TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 505
FIRST COURTHOUSE IN TOLEDO
During the twelve years the county seat was at Maumee, the foundation for a courthouse at Toledo
"went to ruin." Immediately after the election in October, 1852, the county offices were removed
to the "Duell Block," on Summit Street, between Cherry and Walnut. In fact, while the question of
removal was pending and before the election, the City of Toledo made arrangements with the
owner, Silas J. Duell, for the use of the building, which contained a large hall, suitable for a
courtroom, and eight other rooms, which could be used for county offices. For the quarters thus
provided the city agreed to pay $700 per annum, contingent upon the location of the county seat at
Toledo. This action on the part of the city authorities, in providing a place for the transaction of
the county business, no doubt had the effect of influencing some of the electors to vote for
removal. The old Duell block has long since disappeared.
As another inducement to secure the removal of the county seat to Toledo, a bond in the sum of
$20,000 was executed to insure the provision of adequate courthouse and jail accommodations.
This bond was signed by the city authorities and the following citizens : Edson Allen, William
Baker, Ezra Bliss, Ira L. Clark, Sanford L. Collins, Simeon Fitch, Jr., John P. Freeman, Charles
W. Hill, H. L. Hosmer, T. H. Hough, Matthew Johnson, Valentine H. Ketcham, Charles A. King,
Solomon Linsley, Daniel McBain, H. D. Mason, Daniel 0. Morton, James Myers, John U. Pease,
George W. Scott, Daniel Segur, L. T. Thayer, Valentine Wall, H. D. Warren, Thomas Watkins,
Jr., J. H. Whitaker and James White.
Late in the year 1852 the county commissioners—William F. Dewey, Alfred J. Eldredge and Peter
C. Lewis—accepted plans for a courthouse, to be located on the square bounded by Adams, Erie,.
Jackson and Michigan streets. The site selected was on the bank of the abandoned canal, near the
intersection of Adams and Erie streets, the remainder of the square being beautified as a park. The
building was a three-story brick, almost square, with four gables and a dome in the center. At the
main entrance on Adams Street the structure was dignified by a row of columns. It was completed
in the latter part of 1853 and served Lucas County for more than forty years. In the rear of the
courthouse was the jail, constructed at the same time. (For a history of the county jail see the
chapter on Penal and Charitable Institutions.)
THE NEW COURTHOUSE
When the first courthouse in Toledo was completed in 1853, the population of the county was
about fourteen thousand. The United States census of 1880 showed 67,377 inhabitants—an
increase of almost 500 per cent. Soon after this census was taken the subject of a new courthouse
came before the county commissioners and the public for consideration. The question was
discussed pro and con until 1886, when the Legislature granted the commissioners of Lucas
County authority to expend $500,000 for a new building. Plans for the proposed courthouse were
prepared by direction of the board, but a determined opposition developed and through the
interposition of the courts further proceedings were blocked.
Then the Manufacturers' Association took a hand in the matter, by appointing a committee to
awaken public sentiment in favor of the project. That committee was
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composed of L. S. Baumgardner,' John Craig, J. H. Puck, F. D. Suydam and A. M. Woolson.
These gentlemen visited and inspected the old courthouse, which they found. entirely inadequate
to the needs of the county. Largely through the influence of this committee, the question of a new
courthouse was submitted to the voters at the general election in November, 1892, and the
proposition carried by an overwhelming majority. Charles P. Griffin was at the same time elected
to the. Legislature on a platform favoring a new, county building. Early in the ensuing session he
introduced a special Lucas County bill authorizing the commissioners to issue bonds to the
amount of $500,000 for such a purpose. The bill became a law and David L. Stine was employed'
as architect to prepare the plans.
