Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Toledo, Ohio

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1900 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Toledo City. It lies in ZIP code area 43620. It stands on Swan Creek. The Survey maps it on the Toledo quadrangle. 270,871 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 614 feet above sea level.

Research this city

This curated hub for Lucas County, Ohio brings together the page's documented record links, visible map or image evidence where published, and routes to related local records.

What is documented here?

Use the page's provenance and linked records to distinguish the source material from the site's navigation and summaries.

How should I cite it?

Open the original record, preserve its repository and identifier, then use the citation tool for this page as a path back to the source.

Where should I go next?

Follow the county or state hub for related places and records, then use the guide for a source-aware research sequence.

Toledo within Lucas County

Population over time

6 figures

Toledo grew from 1,222 to 270,871 between 1840 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
1840	1,222
1974	380,000
1984	344,000	-36,000 (-9%)
1998	312,200	-31,800 (-9%)
2010	287,208	-24,992 (-8%)
2020	270,871	-16,337 (-6%)

Then and now

1900 to 1986

The same ground, surveyed 86 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Toledo, surveyed 1986

Topographic sheet of Toledo, surveyed 1900

Topographic sheets covering this place

16 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Photographs

8 photographs, 1942 to 2016

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

The Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio was founded by Toledo glassmaker Edward Drummond Libbey in 1901 and moved to its current location, a Greek-revival building designed by Edward B. Green and Harry W. Wachter, in 1912
Highsmith, Carol M, 2016. Library of Congress

Fiberglass manufacture, Owens-Corning, Toledo, Ohio. Fiberglass yarns are twisted and plied on standard textile machinery as a step in the manufacture of tapes and cloths, used principally to insulate electric equipment operating under heavier loads today than ever before
Palmer, Alfred T., photographer, 1942. Library of Congress

Part of the "Human Landscape" exhibition of works by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa at the Toledo Museum of Art
Highsmith, Carol M, 2016. Library of Congress

Fiberglass manufacture, Owens-Corning, Toledo, Ohio. In a plant of the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation, a worker stands ready with his iron ladle to transport molten glass from the furnace to the machine that forms it into glass marbles from which it is converted into glass fibers. As one of the men behind the men behind the guns, his work is an essential step in the production of fiberglass yarns being used in a wide variety of military and naval applications
Palmer, Alfred T., photographer, 1942. Library of Congress

Fiberglass manufacture, Owens-Corning, Toledo, Ohio. In a resilient, lightweight blanket of interlaced fibers, fiberglass thermal insulation is carried along from the furnaces where it is produced to be packaged or further fabricated into the forms required by Army and Navy specifications
Palmer, Alfred T., photographer, 1942. Library of Congress

Toledo, Ohio. Evangelical church ceremony at which the preacher delivered a hysterical speech, and then burned a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf. Sisters in satin dresses carrying American flags
Siegel, Arthur S., photographer, 1942. Library of Congress

Toledo, Ohio. Evangelical church ceremony at which the preacher delivered a hysterical speech, and then burned a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf. Preacher with the Bible, Mein Kampf burning, and a boy with the American flag
Siegel, Arthur S., photographer, 1942. Library of Congress

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 2,303 shown

Museums hold 2,303 specimens collected within 10 miles of Toledo between 1863 and 1975: 1,994 Animalia, 159 Fungi, 136 Plantae, 6 Protozoa, 5 Unrecorded, 3 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by Aborn, R., Austing, G R, B H AND L W CAMPBELL and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Erysiphe polygoni DC.	1900	F.D. Kelsey	Toledo
Lupinus perennis L.	1900	Kelsey, F.D.	America borealis: Toledo, Ohio in foliis Lupini perennis
Lepachys pinnata (Vent.) Torr. & A.Gray	1863	Day, D.F.	Toledo
Nelumbium luteum Willd.	1866	Day, D.F.	Toledo
Cardinalis cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758)	1875	Langdon	Indian Hill, Kane County
Asio flammeus (Pontoppidan, 1763)	1885	Collector(s): J. A. Singley	Toledo
Bombycilla cedrorum Vieillot, 1808	1885	Cooper, W.C.	Lambertville
Euphorbia commutata Engelm. ex A.Gray	1889	J. Y. Pennypacker	Toledo
Acris crepitans blanchardi Harper, 1947	1893	not recorded	Toledo, Maumee River
Apalone spinifera (Lesueur, 1827)	1893	not recorded	Maumee River Basin
Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque, 1819	1893	U.S. Fish Commission	TOLEDO, OHIO
Chelydra serpentina (Linnaeus, 1758)	1893	not recorded	Maumee River Basin

All 2,303 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

7 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Toledo: 4 producers, 2 past producers, 1 plant. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Sulfur. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
(Facility) Toledo Refinery Gulf	Sulfur	Plant
Lula Quarry Limestone	Limestone, General	Past Producer
White Brothers Sand Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
White Brothers Sand Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Ferro Corp Ottawa Chemical Div	Iron	Producer
Interlake Inc/ Toledo, Ohio	Iron	Producer
Toledo Pickling & Steel Service Inc	Iron	Producer

