This Week In Toledo History

May 28-June 3

May 28
1902 - On Main Street in Cygnet two “oil men” get into a duel with Bowie knives over the affections of a woman. Both men fought to the death.
1911 - Lion Store in Toledo selling new screen doors starting at 69 cents each, and ladies silk hosiery for 35 cents a pair.
1921 - It’s reported that seven children in Toledo have died from diphtheria during the month of May. Three of them were children at Stickney School in North Toledo.
1936 - An investigation into the “Black Legion” hate group in Toledo reveals there are more than 700 members divided into seven “companies” around the city. Rumors persist that some of the group are policemen and leaders of the community.
1970 - After reports of armed gangs roaming the streets, Toledo enacts tough new gun laws that would ban anyone from carrying firearms on public streets or in cars.

May 29
1837-Toledo Fire Department formed with volunteers.
1884 -As hundreds of adults and children watched, convicted ax-killer Wesley Johnson publicly hanged in front of the Henry County Jail in Napoleon.
1892 - First mass held at present-day St. Rose Catholic Church in Perrysburg.
1907 - Lake Erie Park and Casino near Point Place burns to the ground.
1917 - Anti-draft riots break out on Lucas County Courthouse lawn, several people hurt and arrested.
1929 - Illegal 500-gallon still explodes in an apartment house in 1400 block of Prouty. Two men and two women flee in their night clothes after explosion.
1938 - Webber’s Tavern in Point Place erupts into flames, forcing 400 patrons to flee. Damage estimated at $30,000.

May 30
1904 - Sixteen boys at the Southeast Toledo School sew a “handsome” bed quilt and give it to the janitor at the school as a present.
1910-Toledo population now reported to be 168,490.
1918 - It’s revealed that a 14-year-old Toledo boy, Ells G. Porterfield, has enlisted in the U.S. Army Engineer Corps and is now serving his country.
1940- Future Toledo mayor Carty Finkbeiner is born.
1953 - The newly formed Lucas County Sheriff mounted posse is sworn in with 20 men and horses.
1972 - Betty Mauk, the "Mother of Promenade Park" continues her tireless campaign to promote the new riverfront park in downtown Toledo and to offer crepes for sale to park goers.
1980 - President Jimmy Carter visits Toledo on campaign stop.

May 31
1914 - Fish Hatchery burns at Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie.
1928 - Crowds gather outside Toledo Police Court, where 26-year-old Stanley Hoppe of Elm Street is
charged with murder of 7-year-old Dorothy Szelagowski who had been kidnapped from
her bed several days before. Hoppe eventually is found guilty and executed later that year.
1935 - More reports surface that aviator Paul Redfern, married to Toledo woman Gertrude Hillabrand, may still be alive in the jungles of South America after he vanished on a solo flight to Brazil in 1927.
1939 -The Aquarium at the Toledo Zoo opens and is billed as the "largest freshwater aquarium in the world".
1960 - Court of Appeals upholds conviction of Toledo businessman Bert Kaplan for violating Sunday “Blue Laws” by opening his Family Fair stores on Sundays in Toledo.
1976 - Kip Boulis, a Perrysburg policeman, drowns while trying to rescue a man and his four children in Maumee River.

June 1
1905 - James Winter, the caretaker of Oak Grove Cemetery in Bowling Green, is charged with misconduct after being accused of using profanity and shooting at a dog in the presence of ladies.
1931 - Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, opens on Collingwood Avenue as the mother church of the Toledo Catholic Diocese.
1934-Actor Jamie Farr born in Toledo as Jamiel Farrah.
1945- Chicago and Southern Airways opens service at Toledo Airport, providing Toledo with air links to cities in seven states.
1971 - Special ceremonies are held as TARTA officially takes control of Toledo’s long-held transit agency, the Community Traction Company.
1975 -The "Poe Ditch Music Festival" is held at BGSU, drawing upwards of 45,000 fans for the all-day event held at Doyt Perry field. A thunderstorm however soaked the crowd towards the end of the day and some of the groups did not perform.

June 2
1854 - East Toledo is hit by cholera epidemic; 300 people die, thousands of others stricken.
1906 - Hundreds of rats removed from under intersection of Superior and Adams streets in downtown Toledo. There were so many burrows that they caused street damage.
1912 - Six Toledo women rescued after spending night on sandbar in Maumee Bay, where their sailboat ran aground.
1940 - Spectacular downtown fire erupts at the Home Furniture Warehouse at Jackson and Water Streets on the riverfront. The sky was filled with dense smoke and the streets were lined with thousands of onlookers.
1965 - Five people are killed when small plane plunges into Lake Erie near Port Clinton.

June 3
1919 - Striking workers from the Toledo’s Overland factory riot near the plant and on Lagrange Street. Thousands of people jam the streets and riots break out near St. Hedwigs church. Two people are shot dead and 24 others wounded as police attempt to disperse the crowd.
1922 - More than 170,000 gallons of “medicinal” wine are confiscated by prohibition dry agents on the Sandusky wharf. No arrests are made.
1929 - U.S. Supreme Court rules that Toledo can abandon the Erie and Miami Canal, thus opening the way to its drainage and the eventual building of what would become the Anthony Wayne Trail.
1937 - Toledo’s Inverness Club plays host to 16 top pro golfers, including Sam Snead, Tommy Armour and Gene Sarazen, for the third annual Inverness Invitational. It is said to be biggest sporting event in Toledo since the Dempsey-Willard boxing match in 1919.