Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Toledo (3.)

TOLEDO, a city of the United States, the county seat of Lucas county, Ohio, is situated in 41° 40′ N. lat. and 83° 33′ W. long., chiefly upon a peninsula between the Maumee on the south and the Ottawa upon the north, just above their points of discharge into Maumee Bay, and 5 miles from Lake Erie. A small part of it, formerly known as Maumee City, lies south of the Maumee. Toledo includes an area of 21·5 square miles within its corporate limits. The bay and river form an excellent harbour and roadstead. The harbour is easily made and is well sheltered, and the bottom affords good holding ground. Besides being open to the navigation of the Great Lakes, Toledo is the terminus of the Miami and Erie Canal, connecting it with Cincinnati (184 miles distant). Seventeen railroad lines enter it, making it one of the principal railroad centres of the country. The site of Toledo and the surrounding country are very level, and only slightly elevated above Lake Erie. The soil is very productive, and is highly cultivated, being largely devoted to market gardening. There are three public parks, having a total area of 41 acres. The city is well sewered. Water is obtained by pumping. The city, which is divided into eight wards, had in 1880 a population of 50,137. The number is probably now (1887) not far from 65,000. In 1840, 1850, 1860, and 1870 respectively the population was returned at 1224, 3829, 13,768, and 31,584.

Besides its large commercial interests, as one of the principal ports upon the Great Lakes, and its importance as one of the leading railroad centres of the country, Toledo holds high rank as a manufacturing city. The capital invested in this class of industries in 1880 exceeded $5,500,000, and the products were valued at double this sum. They employed nearly 7000 persons, and paid in wages over two and a quarter millions of dollars. These industries are very varied in character, but consist largely in lumber manufactures, brewing, and iron and steel manufactures.

The first settlement within what are now the corporate limits of Toledo was made, shortly after the war of 1812, upon the south bank of the Maumee. North of the river no settlements were attempted until 1832, when the villages of Port Lawrence and Vistula were commenced in what is now the heart of the city. In the following year they were united under the present name. The city was incorporated in 1837. In 1852 it was made the county seat, and in 1874 its corporate limits were considerably enlarged.