Toledo's Attic has reached 25 years in 2022! Since 1997, Toledo's Attic has been Toledo's and Northwest Ohio's virtual museum focusing on the region's commercial, industrial, and social history from the late 19th through the late 20th centuries. It began as a co-operative project led by the Department of History at The University of Toledo in 1997 and joined by the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, the Maumee Valley Historical Society, WGTE Public Media, and the Ward M. Canaday Center of the University of Toledo afterwards. Today, it is a public digital history and storytelling project to connect visitors with the history of the city and surrounding communities.
Toledo's Attic has been completely redesigned, reorganized, and migrated to an updated content management system. It features several original exhibits and galleries from the 1990s and now, there are 63 exhibits, over 4,000 images, and dozens of virtual ours using HistoryPin created over the past 25 years by professional historians, UT students, and other history enthusiasts in the Toledo and Northwest Ohio communities. Use the menu above to view the exhibits, discover resources, interact on social media, or find out more about Toledo's Attic.
Toledo’s Attic: The Beginnings - A commemorative essay by Dr. Timothy Messer-Kruse (original project lead in 1997) on the 25th anniversary of the Toledo's Attic project.
1902 Walking Tour - an original Toledo's Attic project (from 1998) resurrected for new technology: Tour Downtown Toledo of 1902 using the Sanboanr maps and use the Google Street view links for present views.
...and at least a dozen other original Toledo's Attic exhibits were restored. See Exhibits and Collections
Passport project - in collaboation with the Northwest Ohio Cultural Heritage Group, a new resource has been added to raise interest in regional history and cultural heritage
Postcard Puzzles - an interactive feature engaging visitors with the large postcard collection on Toledo's Attic. Viewing recommendation: use a larger screen (tablet, laptop, or desktop). Viewing experience varies on smartphones...besides put it down while driving!
Recent Exhibits
Not sure where to start?
Try an exhibit below or explore the exhibit themes below.
John Gunkel
Exhibit Gallery
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by Tedd A. Long
Each December, members of Toledo’s Old Newsboys Goodfellow Association are seen throughout Northwest Ohio as they conduct their annual charity paper sale. Many people recognize their familiar canvas newspaper bags and homemade donation buckets, but few actually know the story behind the origins of one...
The list below includes archive websites and digital collections maintained by states and territories (marked by *) in the U.S. Many regional collections are jointly created and maintained by multiple states and these collections tell the stories of communities in those areas.
Arrangements: By State and Territories -- Diverse and Underrepresented...
You can view recorded lectures and presentations focusing on the region's history--arranged alphabetically below. Many of these have been produced by WGTE/Knowledgestream. Toledo Stories is a separate series of documentaries also produced by WGTE.
Presentation Title, Presenter, Date
"The Blow is Struck: Northwest Ohio Goes to War", Bruce Way, September 24, 2011
"Development...
War In Their Words
Exhibit Gallery
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War In Their Words
War in Their Own Words: Toledo’s Veterans Write Home
By Lauren White, Manuscripts Librarian, Ward M. Canaday Center
The best picture of the realities of war is painted by the words of those who lived it. The Ward M. Canaday Center is honored to hold...
The first issue of the Quarterly Bulletins (1929, volume 1, number 1) published by the Historical Society of Northwest Ohio, the predecessor of the Maumee Valley Historical Society.
Northwest Ohio History - The journal (formerly known as the Northwest Ohio Quarterly and even before that the Quarterly Bulletins, starting in 1929)...
Boys and Girls Club of Toledo
Exhibit Gallery
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Saluting the American flag at Camp
The roots of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Toledo can be traced back more than a century to the Toledo Newsboys Association begun by John Gunckel in 1892. Although the name of the organization has changed on more...
From politics to architecture to history to art, here are some suggestions for books about Northwest Ohio, written by local authors. Please feel free to email us your favorite sources of local history. Click on the title to access the library record and explore other works on the top by...
National Register Plaque
Exhibit Gallery
The slides in this presentation were sorted by year the properties were built. Captions show the name of the property, the year they were built, the name of the architect (if that information has been supplied), the street address, and status as demolished where that is the...
Gustavus Ohlinger
Exhibit Gallery
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Essay by Patrick Cook (November 2013)
Gustavus Ohlinger was born into extraordinary circumstance. His parents, Franklin and Bertha Ohlinger, served as missionaries in Foochow, China. It was in Foochow on July 15, 1877, that Gustavus was born to his Methodist missionary parents more than seventy five hundred miles from...
"A picture is worth a thousand words" -- according to the adage attributed to advertising executive Frederick R. Barnard Frederick R. Barnard who authored his article in 1921 titled "One look is worth a thousand words." Some others attribute is to U.S. newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane in 1911. Going back, Henrik...