Mr. Stine selected as his model the courthouse at Buffalo, New York, making such changes as
were necessary to adapt it to Ohio laws and customs. The plans were ,approved by the board of
commissioners, consisting of Warren W. Cooke, John L. Pray and Jacob Engelhardt, and the
contract was awarded to Dun, Perley & Company. Through the influence of the Manufacturers'
Association committee, W. S. Brainerd was appointed chairman of the building committee. The
cornerstone was laid on September 3, 1893, with appropriate ceremonies, including a historical
address by Judge Emery D. Potter, then eighty-nine years of age. On January 1, 1897, the new
courthouse was thrown open to the public and it has been estimated that forty thousand people
passed through the building on that occasion, the dedicatory exercises being informal and mainly
in the character of a public reception. Architectural experts have declared that the Lucas County
courthouse can hardly be surpassed for beauty and utility, a fact of which the citizens are justly
proud. But they are more proud of the fact that the structure was completed within the original
appropriation, without any additional expenditure for extras, without any whisper of "graft," and
that it stands as a monument to the civic honesty of the officials and building committee which
had charge of its construction.
Where the courthouse stands was formerly a marsh, through which ran the bed of the old canal.
But the marsh and the canal have been filled, trees have been planted, etc., so that no trace of the
once unsightly "frog pond" is visable. The building stands well over toward the. Jackson Street
side of the square, with a park between it and Adams Street. This park has been further adorned
by the McKinley monument, erected by the people of Toledo with contributions of a dime.
MEMORIAL HALL
On the corner of Adams and Ontario streets, facing the courthouse square, stands the Memorial
Hall, the history of which is as follows : Gov. Charles Anderson approved an act of the Ohio
Legislature on March 3, 1865, authorizing the incorporation of Soldiers' Memorial Associations,
for the erection of monuments, memorial buildings, etc., commemorating the services of the
soldiers and sailors who fought in the Civil war on .the side of the Union. Under 'the provisions of
this act the Toledo Soldiers' Memorial Association was organized on July 23, 1879. On August
16, 1879, a board of fourteen trustees was elected. Of this board Mayor Jacob Romeis, S. F.
Forbes, Frank J. King, John R. Osborn and W. T. Walker represented the City of Toledo ; C. W.
Everett, H. G. Neubert; E. H. Norton and Charles L. Young represented Forsyth Post, Grand
Army of the Republic; and the Ladies' Aid Society was represented by Mrs. S. H. Bergen, Mrs. E.
R.
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Collins, Mrs. D. R. Locke, Mrs. Kate B. Sherwood and Mrs. Milton Taylor. Mr. Osborn was
elected president ; Mr. Walker and Mrs. Sherwood, vice presidents ; and Dr. W. W. Jones was
selected as treasurer.
The association started with a fund of $49.60, which was contributed by Forsyth Post. At the close
of the war the Third Ward reported a balance of. $1,500 on hand. This sum was invested in
municipal bonds of the City of Jackson, Michigan, and in 1879 amounted, with the accrued
interest, to $2,736.55, which was 'added to the building fund. On June 7, 1880, the city council
passed an ordinance donating the property between Adams Street and Madison Avenue and
Ontario Street and Maiden Lane (the old canal bed) to the association as a site for the memorial
building. Other contributions from various sources to the building fund came in gradually and by
January 1, 1883, the trustees had on hand $20,000. At the annual meeting, on February 26, 1883,
it was decided "to erect such a memorial building as shall not only do honor to our fallen
comrades, but be of material benefit to the city."
Plans calling for a building to cost $60,000 were prepared and on July 4, 1883, the corner-stone
was laid by C. C. Kiefer, grand master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Ohio. The box deposited
under the stone contained a list of national, state and municipal officials, a list of Lucas County
soldiers who died during the war, rosters of the Grand Army posts and women's auxiliaries, copies
of the Toledo newspapers of current issue, historical sketch of the memorial association,
specimens of United States fractional currency issued during the war, etc. Gen. William H.
Gibson delivered the oration and the ceremonies closed with a sham battle in a heavy rain storm.
When the annual meeting was held in January, 1884, the prospect for the completion of the
building was by no means assuring. It was proposed to turn the building over to the city and at a
meeting on April 14, 1884, a resolution to that effect was adopted by the directors. By an
ordinance passed on the 14th of June following the city council accepted the transfer of the
property, on a ninety-nine year lease, and provided for the completion of the Memorial Hall by an
issue of $30,000 of city bonds. At the same time Robert Cummings, George Scheets, W. W.
