RISE OF THE CITIES

America’s story told through Toledo

Why the cities?

• Jobs are in industry. Industry’s in cities!

• Urbanization: Rapid growth of cities.

• Hits East Coast 1st (NYC, Boston, Philly)

• Spreads west; speeds up after Civil War

So what about OUR city?

• After War of 1812, Great Lakes were seen as best part of nation

• Maumee River, at W. end of Lake Erie was natural site for a major shipping port for farm goods

• Small towns lined the river:

Miami (Maumee)• Perrysburg• Marengo (Bowsher

area)

• Port Lawrence (near 5/3 field)

• Vistula (Elm & Lagrange area)

• Manhattan (Pt Place)

• Yondota (East side)

A City is Born

• Businessmen realized 1 big city would be stronger than many small

• 1833: Port Lawrence & Vistula merge; take Spanish name: Toledo

• Population: 1,100 (! About how many attend RHS!)

1837 Toledo

Early Map, 1840

Transportation brings business

• 1843: FTW-TOL canal opens

• 1852-55: Rail connections to CHI, FTW, CLE

• City builds intermodal terminal on Middlegrounds (today’s OC) where canal, rails ended at shipping docks

Canal Boat, near Glendale

The Island House

Looking down Swan Creek

Civil War & Growth

• 1850: 263 ppl worked in 38 factories• 1860: 885 in 100 factories• 1870: 4,000 in 392 factories• ! With Southern ports closed down, and

Eastern factories unable to keep up with demand, Midwest benefits big time! Postwar growth would be quick !

Light Industry in Toledo

• 1870: Vulcan Iron Works is 1st metal producer

• 1873: Milburn Wagon Works is 1st ‘real’ factory

• 1884: Discovery of natural gas in BG & Findlay gives area an energy advantage

Milburn Wagon Factory

A Milburn Wagon

Vulcan Works, downtown

Who Moved to Cities?

• Immigrants to US. Reasons: Jobs, cheap rent, cheap food, cheap transit, others like you.

• By 1890: More Irish in NYC than Dublin.

• “Americanization movement” - Gov’t & volunteers helped teach English, cooking, social skills

• Country folk also moved in. Inventions like plow & reaper meant less farmers needed

• Farm workers hit the city for jobs

• Many sharecroppers forced off land– Many Toledoans trace families back to MS,

AL, AR, TN, WV

Minority Growth in Toledo

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950

IrishGermanPolishHungaryAf Am

Urban Problems

• Housing– Tenements: Single family apartments filled

with abt. 20 – Cities pass housing laws. Establish “air

shaft” requirement so everyone gets some air

– Slums develop by 1900 in TOL along Cherry between Spielbusch & Summit

Toledo’s ‘Skid Row’

• NYC tenement

• Transportation– Roads had to be improved; planks used to

make all-season roads• Cherry St. was 1st in Toledo

– Mass transit had to be developed to move people to jobs

• 1862-1889: Toledo streetcar lines run through city & to surrounding cities

Streetcar & wagons, E Side

St. Clair St, 1937

• Water– Had to GET fresh water

• 1873: Toledo’s 1st water plant opens

– Had to GET RID OF waste water• 1848: Toledo builds 1st underground sewers

– 1840s: CLE & NY open waterworks– NYC builds giant viaduct from mts.

• Crime– Pickpockets & thieves flourished in packed

places– Crime organizes into gangs for efficiency– Cities form professional police

departments • Toledo Police formed 1852

TPD Motorcycle Squad

• Fire: The enemy of cities– Bad water supplies = bad fires– Most homes made of wood. Heated by

fire. Lit by lanterns.• Toledo had natural gas-fired streetlights

– For-profit fire companies sold ‘insurance’• 1837: 1st fire companies form in Toledo

Toledo’s 1st fire engine

• Major fires:– 1871: Great Chicago Fire. 24 hours, 300

dead, 100K homeless, 3 mi destroyed– 1906: SF Quake. 4 days, 1K dead, 200K

homeless, 5 mi destroyed

Chamber of Commerce Fire, Toledo

1899 Toledo

1940 Toledo

1968 Toledo