Events in Toledo area over the past 150 years

Toledo History Museum

Week of Jan. 24-30

January 24th

1879 A large grain elevator on the Middle Grounds by the Maumee River burns to the ground. Over 100 thousand bushels of corn and 120,000 bushels of flaxseed are destroyed. The elevator, built in 1859 is also reduced to rubble.

1899 Toledo inventor Allen DeVilbiss patents an automatic scale.

1903 Major flooding in downtown Toledo area as Maumee River backs up from massive ice jams in Maumee Bay. Water floods basement of Valentine Theater building and knocks out heating system for city offices in the buildings. Wood County towns are also isolated by flood waters.

1930 About 1,000 jobless men, roaming the streets of downtown Toledo begin voicing loud protests and soon begin ransacking downtown stores.

January 25th

1906 Major fire destroys several businesses in downtown Genoa.

1910 A shootout in downtown "Bulldog Cafe" at St. Clair and Jackson leaves Arthur Downing dead. He was a notorious law breaker and police say the shooting was a result of an old feud with another crook, George Seymour, who escaped after the shooting.

1958 The Trilby Fire Department battles a major blaze at the Miracle Mile Shopping Center. The flames and smoke caused more than $600,000 in damage and destroyed the W.T Grant store and 4 others.

1965 Trilby Fire Department is disbanded.

January 26th

1922 Toledo Police patrolman Ray Lockwood hailed as a hero for saving the life of six-year old Harriet Quinn who fell through the ice of the Miami-Erie canal while on her way to Chase School in north Toledo. Lockwood says he saw the child go under the surface and then come back up, so he jumped in and pulled her out.

1958 Grammy award winning R&B Jazz singer Anita Baker is born in Toledo. At two years of age, she is sent to live with foster parents in Detroit where she launched her singing career in the 1980's.

1978 The worst blizzard in Toledo history slams the area with more 15 inches of snow and blizzard wind conditions that pile drifts as much as 8 feet deep. Normal activity in the entire region is shut down for days and the National Guard and Army was called in to help remove snow.

January 27th

1893 Anti-Catholic movement grows in parts of Toledo on rumors and unfounded fears of a violent Catholic uprising. Mayor orders a police search of St. Hedwig's Church for weapons.

1897 A tragic fire on St. Clair Street burns down a livery stable, killing twenty horses and destroying numerous wagons and carriages inside.

1984 The historic Macy's Department store, formerly LaSalle's closes its doors for good and goes out of business.

January 28th

1900 A body is found floating in Swan Creek and the undertaker reports that there has been a flood of morbid curiosity about it with more than 100 stopping by his funeral parlor to get a closer look at the remains. He says so far no one has been able to identify the man.

1977 The state of Ohio is gripped by a sudden blast of very frigid weather that drops temps to well below zero and creates a natural gas shortage. The governor closes stores and schools to conserve gas.

January 29th

1878 The nation's first famous race car driver, Barney Oldfield, is born in Wauseon. He later moves to Toledo with his family where he spends his childhood and begins his racing career.

1924 Toledo Police detective William Julert dies while disarming a suspect when a weapon falls to the floor and discharges.

1970 Major explosions rip through a chemical plant in Swanton and spreads to a nearby lumberyard.

January 30th

1879 Large chunks of ice take out the main bridge over the Maumee River at Napoleon.

1930 Ground is broken for the Lucas County hospital at Detroit and Arlington.

1935 A 21-year-old Clarence Brown of East Toledo was arrested at his home on Forsythe Street for masterminding a counterfeit money operation to put himself through medical school.

ToledoHistoryMuseum.org, 425 North St. Clair Street, Toledo, OH 43604/419-215-2437