Jones, John S. Kountz, T. B. Terry and L. F. Lytle were named as trustees, with the mayor as
ex-officio president. These trustees completed the building, the total cost of which was $65,000,
and it was formally dedicated on February 22, 1886. After prayer by Rev. H. M. Bacon, John R.
Osborn delivered an address, L. F. Lytle read a historical sketch of the building, D. R. Austin
delivered an address upon the Lucas County soldiers in the war, and Mayor Samuel F. Forbes
dedicated the building in the following words :
"On behalf of the citizens of Toledo, I hereby dedicate this building to the honor of the soldiers
and sailors of Lucas County in the late war, and in memory, of those who gave up their lives in the
maintenance of our country,'and to be the home of the military of our city forever. And may the'
God of battles smile auspiciously upon this memento of patriotism and loyalty."
The building contains a large hall for public meetings, a room for post meetings of the Grand
Army of the Republic, parlors for the Women's Relief Corps and other auxiliaries of the Grand
Army, and a museum for the preservation of war relics and documents, particularly those relating
to the Lucas County volunteers.
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CITY HALL
Strictly speaking, Toledo has no city hall, but it may be of interest to the reader to learn something
of the efforts that have been made at various times to obtain a municipal building. As early as
April 21, 1841, a committee was appointed by the council "to report a plan for and an estimate of
the cost of a city hall." If that committee ever made a report it cannot now be found. Nothing
further was done for about five years. In the fall of 1846, while Richard Mott was mayor of the
city, the subject again came before the council. Councilmen. John. P. Freeman and Daniel Segur
and City Engineer Robert Jeffrey were appointed a committee to consider plans for a city
building, etc. Early in 1847 the committee reported in favor of a city hall, but left the question of
ways and means to the council.
That summer the city purchased a lot on the south side of Adams Street, between St. Clair and
Summit streets, from Herman DeGraff, of Detroit, the consideration, being $300. A change in the
city administration, and possibly a lack of funds, delayed the erection of a building for three or
four years. Then a two-story brick building was erected on the lot, with quarters for one of the fire
companies on the ground floor and a council chamber above. This was Toledo's first and only city
hall. At the close of the Civil war in 1865, the fire station still occupied the main floor, with the
council chamber and city clerk's office up stairs. The mayor's office was then on Monroe Street,
near St. Clair Street, where he also held the sessions of the police court. After a police judge was
provided for, the mayor's office was in the Adams Street building until 1881.
By that time Toledo had grown to a city of more than fifty thousand inhabitants and the building
on Adams Street was entirely too small for the municipal requirements. On February 4, 1881, the
city leased rooms in the old Masonic Temple, on the corner of Adams. and Superior streets, for
$1,675 a year. A little later there was some talk of a joint city and county building, but the county
officials opposed the project. In 1889 the Adams Street building was sold at auction by the city for
$14,505, Frederic Borck being the purchaser. Most of the city offices remained in the Masonic
Temple building until August 8, 1894, when the council approved a lease of a number of rooms in
the new Valentine building at an annual rental of $6,400. Ten years later, at the expiration of the
lease; the rent was increased to $16,000 a year, and in 1921 it was raised to $20,000.
THE CIVIC CENTER
In the meantime suggestions for a city hall were discussed by the press and the public. About 1904
E. 0. Fallis, the architect who had planned many of Toledo's business structures, prepared designs
for a civic center, just across Jackson Street from the courthouse square, upon which should be
erected a city hall, police headquarters and other city buildings. The late Franklin Macomber also
prepared plans for a similar project. After Mr. Macomber's death on December 10, 1908, S. P.
Jermain called the attention of Mayor Brand Whitlock to the plans and in 1909 Mayor Whitlock
appointed S. P. Jermain, Harry T. Batch, William H. Maher, George B. Rheinf rank and John
Ulmer a commission to consider and report on the practicability of the plan. On March 28, 1910,
the committee made a report recommending the purchase or condemnation of the property
bounded by
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Beech, Erie and Jackson streets and Spielbusch Avenue and the immediate erection of a city hall,
to cost not less than $350,000. The report appraised the land in the proposed civic center at
$325,000.
