This Week In Toledo History

Oct. 23
1855 - St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo is started by the Grey Nuns of Montreal, Canada.
1941 -Toledo tugboat capsizes in Detroit River. Six crew members, three of them from Toledo, drowned.
1953 - Toledo’s Metropolitan Housing Authority votes to end segregation policies within its housing units.
1955 - St. Francis de Sales High School dedicated on Bancroft.
1974 - Starr Lumber Company in East Toledo destroyed by fire.

Oct. 24
1895 - Indian burial mound opened on farm of writer Henry Niles, east of Toledo near the lakeshore (present site of Maumee Bay State Park). Newspaper accounts say 20 Indian skeletons and other artifacts are found, including tools and pots.
1926 - Toledo school teacher Lily Croy is murdered, becoming latest victim of so called “Toledo Slugger.”
1943 - Babe, the elephant, the Toledo Zoo's most famous animal suffers stroke and is put to sleep. His remains are rendered for wartime munitions. His skull is preserved and remains at the Toledo Zoo.

Oct. 25
1895 - Marshal August Schultz of Tiffin is shot and killed in scuffle with gunman in rural Seneca County. The suspect is convicted and sentenced to hang but later released from prison and dies in a fall from a rooftop.
1902 - Typhoid outbreak reported on Lagrange Street between Erie and Huron. Residents say 15 people are stricken and blame the city for not keeping the sewers from backing up.
1941 - The abandoned Interurban electric trolley bridge near Waterville returns to service as a highway bridge over the Maumee River, becoming a temporary replacement for the main bridge in Waterville that collapsed.
1960 - Rossford businessman Frank Emmick sentenced to 30 years in prison in Cuba after being convicted of espionage. Later released in the 1970's and returns to Toledo.

Oct. 26
1867 - Three-year old Marie Lilly Bowers is abducted near Sandusky, reportedly by "Gypsies". She is found by her mother 14 years later, in 1882, living on the James Calkin farm in Genoa where she had been adopted and named Ida Bell Calkins. The Calkins family says a Gypsy man named "Jack" gave the child to them and they raised her as their own.
1926 - Police in Toledo round up mentally ill people as suspects in the "Toledo Slugger" murders.
1927 - Bread price war in Toledo. Loaves selling for five cents each.
1938 - The popular Walbridge Park amusements area on Broadway is devastated by a wind-fueled blaze that destroyed most of the rides, including the Speedway roller coaster and the carousels.
1960 -Vice President Richard Nixon speaks in Toledo during his campaign for President.
1966 - The American premiere of the movie El Greco is held at Valentine Theater in Toledo, featuring a live appearance from star, Mel Ferrer.
1988 - The very popular Chinese Panda exhibit closes at the Toledo Zoo, as Le Le and Nan Nan make their final public appearance.

Oct. 27
1887 - Businessman and Toledo promoter Jessup Scott predicts that Toledo will become the "Great Metropolis of the West". A "future great city" surpassing Chicago and other major cities.
1895 - Lynch mobs surround the Seneca County Jail in Tiffin intent on punishing L.J. Martin, the man accused of slaying Marshall August Schultz. The mob is repulsed by gunfire and two men in the crowd are shot dead.
1931 - A festive ceremony takes place at the opening the new High Level or Anthony Wayne Bridge over the Maumee River. As a part of the celebration, 40,000 people walk over the span from West to East Toledo.
1946 - The USS Toledo, the Navy's heavy cruiser that bears the city's name is commissioned at Philadelphia. A special delegation of dignitaries is on hand from Toledo to take part in the ceremony.
1951 - The tensions are high for the annual Bowling Green, University of Toledo football match up. After the game, a riot ensues on the streets of Bowling Green.
1952 - Milestone for transportation in Ohio, as ground is broken for the construction of the Ohio Turnpike across the northern tier of the state.

Oct. 28
1895 - A spectacular blaze destroys much of the Wood County oil boom town of Mungen.
1899 - The new plate glass company started by Edward Ford begins production in the newly formed town of Rossford.

1919 - Four men are arrested in Toledo in the plot to kidnap Edsel Ford, the son of auto magnate Henry Ford. He was to be held for ransom for $200,000.
1921 - Heavy weight boxing champ Jack Dempsey returns to Toledo, where he won his title fight in 1919. He visits with friends and attends a football game at Waite High School.
1923 - A daring daylight bank robbery in Waterville is carried out by two machine gun-toting bandits. One of the them was disguised as a woman. They escaped in a blaze of gunfire as police and townspeople open fire on them.
1933 - Aviatrix Amelia Earhart paints an arrow on the roof of the Hillcrest Hotel pointing the way for pilots to the new city airport in near Millbury.

Oct. 29
1921 - Longtime Toledo Police detective Lewis Tracy passes away. He was best known as the officer in charge of keeping order in the so-called "Tenderloin" vice district where brothels, saloons, and gambling dens flourished.
1937 - District Fire Chief George Ehmann killed almost instantly while he was responding to a fire. His car was struck by another vehicle that failed to heed the warning siren.
1960 - Tragedy at Toledo Express airport on this day. A Twin engine C-46 charter plane crashes on take-off during a rain storm at Toledo Express, killing 16 members of the Cal Poly football team and five others. It is the worst disaster at Express Airport. The team from San Luis Obispo, Calif. had just finished a game with BGSU and were heading home to California
1993 - Erin Whitten, back-up goalie for the Toledo Storm, becomes first female hockey player credited with a victory as Toledo beats Dayton 6-5.