Time in a Bottle: A History of Owens-Illinois, Inc.
Bottle Machine with workers
It was called the most significant advance in the production of glass in 2000 years. It has been designated as an international historic engineering landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 1913, it received a commendation from...
Ford Model T
Willys Jeep
Exhibit Gallery
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Henry Ford, portrait
1908 was a pivotal year in the history of the American automobile. Events such as the introduction of the Model T Ford, the automobile that revolutionized the manufacture of the automobile and most mass marketed goods
The Model T affected all forms of industry and...
Inside Hines' Farm Blues Club
Exhibit Gallery
Credits: Prof. Thomas Barden for the donated photographs in this collection.
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Hines' Farm Blues Club
by Thomas E. Barden and Matthew Donahue
The whole thing started in Frank and Sarah Hines' basement. By the time they built the club itself in 1957, Hines' Farm was already in full...
The "Wholly Toledo: The Business and Industry that Shaped the City" virtual exhibit conveys in digital format the actual exhibit that was on display in the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections from November 17, 2010 to November 4, 2011. The exhibit looks at the city's commercial and industrial...
The entrance to Woodlawn Cemetery
Exhibit Gallery
Photo credits: Josef Schneider (all Woodlawn photogragraphs) and Larry Leach (Doria and Thomas T Tracy).
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Historic Woodlawn Cemetery was recognized as a National Historic site in 1998. The overall landscape design, which follows the principles of the rural cemetery movement, is a significant feature of the...
Albert E. Macomber - Guido Marx - William V. McMaken - George Stratford Mills - Clement Orville Miniger - Raymon Mulford - Elizabeth Mulholland - Lynn M. Murphy - Colonel Henry. G. Neubert - Albert Neukom - C. Burton Nickels - Charles Northup - John William Oswald - Earle L....
The Tiedtke Brothers - Sergeant Ernst Torgler - Thomas H. Tracy - Morrison Remmick Waite - The Walbridge Family - William Spooner Walbridge - Herbert Whitney - Alvin Mansfield Woolson - Samuel Young
The Tiedtke Brothers
The Tiedtke brothers were active members of the Toledo community and during their lives experienced financial success...
Max Hahn
Exhibit Gallery
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Max Hahn
This series of articles from the Toledo Blade of 1927 and 1928 that profiles the 'out-of-the-ordinary work of Toledo wage earners,' including that of Frank Barey whose job it was to pick the bullets out of the beans before roasting at one of Toledo's coffee plants. The...
Nasby Interlocking Tower
Exhibit Gallery
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By Greg Johnson and John Ehrmin
This exhibit, donated by John Ehrmin of Toledo, is a brief photographic essay on the former Nasby Interlocking Tower, which ended its operations on March 22, 1998. The essays on Petroleum V. Nasby and David Ross Locke were written by Greg Johnson.
Conrail’s...
Pinterest: Toledo Sister Cities -- Libraries
In 1931, Toledo, Ohio and Toledo Spain forged the world's first sister-city relationship. While Toledo may have been named after the former capital of Spain, Toledo, on December 1, 1837, the latter responded with gifts of swords and other items in 1876. Toledo's steel industry...
Speech and Hearing Building
Exhibit Gallery
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Toledo Hearing and Speech Center: A Century of Service
by Lauren White, Manuscripts Librarian, Ward M. Canaday Center
Speech and Hearing Advertising Speech and Hearing Therapy
The Toledo Hearing and Speech Center (THSC) was born out of Bessie Dewey Anderson’s own experiences with hearing loss. In 1915, as...
Chillicothe, first capital of Ohio
Exhibit Gallery
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"Another View of Ohio's Bicentennial": A Speech Given Before the Annual Dinner of the Lucas County-Maumee Valley Historical Society, June 11, 2003
by Timothy Messer-Kruse, Assoc. Prof. of Labor History, Univ. of Toledo [1]
Being a classroom lecturer I am accustomed to speaking extemporaneously but tonight I...
Our Toledo
Exhibit Gallery
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by Timothy Messer-Kruse, 2001
Program (cover) for the Toledo Girls Waltz
Every great city has its songs. Some, like Sinatra’s New York, New York, or Tony Bennett’s I Left My Heart in San Francisco evoke images that capture a city’s spirit. Some, like Woody Payne’s Sweet Home Chicago [*], become...
By the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections
Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections
Introduction (Summary)
By choosing the name “Toledo,” the founders of the city in 1837 seemed interested in promoting it as a place with an international focus. It is uncertain why “Toledo” was selected as the name for...