The report was approved by the council on April 18, 1910, and in November following a bond
issue of $300,000 was authorized to purchase a city hall site. In the spring of 1912 another
commission was authorized by the council and Mayor Whitlock appointed H. W. Ashley, J. F.
Egan, S. P. Jermain, Edward D. Libbey and William H. Maher. This commission made its report
on October 7, 1912. It approved everything that had been recommended by the former
commission, except that it recommended the erection of a city hall to cost $750,000. Two weeks
later the council authorized a bond issue of $750,000 to build the new city hall, but a large part of
the proceeds was used to purchase the property. In 1913 Arnold Brunner, a New York architect,
was employed to cooperate with the firm of Mills, Rhines, Bellman & Nordhoff in the preparation
of plans. The plans were approved and there the matter rested for several years. In 1919 the civic
center project was revived and a proposition to issue bonds to the amount of $3,000,000 was
submitted to the voters at the primary election on August 8, 1922. It was defeated by a small
majority, but there is no doubt that the people of Toledo, even those who voted against the bonds,
realize the need of a permanent home for the municipal offices and a city hall is almost certain to
come before many more years have passed.
THE FEDERAL BUILDING
As stated in a former chapter, the first post office in the immediate vicinity of Toledo was
established at Tremainesville and bore the name of Port Lawrence. The Toledo post office, under
that name, came into existence through the consolidation of the towns of Port Lawrence and
Vistula in the latter part of 1833, with Stephen B. Comstock as postmaster. For some time the post
office was located on the southeast side of Summit Street near Jackson. It was then moved across
the street to a building next to White's Hall, on the lot where the Neuhausel Brothers' store was
afterward built. A few years later it was removed to the Blade building near the corner of Summit
and Madison Avenue. There it remained until the completion of the first Government Building, on
the corner of Madison Avenue and St. Clair Street in 1853.
When that building was erected it was thought that it would be sufficient for the needs of Toledo
for many years to come, but within a quarter of a century the growth of the city was such that
larger quarters for handling the mails and transacting the Government business became absolutely
necessary. In 1870 Congress authorized the holding of two terms of the United States District
Court at Toledo annually. Eight years later the northern judicial district of Ohio was divided into
the eastern and western divisions and Toledo was made the judicial center for the western
division. Better facilities for holding court had to be provided and in 1882 the old post office
building was torn down to make room for a larger building. While it was under construction the
post office occupied rooms in the Masonic Temple on the corner of Adams and Superior streets at
an annual rental of $2,850. The new building was completed in 1888 at a cost of $422,000,
including the site. In it were provided much better facilities for handling the mails, a courtroom
for the Federal District Court, the United States marshal's office, clerk's office, quarters for
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the collector of customs, the internal revenue collector's office, etc. It was still used for these
purposes in 1922.
THE NEW POST OFFICE
In 1909 the Government began the erection of a new post office building on the block bounded by
Thirteenth and Fourteenth' streets, Jefferson and Madison avenues, the demands for handling
mails having outgrown the capacity of the building at St. Clair Street and Madison Avenue. The
new structure was completed and occupied in December, 1911. All mails are delivered at the new
post office, where letters and packages for the business district are arranged for distribution and
sent to the old post office, from which. they are delivered to the addressees. The cost of the new
post office was approximately half a million dollars and it is equipped with all the necessary
modern apparatus for rapid and efficient work.
The old post office is called the Central Station. In addition to the two main post office buildings
there are eight branches, located at 502 Main Street, East Toledo ; 3031 Monroe Street,
Auburndale ; 1621 Dorr Street, on the South Side ; 2913 Lagrange Street ; 1438 Broadway ; 509
West Delaware Avenue ; 502 .Galena Street ; and 1015 Sylvania Avenue, West :Toledo.
