rise of the cities america’s story told through toledo
TRANSCRIPT
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