Every working recorded in Lucas County

Storms nearby

60 of 151 shown

The National Weather Service names Toledo in 151 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 78 thunderstorm wind, 56 hail, 10 flash flood, 4 storm surge/tide. The reports record 2 deaths. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
October 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	1 killed, $100,000	Thunderstorm winds estimated at 50 to 55 mph toppled a crane hoisting a 5,000 pound bucket of concrete onto the roof a building in downtown Toledo. A 50 year old male worker on the roof was crushed by the falling bucket of concrete.
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	1 killed, $3,000	Large limbs were downed. A 28-year-old man was killed after he unknowningly touched a vehicle which was in contact with a live electric line which had been downed after tree limbs were blown down across the wires. M28VE
July 2019	Flood	Toledo	$15,000,000	Several local and state parks adjacent to the lake have sustained millions of dollars in flood damage and erosion. Put-in-Bay Township had several roads wash out due to high water, with recurring standing water issues at Middle Bass Island's Burgundy Bay subdivision. The Lake Erie water levels flooded agricultural fields and resulted in no crops on some fields in Sandusky County. Several seasonal and year round properties need to be elevated due to repeated flooding this year.
June 2007	Flash Flood	Toledo	$1,000,000	Thunderstorms dumped locally heavy rainfall on portions of Lucas County during the afternoon hours of June 3rd. Rainfall rates at times exceeded two inches per hour. A total of 4.04 inches was measured near downtown Toledo. Widespread urban and lowland flooding was reported in Toledo and West Toledo. Flooding was reported on dozens of streets and highways including Interstate 475. Many roads had to be closed because of flood waters two to three deep. Many vehicles became stranded in the flood waters and several people had to rescued. Hundreds of homes sustained damage, mainly from basement flooding.
June 2007	Flash Flood	West Toledo	$500,000	Thunderstorms redeveloped over Lucas County and dumped more heavy rain on the area. Rainfall rates again exceeded two inches per hour. A daily total of 4.04 inches was measured near downtown Toledo. Flooding resumed across portions of West Toledo, Sylvania and Toledo. Several roads had to be closed because of the flooding. More vehicles became stranded and at least two more people had to be rescued. Hundreds of homes sustained damage, mainly from basement flooding.
September 1993	Hail	Toledo	$500,000	Large hail shattered windows at The University of Toledo and other locations. Crops were damaged and destroyed. Trees were downed in Toledo.
July 2006	Flash Flood	West Toledo	$350,000	An area of heavy rainfall developed over Lucas County during the morning hours of July 12th. In the western portion of Toledo, flood waters deep enough to cover the hoods of cars were reported. Rainfall estimates indicated that between two and four inches of rain fell across the area during the late morning and early afternoon hours. There was also a report of Shantee Creek flooding near Crawford Avenue.
July 2013	Hail	Toledo	$250,000	Golf ball sized hail was observed. Some vehicles were damaged.
August 2011	Hail	Toledo	$250,000	Hail as large as hen eggs fell on the Shoreland area for several minutes. Many vehicles were damaged by the hail.
July 2006	Flash Flood	Toledo	$250,000	Up to two inches of rain fell on the Toledo area as thunderstorms moved across Lucas County. A spotter in Toledo measured 1.1 inches during a 25 minute period ending around 4 p.m. Many streets in the city were flooded and had to be closed. Many homes sustained damage from basement flooding.
July 2012	Hail	Toledo	$200,000	Golf ball to hen egg sized hail was reported. Some vehicles were damaged by the hail.
April 1998	Storm Surge/Tide	Toledo	$200,000	no account filed
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$100,000	Thunderstorm winds downed numerous large trees across the county. From Maumee to the Greater Toledo area, numerous reports of large downed trees came in during this thunderstorm.
March 1998	Storm Surge/Tide	Toledo	$100,000	no account filed
February 1998	Storm Surge/Tide	Toledo	$100,000	no account filed
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$75,000	Severe thunderstorm wind gusts tracked from South Toledo through the east side of Toledo and continued northeast to Oregon. Along this path, trained spotters reported numerous trees, large limbs, and at least a dozen power poles were down. Also, a billboard was blown down and caused damage to a car in South Toledo.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$75,000	Thunderstorm winds downed many large trees in Toledo. Several homes and cars were damaged by trees.
February 1998	Storm Surge/Tide	Toledo	$75,000	no account filed
June 2024	Flash Flood	Toledo	$50,000	Widespread flooded roadways across East Toledo and Oregon, including Front Street near Steel Street, where several feet of water on the road left vehicles stranded in floodwaters. Radar estimated 2.5 inches in one hour, and upwards of 3-3.5 inches in a 2 to 3 hour period. A CoCoRaHS rain gauge measurement in East Toledo reported a storm total rainfall amount of 3.30 inches, which matches radar estimates from the area.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	West Toledo	$50,000	As severe thunderstorms moved through the area, trees, large limbs and power lines were reported down from West Toledo to Point Place. Trained spotters estimated wind gusts to be between 55 and 60 mph.
February 1997	Flash Flood	South Toledo	$50,000	no account filed
March 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$30,000	Thunderstorm winds toppled two utility poles near the University of Toledo.
May 2011	Hail	Toledo	$30,000	Thunderstorms produced quarter to ping pong ball size hail.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$30,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and large limbs throughout Toledo. At least one home was damaged by a fallen tree.
September 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$30,000	Thunderstorm winds downed many trees in Toledo. One of the trees landed on a moving car. The occupants of the car were unharmed. A house was also slightly damaged by a fallen tree.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$25,000	Thunderstorm winds toppled several utility poles.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$25,000	A few trees and utility poles were reported down from severe thunderstorm winds.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$25,000	A few large limbs and utility poles were downed as the northern edge of a line of severe thunderstorms moved through the area.
April 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$25,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several power poles.
June 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	West Toledo	$25,000	Many large trees and limbs down. Utility wire down near the intersection of South and Reynolds Roads.
August 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$25,000	Power poles were downed in Toledo and trees were downed in Holland.
December 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$25,000	Two tractor trailers were blown over on U.S. Route 23 at U.S. Route 20.
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$20,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several large trees and over two dozen large limbs on the west side of Toledo.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$15,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees and large limbs in the city of Toledo. At least one home was struck by a falling tree.
May 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$15,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree in Toledo. A home was damaged by the tree.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$15,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several small trees along Collingwood Boulevard and Cherry Street.
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$15,000	Thunderstorm winds caused a tree to fall on a car.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$15,000	Thunderstorm winds downed six trees west of Toledo.
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$15,000	Thunderstorm winds downed three trees, many large limbs and a large advertisement sign on the south side of Toledo. One of the trees landed on a car.
November 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$15,000	Trees, limbs and power lines were downed.. A 63 mile per hour wind gust was recorded at Toledo Express Airport.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed an 18-inch diameter tree onto a vehicle. The vehicle sustained significant damage.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several large trees.
July 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed an eight inch diameter tree onto a house.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds damaged a building.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and large limbs.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$10,000	Several trees were reported down.
June 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several trees.
September 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	West Toledo	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees.
August 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$10,000	Numerous trees and large limbs were downed.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$8,000	Small strip of shingles removed from roof at residence in Toledo.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$8,000	A few trees and power lines were reported down.
May 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$6,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few large tree limbs.
September 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$5,000	The Emergency Manager reported 20 or more tree limbs down in Toledo. In addition a large 3-4 foot diameter trees was brought down but was rotten.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds downed numerous large tree limbs in the area.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$5,000	A trained spotter estimated thunderstorm winds at approximately 60 mph. Numerous large limbs were reported down.
April 2003	Hail	Toledo	$5,000	Dime size hail was observed. The hail completely covered the ground.
October 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs.
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs.
April 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$5,000	Near Maumee Bay, winds estimated at 60 miles per hour downed power lines, blew a temporary sign off a bridge, and left a few branches lying in roads.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Toledo	$5,000	Trees were downed, some on power lines, in several locations.