Altogether about four hundred people are employed by the Toledo post office, including ten rural
carriers who deliver mail to the people in a large part of Lucas County.
Postmasters—Following is a list of the Toledo postmasters since the office was established in
1833, with the .year in which each entered upon the duties of the position: Stephen B. Comstock,
1833 ; Emery D. Potter, 1836 ; Joseph B. Gardner, 1839 ; Andrew Palmer, 1841 ; Truman C.
Everts, 1845 ; Hezekiah D. Mason, 1849 ; John E. Hunt, 1853 ; George Walbridge, 1861 (died a
few weeks after he was appointed) ; Edward P. Bassett, 1861; Dennison Steele, 1865 ; Albert G.
Clark, 1866 (not confirmed by the United States Senate) ; Alexander Reed, 1866; Ezekiel V.
McMaken, .1870 ; Patrick H. Dowling, 1874 ; Charles H. Eddy, 1878 ; Patrick H. Dowling, 1882
; George E. Lorenz, 1887 ; James M. Brown, 1891; C. Rudolph Brand, 1895 ; William H. Tucker,
1899 ; George F. Parrish, March, 1914; George W. Lathrop, July 1, 1920.
MUSEUM OF ART
About the beginning of the present century a group of public spirited men, after some discussion
of the subject, decided to give Toledo an art museum, for the exhibition of paintings, statuary, etc.
On April 18, 1901, the "Toledo Museum of Art" was incorporated by. Edward D. Libbey,
Edmund H. Osthaus, Robinson Locke, David L. Stine, Charles S. Ashley, Almon C. Whiting and
Barton Smith. Others were soon interested in the project and in the fall of 1901 temporary quarters
were obtained in a vacant store room on Madison Avenue and the museum was opened. A little
later it was removed to the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and Thirteenth Street. The early
days of the institution were days of struggle. When it was two years old the actual assets
amounted to less than three hundred dollars. Then a systematic canvass for better support was
commenced and it resulted in a number of subscriptions, ranging from $5 to $100 per year.
TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 517
In 1911 Edward D. Libbey and his wife donated a tract of ground 400 by 500 feet, located at
Monroe Street and Scottwood Avenue, as a site for a building to be used as the art museum. Green
& Wickes, architects of Buffalo, New York, were commissioned to make plans and in October,
1912, the Toledo Museum of Art was opened to the public. The cost of the building was
$244,000. About four years later Mr. Libbey offered to give $400,000 toward an endowment fund,
provided the people of the city would raise half that amount. They did a little better than the
requirement and the museum has an endowment fund of $650,000. In addition to the income from
this fund, there were over two thousand Toledo citizens who were contributors to the museum
fund in 1922.
The Toledo Museum of Art was the first institution of its kind in the country to adopt the policy of
art education for the masses, and it was also the first to introduce music study into its activities, to
arrange for regular concerts, illustrated music hours for children, etc. A lecture course is
conducted from October 1 to April 1 annually, many of the lectures being given by international
authorities on various phases of art. Children are not considered a nuisance at the museum, the
institution being open to the school children of the city on Saturdays, when instruction is given
them in design, toymaking, etc., and the "Children's Story Hour" on Sunday afternoons is always
well attended.
The officers and staff of the museum for 1922 were as follows : Edward Drummond Libbey,
president ; Arthur J. Secor, vice president ; Charles A. Schmettau, secretary ; Isaac E. Knisely,
treasurer ; George W. Stevens, director ; Nina S. Stevens, assistant director; Blake-More Godwin,
curator; Nell L. Jaffe, assistant curator; Elisabeth J. Merrill, supervisor of education.
Several private collections of paintings have been presented to the museum by public spirited
citizens, perhaps the most notable of which is the Arthur J. Secor collection of thirty-five
paintings, valued at $500,000. This collection was given to the museum by Mr. Secor early in the'
year 1922. During the year 1921 there were 140,000 people visited the museum, 77,000 of whom
were children.