Samuel M. Jones
Exhibit Gallery
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Timothy Messer-Kruse
Samuel Milton "Golden Rule" Jones was nominated for mayor of Toledo at a tumultuous Republican convention on February 25, 1897. That day would usher in a nearly two decade period of reform government in the city and would propel Mayor Jones to national, and even international...
Blogs
Catholic Architecture and History of Toledo, Ohio
The Department Store Museum: Lamson’s Lasalle’s Lion Store
History in Your Own Backyard (Ohio)
Holy Toledo History
The Toledo Gazette
Retro Toledo Metro
Toledo History Box
Historical Societies and Museums
East Toledo Historical Society
Great Lakes Historical Society
Henry County Historical Society
Heritage Sylvania
Historic Old West End
Historic Perrysburg
Historic Vistula Foundation
Holland Springfield Spencer Historical...
Let's meet up on social media! Toledo's Attic visitors can explore local history information resources, meet local history enthusiast, and engage in discussions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. You can share your photos and videos of historically significant places in the area with others or see what others have...
Alanson Wood
Exhibit Gallery
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by Timothy Messer-Kruse
Toledo has had more than its share of inventors. Some are well remembered - Michael Owens, inventor of the automated glass-blowing machine, and Allen DeVilbiss, inventor of the spray atomizer, both of have schools named after them. The fame and fortunes of many of the familiar...
Aerial View of the University of Toledo Campus
Exhibit Gallery
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by Barbara Floyd
"...We believe you are going to respond to the challenge of a beautiful environment, that the traditions which have grown up about this noble architecture will stimulate you to greater efforts in learning, and to finer decorum, and to...
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Exhibit Gallery
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By Timothy Messer-Kruse
February 2002
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar was a young man who witnessed firsthand the fruits of struggle. His father escaped slavery in Kentucky and made his way to Canada through Ohio, and then returned to fight with a Massachusetts regiment against the system that had...
Exhibits in Toledo's Attic contain historical (including pictorial) essays by various authors and contributors. Many are contributions of former UT History Professor Timothy Messer-Kruse who spearheaded the Toledo's Attic project in the 1990s and is featured on many Toledo Stories, which you can watch on WGTE. The thematic arrangement of...
Toledo Humane Society
Exhibit Gallery
All images were published here with permission from the Toledo Area Humane Society
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by Arjun Sabharwal
Toledo Produce Exchange
The Toledo Humane Society formed on January 29, 1884 and incorporated on February 14, 1884 , following meetings held at the Richard Mott's Home and Toledo Produce Exchange in Downtown Toledo...
« Historical Essay
Use the index on the right to view the individual archives. If you have questions about these photographs, can identify any people in the photographs/videos, or have photographs to add, please contact Marie Demer Rader at marie.rader@gmail.com.
Club Grounds
This archive contains photographs of the Middle Bass Club including...
William H. Scott - Jay K. Secor - James Secor - Joseph K.Secor - Gen. Isaac R. Sherwood - Spitzer Family - Gen. James B. Steedman - George Butler Storer - Robert A. and Frank D. Stranahan
William H. Scott
William H. Scott, a realtor by profession, helped to establish the second...
An illustrated historical atlas of Lucas and part of Wood Counties, Ohio (Chicago : Andreas & Baskin, 1875) presents township maps and illustrations of homes and townscapes as they were seen in 1875. Most structures are gone but some of the landscape, water ways, and some roads are recognizable. You...
« Historical Essay
Use the index on the right to view the individual archives. If you have questions about these photographs, can identify any people in the photographs/videos, or have photographs to add, please contact Marie Demer Rader at marie.rader@gmail.com.
Members
This archive contains photographs of Middle Bass Club members enjoying themselves...
S.S. Willis Boyer
Exhibit Gallery
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Side view of the S.S. Willis Boyer pilot house.
In the shadow of the downtown Toledo skyline, moored alongside the rolling landscape of International Park, a splash of history and romance awaits you on the S.S. Willis B. Boyer. Careful, authentic restoration has made the ship come alive!...
"Our Girls' Club Magazine"
Toledo working women banded together in the early twentieth century for support and camaraderie. Our Club Girls Magazine stood for the "social and commercial education of young wage-earning women." Experience life for young working women through its pages. This exhibit is drawn from four issues of Our...
Alonzo Chesbrough - Albert "Bert" S. Close - Elmer Harry Close - Frank Collins* - John Craig - Frank, Howard and George Crosby/Crosby Brothers - Frances Crosby - William Culver - Judge Joseph W. Cummings - Robert S. Cummings - William Cummings
*The original list from 1995 (not used herein)...
