Real Estate Week Of 12/6/2021
Dec. 5-11
Dec. 5
1865 - Town of Gilead in Wood County petitions to become Grand Rapids.
1884 - Natural gas is discovered on the farm of Dr. Charles Osterlen in Wood County, ushering in a massive natural gas boom in the area.
1921 - Family of six die when their car slides off roadway and slips into old Erie Canal south of Waterville.
1958 - WTOL-TV Channel 11, owned by Frazier Reams, begins on-air service. Second TV station in Toledo.
1970 - Cricket West Shopping center on Central Avenue struck by major blaze.
Dec. 6
1895 - A massive nitroglycerin blast in the oilfields southwest of Bowling Green shakes much of Northwest Ohio and does considerable damage in Bowling Green, breaking windows and cracking walls.
1904 - Downtown block of Perrysburg falls victim to flames.
1908 - Toledo’s poor families in need of food, clothing and coal are flocking to the Adams Street Mission. The organization of Federated Charities reports 20 to 30 families a day are in dire need of help. There are predictions that many will die because of cold and hunger this year.
1911- Toledo City Health Department reports seven typhoid fever deaths for previous month, 33 diphtheria deaths, seven suicides and 22 deaths from tuberculosis.
1921 - Local stores in Toledo report heavy sales of ice skates this year.
Dec. 7
1894 - Two men are shot and killed in brazen robbery aboard the B&O Railroad near Bairdstown in Wood County. The victims had been traveling east from Indiana to look for work when they were accosted by the bandits.
1909 - Toledo Police Chief Knapp issues orders to arrest horse owners in the city who do not blanket them in the cold weather.
1913 - The Toledo Housewives League announces boycott of purchase of fresh eggs until prices fall back to 30 cents a dozen.
1920 - In a Toledo storage yard, American Legion search parties find a German cannon that had been given to the city as a gift from the French government. They want it to be properly displayed. The whereabouts of the cannon are currently unknown.
1941 - Pearl Harbor is bombed by Japanese in sneak attack, ushering in start of World War II. Toledo reacts with shock and resolve. Young men rush to enlist.
1959 - More than 100 stores in Toledo display Nativity scenes as retailers make public effort to put “Christ back in Christmas.”
Dec. 8
1842 - Second Wood County Courthouse in Perrysburg completed.
1904 - Onetime Toledo grifter and swindler Cassie Chadwick, alias Madame DeVere, goes to trial in New York for fraud and other charges in one of the most celebrated fraud cases of that era.
1923 - Scott High School football team wins National Championship, defeating Washington High School of Cedar Rapids Iowa, 24-21.
1941 - President Roosevelt and Congress declare war on Japan and Germany. Armed sentries begin patrolling military sites around Toledo.
1961- Toledo police officer Walter Boyle shot to death in line of duty while serving a warrant for a suspect. Suspect cornered later by police and killed.
Dec. 9
1902 - Major fire at Keifer Furniture on Dorr Street. Two Toledo firemen, Thomas Smith and Richard Donnelly, are killed by falling debris.
1922 - Waite High School football team wins National High School Title.
1929 “Daddy” Charles Wormley buried at Forest Cemetery in Toledo. He was an ex-slave and well-known citizen of that era, considered a Toledo patriarch.
1932 - It’s reported by Toledo News Bee that a log cabin settlement has been built on the Maumee River Valley flats 20 miles from Toledo by destitute war veterans and their families who are living as pioneers in the cabins during the winter months.
1953 - First section of Interstate 280 is opened near Woodville Road, becoming Toledo’s first modern interstate expressway.
Dec. 10
1879 - Toledo area medical pioneer Horatio Conant dies at age 94.
1897 - It’s revealed that Toledo now has 350 miles of streets, with 110 miles paved, mostly with stone and cedar blocks.
1906 - Merger of the Daily Sentinel and the Tribune in Bowling Green.
1909 - Strong gale-force winds on Lake Erie send three ships to bottom of the lake. Fifty-two crewmen perish in the tragedies, including several from Toledo.
1918 - Toledo Public Schools close because of worsening flu epidemic. All children in city are banned from gathering in any public places including theaters, stores, churches and schools.
1922 - A Toledo court jury awards $4,500 in what is called “heart balm” to Celia Mock of Wauseon, who sued her boyfriend for refusing to marry her, despite his promise to do so.
1985 - LifeFlight helicopter from St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo, while on a mission to Michigan, crashes during heavy fog, killing the pilot and doctor on board.
Dec. 11
1833 - First newspaper in Wood County, called Miami of the Lake, published.
1897 - Notorious crook Danny Robb shot and killed at the Palace Hotel by the proprietor during an assault.
1907 - West Virginia coal mine disaster at Monongah kills hundreds and Toledo area theaters host a vaudeville benefit at the Valentine to raise money for the families.
1916 - Two Toledo firemen, Albert Urie and Captain Edward Welch, killed battling blaze at Paddington Warehouse at 114 St. Clair Street.
1917 - Eliza Kent Branch of the Toledo Public Library is opened.
1958 - Some bowling experts say Toledo has too many bowling alleys.
1980 - Fire destroys much of the Heinz Ketchup plant in Bowling Green.
1984 - Popular coach Ted Garvin re-hired to coach the Toledo Goaldiggers hockey team.