TOLEDO HOTELS
Although the hotel is not a public building in the sense that it built at the public expense, it is a
house of public entertainment, hence it is deemed appropriate to include in this chapter brief
mention of some of Toledo's early and most noted hostelries. Reference has already been made in
another chapter to the accommodations offered to travelers by John T. Baldwin, in the old Port
Lawrence warehouse, which was the first "hotel" in Toledo.
In the fall of 1832 John Fassett built a large house on the west side of Summit Street near Locust
and opened a hotel. If this house was given a name that name is not now known. James Irvine
Browne, publisher of the first newspaper in Toledo, boarded for a time with Mr. Fassett. In 1835
the building was enlarged and remodeled and was given the name of the Mansion House, which
was kept by: J. Baron Davis. This hotel was a sort of public headquarters during the Boundary
War between Ohio and Michigan. The hotel was afterward known as the Franklin House.
The Eagle Tavern, a rather pretentious house of entertainment for its day, was opened by Ira C.
Smith in the spring of 1834. It was located on the side
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of Summit Street next to the river, between Elm and Lagrange streets, and is credited by some
writers with being the first regular hotel in Toledo, though the Fassett hotel was opened fully
eighteen months earlier. In the fall of 1837 J. H. Booth became the proprietor, Smith having built
a large brick hotel at Vienna, Michigan, to which he gave his entire attention.
With the completion of the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad in the fall of 1836, better hotel facilities
were felt to be necessary in Toledo. The Toledo House, on the northeast corner of Perry and
Summit streets was then opened by Blin & Coy, who conducted the house for about five or six
years. In 1842, just before the completion of the Miami & Erie Canal, the house was enlarged by
the addition of another story and a broad porch was built on the side next to the river. The name
was then changed to the Indiana House, which was kept for several years by Robert N. Lawton.
Contemporary with the Toledo or Indiana House was the American Hotel, which was located on
the northwest corner of Elm and Summit streets. It was opened in the fall of 1836 by James.
Brown, who conducted the house but a short time, when he was succeeded by Daniel Segur. In
.1842 or 1843 John McKenster became the landlord and made a number of improvements, both in
the house and furnishings. Lyman T. Thayer took charge in 1851 and conducted the hotel for
about two years, when he leased it to Mahlon Kingman. He resumed the management in 1857 and
continued in charge until the building was destroyed by fire in January, 1861. Before becoming
the proprietor of this hotel, Mr. Thayer had fitted up a hotel known as Thayer's Exchange on the
corner of St. Clair Street and Jefferson Avenue. It was opened in 1847 and soon became a popular
hotel. When he took charge of the, American the name of the Exchange was changed to the
Collins House. It was burned in 1860.
Upon the completion of the Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland (now the New York Central) Railroad
in December, 1852, the company announced the intention of locating its depot on' what was
known as the "Middle Ground"—the point of land between Swan Creek and the Maumee River.
Hotel accommodations in that part of the city were rather inferior. There was then but one hotel
above Swan Creek. It was a small house called the Broadway Hotel, which was opened by A. F.
Hull about 1850. Steps were accordingly taken by the railroad officials to erect a building which
would at once answer for a hotel and terminal passenger station. The Island House, as the hotel
was called; was opened in the early part of 18.55, with Roswell P. Ainger—formerly of the
Ainger House of Cleveland as manager. Mr. Ainger continued in charge until his death in 1864. It
is safe to say that during this period the Island House was the most popular hotel in Toledo and
was a favorite place for banquets and social functions of all kinds.
H. B. Sherman became manager of the hotel upon the death of Mr. Ainger. He was succeeded
after a few years by the Terry brothers, who in turn were succeeded by James Gerrans about 1879
or 1880. Mr. Gerrans conducted the Island House until the railroad company removed the
passenger terminal to the Union Depot in 1886. The hotel was then converted into freight offices,
etc., and used as such until 1906. The building was then torn down and the New York Central
freight house was afterward erected on the site.
