This Week In Toledo History Week Of 11/22/2021

Nov. 21- 27

Nov. 21
1871 - It's reported that a tenacious hen on a farm in Genoa that has been sitting on an egg since July, has finally given up and has abandoned her quest.
1907 - Long-distance marathon walker Edward Weston passes through Toledo to cheering crowds on trip from Portland, Maine to Chicago.
1910 - It's revealed from Columbus that the state has secretly authorized the establishment of two new colleges, or normal schools. One will be at Kent Ohio, the other in Bowling Green.
1925 - Reports of a "phantom attacker" in Toledo surface again after two women report they are clubbed by a large man with daubs of red paint on his cheeks and his eyes painted black. Police and vigilantes comb the City Park area neighborhoods.
1936 - Fire hits Lucas County jail, all 115 inmates escape injury.
1949 - Crime wave continues with robberies of taverns and stores. Revival of the “hoodlum” squad is announced by the Toledo Police Department.

Nov. 22
1926 - Mauk Lumber Company burns to ground in massive fire on Elm Street.
1928 - Bowling Green Falcons celebrates first undefeated football season.
1930 - Wealthy black Toledo businessman and reputed gambler Pearl Barber is killed in head-on collision with a drunk driver in East Toledo.
1932 - Toledo food stores are selling beef tenderloin at 19 cents a pound and smoked hams at 12 cents a pound.
1956 - Elvis Presley performs for first time in Toledo at Sports Arena. Blade reporter writes that young fans "bordered on hysteria"
1963 - President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Toledo reacts with shock and stunned disbelief. Shoppers in downtown stores listen to radio reports and many are seen crying. Traffic on the streets slows to a crawl under the dark veil of a light cold rain. The Toledo Blade, which happened to be on strike that week, quickly settles dispute and staff returns to publish full newspaper on Sunday.
1963 - The Michael DiSalle Bridge over Maumee River is to be opened and dedication ceremonies held, but the celebration is called off because of JFK assassination.

Nov. 23
1892 - The original Way Library building in downtown Perrysburg is dedicated and opened. It is named for attorney Willard Way.
1900 - The Michigan deer hunting season, open for less than a week, and already 12 hunters have been killed by gunfire. Many others wounded and two are missing.
1904 - A Frank Marshall of Toledo is wounded by a turkey farmer in West Toledo when he tries to steal a bird for the Thanksgiving dinner table. He is taken to city jail where he is served turkey for Thanksgiving.
1914 - At Birmingham School in East Toledo, a group of 7th and 8th grade boys have established a "sanitary board" and they are cleaning up the streets and alleys of trash and garbage. At the school they are imposing strict health and sanitation rules to keep students from falling ill.
1923 - Lonsway Chevrolet opens for business in East Toledo.
1925 - Toledo turns into an "armed camp" as more than 500 heavily armed police patrol the streets in an all-out effort to capture the deadly "Toledo Clubber" that the paper reports has "thrown terror into the hearts of Toledo womanhood" with his numerous attacks.
1955 – Toledo police say a 2-year- old boy riding in a car on Stickney Ave tries to throw a wad of gum out the car window and hit's his father, the driver, in the eye. It causes him to lose control and he hits a pole, causing three injuries.
1963- Tragedy strikes a Huron County nursing home in Fitchville as 63 patients die in a fire.

Nov. 24
1855 - First patient is admitted to the newly opened St. Vincent’s Hospital in Toledo.
1905 - Two teenage boys, 16 and 17, were arrested by police in Toledo on a charge of "suspicion." They were hauled before the court of Judge Brough and sentenced to 30 days in the "Duck Island" workhouse to hard labor.
1916 - The Maumee Riverfront area that would later become known as "the Marina District" in East Toledo is undergoing development as the new "Acme" electric power generating station in Toledo is constructed.

