing their way through a barred window and dropping to the ground. Sheriff Timiney says he suspects an "inside" job.

January 3

1894 - Quayle Grain elevator burns to the ground in Toledo at present site of Promenade Park at Madison and Water Streets. Toledo Fire Captain James Fraser (pictured left) is killed. His body is never recovered.

1920 - A crackdown on communist radicals begins as Toledo police and federal agents raid the local Communist Labor Party headquarters at Front and Consaul Street. They arrest 13 immigrants from Hungary they alleged to be "Reds”.

1931 - Fire destroys interior of historic St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church on Cherry Street.

1956 - Horn Hardware on South Broadway destroyed by massive blaze. Extra fire units are called to scene, and TV coverage of Orange Bowl is interrupted in a call for off duty firemen.

January 4

1887 - Major train wreck near the village of Republic in Seneca County. Twenty people killed, three coach cars are burned in the tragedy. The deadliest rail crash in Northwest Ohio.

1904 - The Toledo city parks department begins annual tradition of giving all young school children horse drawn sleigh rides.

1907 - Christian Feilbach, a top Toledo Public School official, asserts that too much money is being spent on girls' physical education. He says "if girls want exercise, "let them wash dishes, cook and do the family washing."

1920 - Ohio ranked as third in production of oil in the nation behind Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. Northwest Ohio has over 21,000 wells.

1950 - City of Toledo council members consider an end to garbage incineration in favor of burying garbage in landfills.