In the meantime a formidable competitor to the Island House had sprung
TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 521
up at the corner of Ottawa Street and Broadway, only about a block away. This was the Oliver
House, which was projected in 1853 by Maj. William Oliver, who died shortly after the work of
building was commenced. His death caused a suspension of operations for a time, but the hotel
was finally finished by Major Oliver's son-in-law, James C. Hall. In its issue of June 28, 1859, the
"Ohio State Journal," published at Columbus, said :
"Some of the principal property holders in the flourishing City of Toledo have built a hotel at the
upper town on a beautiful spot overlooking the extensive depot grounds and river and looking out
upon the lake. The hotel is magnificent in proportions and has been built and fitted up with but
little regard to cost. It is to be opened tomorrow and a grand festival is to come off in the evening.
Invita tions have been widely extended and it promises a refreshing season. We wish the
proprietors the success which their enterprise merits."
The hotel was opened according to schedule, with DeWitt C. Baker as lessee and George Colburn
as manager. The Oliver contained 170 rooms. In 1860 it passed into the hands of John McKenster,
the veteran hotel man, and for many years it was considered as the leading hotel of Toledo.
In 1860 the Toledo Directory gave a list of eleven hotels: The leading houses were the American,
Island and Oliver, which have already been described. Next in importance were the Jacobs,
Kingsbury, Merchants and Western hotels. The Jacobs was a small but well kept house on the
corner of Madison Avenue and St. Clair Street and was conducted by T. W. Jacobs.
The Kingsbury Hotel was located on Summit Street, near Walnut, and was opened as the Ohio
House in 1847, with David Johnson as the proprietor. In 1852 Mr. Johnson sold out to Henry D.
and William Kingsbury, who changed the name of the hotel. William Kingsbury had previously
been the landlord of the Jefferson House at Maumee. About 1857 Henry D. Kingsbury became the
sole proprietor and conducted the hotel until he entered the army as captain of Company A.,
Fourteenth Ohio Infantry, in August, 1861.
D. B. Dunham was the landlord of the Merchants Hotel in 1860. This house was located on the
corner of Jefferson Avenue and St. Clair Street, where the Jefferson Hotel was afterward built.
The Western Hotel was opened about 1843 and was kept for some time by David Johnson, before
the Ohio House was opened. It was located on Perry Street, on or near the site later occupied by
the Burnett House, which was one of Toledo's leading hotels during the latter years of the
Nineteenth Century.
A few years after the close of the Civil war, some of Toledo's enterprising citizens came to the
conclusion that the city needed an "up town" hotel. A stock company was formed with Frank J.
King, president ; Joel M. Gloyd, secretary ; Cyrus H. Coy, treasurer ; Robert H. Bell, Wilson W.
Griffith, Truman H. Hoag, Horace S. Walbridge and Samuel M. Young, directors. A site on the
northwest corner of Madison Avenue and St. Clair Street was purchased and work was
commenced. The hotel was named the Boody House, as , a tribute to Azariah Boody in
recognition of the important benefits conf erred on Toledo through his work in the completion of
the Wabash Railroad. The tower on the corner of the building bears the date "1878," which
indicates when the hotel was completed. Other hotels built about the same time as the Boody, or a
few years later, were the St. Charles, on the corner of Madison Avenue and.. Superior Street, and
the Madison, on the
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corner of Madison Avenue and Ontario Street. The latter was built by Frank J. Scott.
The modern hotels of Toledo are too well known to need further comment here. The City
Directory for 1922 gives a list of eighty hotels. Many of these are family hotels or boarding
houses. The best known are the Secor Hotel, which was opened on August 1, 1908, and the Hotel
Waldorf, which was opened in October, 1916. Of the family hotels, the most prominent are the
Belvedere, on West Bancroft Street ; the Chesbrough Dwellings, at Fifteenth Street and Jefferson
Avenue, and the Monticello, corner of Jefferson Avenue and Michigan Street.
Plans were developed in the winter of 1922-23 for the erection of a fifteen-story hotel at the
southwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Superior Street, across the latter street from the Hotel
Secor, to be called the Wallick. This is planned to cost $2,000,000 for the building and an
additional million for the furnishings. It is to be under the same management as the Secor, with
which Mr. L. C. Wallick, for whom the new hotel is to be named, has been connected from the
first.
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