Toledo, Ohio, USA
Created | Updated Aug 4, 2006
Toledo is a city in the state of Ohio, USA. It is also a city in Spain. The similarity ends at this point.
Toledo is located at the mouth of the Maumee River at the western end of Lake Erie. It was incorporated in 1837, and has a population of around 355,000.
Toledo goes by nicknames such as Glass City, Home of the Mud Hens*, Frog Town, the Black Swamp and the second biggest city in Michigan.
Toledo was the territory disputed over in the 'Great Toledo War' with Michigan...
At the time of its founding, Michigan Territory claimed its southern boundary was a line due east from the bottom of Lake Michigan, which went just south of the original town*.
This claim provoked the Great Toledo War, as the Territorial militia mobilized and Ohio officials sneaked in from Perrysburg in the middle of the night to formally organise Lucas County at its new seat. Eventually, Congress decided in favour of Ohio (proving that Territories have zero votes in Congress). As consolation Michigan received the Upper Peninsula. Feeling a bit remote from the rest of Ohio, Toledoans sometimes wish they were in the second biggest city in Michigan; it is more connected to Detroit than to Ohio.
In addition to being the home of the Mud Hens, Toledo is known as the 'Walleye* capital of the world'. It is an international port of call within the St Lawrence Seaway system. It is also the birthplace of the Jeep*, and formerly highly popular as a place for underage residents of Michigan to visit and purchase beer.