Twister Ad
Exhibit Gallery
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Memories of Semi-Pro Basketball in Toledo: Twisters of 1961-62 and Tartans of 1962-63
By: Ken Kander
As the statistician for Toledo’s minor league professional basketball teams in the early 1960s, I was able to meet some future NBA stars, a few college superstars, several former University of Toledo players, and...
Michigan and Ohio borders in 1830 and 1755
Exhibit Gallery
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Introduction
This little known but very important "war" shaped the borders of the states of Michigan and Ohio, with the final outcome granting Toledo, MI and what is now the upper corner of Northwest Ohio to Ohio. Michigan did not leave empty handed,...
Bottle Machine
Exhibit Gallery
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The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections at the University of Toledo has recently received a collection of records and artifacts from the Owens-Illinois company. This large collection includes business documents, bottle catalogs, photographs, films, books, patents, stock certificates, company newsletters, press releases and two collections of...
Edwin F. Damschroder Sr. - Isaac Horning Detwiler - Henry Dodge - Charles C. Doolittle - John Hardy Doyle - John Felker - Stevens Warren Flower - George R. Ford - Albert V. Foster - John W. Fuller
Edwin F. Damschroder, Sr.
Edwin F. Damschroder Sr., was born in Elmore, Ohio, in...
Toledo Fire Rescue Department Patch
Exhibit Gallery
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A Century of Fire: Toledo's Firefighting History
Bill O'Connor and Herb Zieman.Fire Rescue Department Patch 1936 Schacht Ladder Truck
The Toledo Fire Department dates back to 1837. This exhibit explores the rich and colorful history of the fire department, examining the firefighters, their equipment, and the fires...
Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship
Exhibit Gallery
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By Richard Kruzel
Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship
Toledo’s history and the history of commerce on the Great Lakes has been intertwined since the city’s inception. Toledo’s position on the Maumee River at the western end of Lake Erie has made it one of...
Archives
Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections
Ohio History Connection, State Archives
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museum: Research and Collections
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration: Presidential Libraries
The University of Toledo, Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections
Veterans History Project...
Valentine Theatre
Exhibit Gallery
Images (in order of appearance): Original stage curtain, original theater interior, original lobby, original stage, original ticket booth, exterior view by Milton Zink (1957), and Loew's sign (all courtesy of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library).
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Valentine Theatre Symbol
By Timothy Messer-Kruse, University of Toledo, 1998
In its pioneer decades, Toledo was, not...
The Pope Toledo Motor Car Building, Toledo, Ohio, 1905
Exhibit Gallery
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by Timothy Messer-Kruse, December 1999
The Pope Toledo Motor Car Building, Toledo, Ohio, 1905
Toledo has had a long and continuous automotive history. For Toledo, the year 2000 will not only mark the great roll-over of the millennial odometer, but will also be...
Medicine on the Maumee
Introduction
Clara Church, 8 years old, tetanus, January 29, 1859. Chris Fall, 35 years old, laborer, drinking ice water, May 15, 1860. Avery McCarthy, 19 years old, fits, September 20, 1860. John Ayers, 32 years old, bad whiskey, June 3, 1863. Theodore Hansen, 27 years old, soldier, starved...
Downtown Toledo Map
Original exhibit text:
Below is a map of downtown Toledo in 1902. By clicking on any city block you will see a detailed map of the buildings, businesses, and general geography of the area. Or you may browse through a detailed index of businesses, places, and attractions that are...
Project Description
The Northwest Ohio Cultural Heritage Group (formed in 2019) is a collaborative group of archives, museums, public and private libraries, historical societies and other cultural heritage institutions in NW Ohio and has just created its first project--a passport book featuring over 50 cultural heritage institutions throughout 19 counties of...
Women making glass
Exhibit Gallery
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In World War II, Toledo did its part to help the war effort. A silent, but equally important, part of that team was made up of local women who entered the workforce.
Poster of Rosie the Riveter.
Prior to the War
The Great Depression of the 1930s had thrown America...
Rotary Club of Toledo
Exhibit Gallery
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Rotary Club of Toledo Emblem
The Toledo Rotary Club was founded in May of 1912 in the Chamber of Commerce of Toledo. During its 90+ years of service, the Rotary Club of Toledo has been instrumental in helping physically and developmentally disabled children as well as...
Armory Park
Exhibit Gallery
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The Toledo Mud Hens, 1927
The Toledo Mud Hens have had a long and storied history in Northwest Ohio. The club has pushed the color barrier when other teams were trying to exclude African American players, served as training grounds for future Hall of Fame players and managers, and...
"Faith, Vision and Hard Work: The University of Toledo, 1872-2022" (Exhibition focusing on the history of the University of Toledo) [More on this exhibition...]