Every storm recorded in Lucas County

Newspapers printed here

0 digitised pages

8 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 0 issues, 0 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

Newspaper	Published
Ameryka Echo	1902 to 1971
Toledo Union Journal	1942 to Current
Ameryka W Toledo I Kuryer Clevelandski	1892 to 1892
Ameryka W Toledo	1891 to 1892
Ameryka	1893 to 1902
Ameryka	1889 to 1891
Toledo	1931 to 1971
Toledo Hungarian-American Weekly	1930 to 1931

What the paper printed

8,075 words

Front pages of the local paper, read from the Library of Congress scans: 9 issues spread across its run from 1930 to 1963, 8,075 words in total. Each is reproduced on its own page, exactly as the recogniser returned it.

These pages read less well than anything else here, and the number is worth stating: about three words in four come through cleanly, against nine in ten for the building records. An 1896 broadsheet sets eight-point type in seven columns on microfilm, which is the hardest thing in this archive to read by machine. We tested our own recognisers against the Library's and they were not better, so the Library's text is what appears, with the wholly unreadable columns removed. Read it as a guide to what the paper covered, and follow the link to the scan before quoting anything.

Issue	Paper	Length
1942-11-27	Toledo Union Journal	761 words
1942-12-11	Toledo Union Journal	810 words
1942-12-24	Toledo Union Journal	727 words
1952-12-19	Toledo Union Journal	936 words
1953-01-02	Toledo Union Journal	907 words
1963-12-27	Toledo Union Journal	2,179 words
1956-04-20	Toledo	299 words
1930-07-04	Toledo Hungarian-American Weekly	520 words
1930-11-14	Toledo Hungarian-American Weekly	936 words

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
West Toledo	1.9 miles	16
Air Line Junction	2.3 miles	16
Auburndale	2.6 miles	16
Fitch	2.9 miles	16
East Toledo	2.9 miles	16
Vulcan	3.0 miles	16
Boulevard	3.0 miles	16
Freemans Gardens	3.2 miles	16

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Toledo	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q49239	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1067015. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.