1934 - In midst of the Great Depression, 17 federally -funded sewing centers will be set up in Toledo to help struggling families meet clothing needs. More than 27,000 yards of material will be available.
1941- Clem Gersman of Dearborn Street in East Toledo wins national acclaim in "Ripley's-Believe-It-Or-Not" feature as a blind cameraman. It's reported that the former rug maker takes pretty good snapshots but using sensing direction from sound of the subject's voice.
1962 - It's estimated that the average Toledo family makes about $7,000 a year, is paid on Fridays and owns a home. More than 75 percent have lived in Toledo more than 20 years, and have lived in the same home for over 10 years.

Nov. 25
1898 - Telephone service begins for residents of Grand Rapids and Weston.
1900 - A major controversy in Bowling Green as the superintendent of schools has suspended 10 boys after they traveled to North Baltimore to play a football game. The boys from prominent families in town say it's because the superintendent doesn't approve of football.
1911 - Saloon keepers and gambling hall owners in Toledo file legal action to stop police and Mayor Brand Whitlock from raiding their downtown businesses and destroying equipment.
1923 - Toledo Police football team, the "Coppers", beat the Ford Auto Club at the Toledo Armory Park in an annual Northwest Ohio championship game.
1942 - Toledo's Paramount Theater plays host to Bob Hope and Roy Rogers to celebrate a 17-day War Chest fund raising drive that netted over $1 million.
1948 - Toledo’s first and only elected “socialist” mayor, Solon Klotz, dies.
1952 - Special graveside ceremonies are held in Grand Rapids to honor Tee-Na-Beek, the last of the Ottawa Indian tribe in this area. It was 100 years after his death, but the ceremony at Howard Cemetery was attended by over 700 people including eight members of the Ottawa tribe from Walpole Island, Ontario, Canada.

Nov. 26
1827 - The town of Port Clinton is founded on shores of Lake Erie.
1906 - The Toledo Board of Health begins the "new" practice of inspecting restaurant kitchens to look for health code violations.
1918 - Toledo City Council OKs the selling off of its flock of sheep at Ottawa Park. The four-legged lawn mowers number 150 and there are no facilities to take care of them.
1925 - Veteran Marshal Frank Robel, 37, of Marblehead in Ottawa County is shot to death after his car is forced off the road. As he exits the patrol car he is shot through the heart. Lester Wenner of Lakeside is charged.
1927 - Plans are announced for a new Lamson’s Department Store at Huron and Jefferson.
1940 - First round of WWII draftees depart Toledo's Union station for boot camp. A farewell speech is given by Mayor Ollie Czelusta, who is accompanied by accordion music.
1953 - City of Toledo removes 185 parking meters from downtown streets as the busy Christmas shopping season gets underway.
1956 - Man sentenced to workhouse for trying to pick a fight with Elvis Presley during his visit in Toledo. He claims it was a staged fake-fight.

Nov. 27
1837 - Charles McLean becomes Toledo’s first fire chief.
1868 - Clara Harrington Blinn of Perrysburg and Elmore, and her 2- year-old son Willie are killed during a raid by General Custer on Cheyenne Camp of Black Kettle at Washita River in Oklahoma Territory. She and son had been captured from their wagon train months before.
1901 - Wreck of the Wabash near Adrian, Michigan. Head-on train crash kills more than 100 immigrants en-route to Colorado. The burial site was a mystery and never found until 2016 at Oakwood Cemetery in Adrian.
1909 - Toledo Probate Court reports that in Polish and Hungarian wards of the city the birth rate is more than twice the other wards combined.
1920 - Dixie Highway north of Toledo closed for repairs, motorists complain of bumpy clay and mud road detours from Toledo to Detroit.
1941- Toledo police report a rash of break-ins at doctor's offices and the thefts of several valuable microscopes.
1942 - Thousands of Toledo women are now employed in Toledo industries and factories as the war effort to build munitions and ships increases. At the Toledo Shipyards, women are hired for the first time and the era of "Rosie the Riveter" is born.
1956 - First Hungarian refugee families arrive in Toledo to make new homes after fleeing Soviet takeover of Hungary.
1964 - Heavy crowds jam sidewalks of downtown Toledo to begin annual holiday shopping rush.