The
Historic Old West End
of Toledo
THE LARGEST NEIGHBORHOOD OF RESTORED LATE VICTORIAN, EDWARDIAN, AND ARTS & CRAFTS HOMES
IN THE UNITED STATES
Vintage Photos of Toledo Businesses and Institutions
Updated: January 20, 2002
The Elevator Ice and Coal Company wagon in front of the Steedman Monument at Summit and St. Clair Streets.
The showroom of the Atwood Automobile Company in 1915.
The Grasser Motor Company was located in a large one-story building at 1101-03 Madison Avenue.
A photograph taken through the large windows into the Grasser Motor Company showroom.
An photograph taken from inside Grasser's showroom.
Would you buy a car from these guys? Even if it only cost $695.00? Holzer Hudson was at 1304 Madison Avenue.
H. W. Lancashire Automobiles at 1314 Madison was almost next door to Holzers.
A Yale Motorcycle (made in Toledo!) with wicker sidecar in front of the Toledo jail
The H. H. Dennis Co. auto sales was at 2115-17 Adams Street. In the 1930's, the building was home to a Buick dealer. The building still stands and is now a warehouse for Toledo Building Services.
A photo from about 1910 of a Standard Oil delivery wagon.
Here's a snapshot, date unknown, of a small Sun Oil Company gas station. Stations of this type were plentiful at one time and you can still occasionally see one, usually abandoned or converted to some other use. They always seem to have tile roofs.
A 1915 photo of a wooden-bodied steamshovel belonging to The Auburndale Brickworks.
A 1935 photo of the Electric Autolite Educational Trailer being pulled by a 1934 Chrysler Airflow.
Who remembers 28¢ a gallon gas? This station was operated by Miller Bros. Oil Co. and it could have been located just about anywhere in Toledo.
Fred J. Edler, Upholsterer, in 1919. Here he is in his delivery vehicle. Have sofa, will travel!
The Bliss Auto Sales and Service Company, a Ford dealership, at 230 21st Street, ca. 1912-1919.
Bliss Auto Sales moved their operation north from 21st Street to 2101 Adams at 21st Street sometime in the 1920's. They also started selling the Hudson-Essex automobile
A 1918 night photograph of the two-story Sturtevant & Jones Automobile Dealership at 1214 Jefferson Avenue. The 1920 City Directory lists Sturtevant - Jones at 2107 Adams Street.
The interior of a Community Traction Company electric street car.
The horse-drawn delivery wagon and driver for the Toledo Pie Co.
Ever wonder what happens to old busses? They go here: the Community Traction Company bus graveyard.
The Clous & Myers Blacksmith Shop at 1518-1520 Broadway in 1911.
Aaron Chesbrough, Toledo lumber wholesaler created the Chesbrough Dwellings, an apartment hotel, at 1505 Jefferson Avenue. Here is a fantastic 1916 photo of the Dwellings showing the main house, built in 1874 by Robert Cummings, on the right and the Chesbrough Dwellings Annex, built by Chesbrough, at the left. An advertisement in the 1920 City Directory states "Family Hotel.....The Only High-Grade Family Apartment Hotel in Toledo.....Cafe in Connection." The manager's name was E. H. Rude.
This 1955 photo was probably taken shortly before the Chesbrough Dwellings was razed.
A 1939 photo of the Broadway Hotel at 625½ South St. Clair Street.
Kopf's Hotel was at 140 Oak Street on the East Side.
I don't know where the Hotel Isenberg was located.
A pre-1900 photo of The University Club on Madison Avenue.
Here is an old photo of the Park Hotel on Knapp Street at Broadway. The hotel was built in 1909, near Union Station, primarily to accomodate railroaders and traveling salesmen. In later years, the quality of its clientele declined and it became, as one publication called it, "a $15.00 a night.....flophouse." The ancient heating system recently gave out and, on December 26, 2001, the Park closed its doors.
The Hotel Ernest & Restaurant. I don't have a location for this hotel.
At the end of Delaware, near the expressway, is the Toledo Edison Yard and meter shop where you can still see parts of this building. It was the Mcbeth Evans Glass Company.
Most recently, the Chevrolet transmission plant occupied 960 West Central Avenue. The plant was torn down and it is now a brownfield. Long before Chevrolet, there was the Pope Motor Car Company. Here's a picture from the early 1900's, before the viaduct was built on Central Avenue.
Sometime after the Pope Company went out of business, 960 W. Central was home to Toledo Developing and Manufacturing Company. Here is a picture from the late 30's or early 40's taken from the railroad overpass and you can see the grade change on Central Avenue.
Toledo Scale had their first factory at the corners of Albion and Bishop Streets. They later moved out to Telegraph Road. Toledo Scale lost its dominance after being bought by Reliance Electric and moving to Westerville, Ohio in the mid-1970's. I don't even know if the Toledo Scale brand is still being manufactured.
Here's a photo of an early Toledo Scale service truck.
Here's the famous Acme Sucker Rod Co. and a few of the employees. The quote on the wall is from Samuel "Golden Rule" Jones.
A trolley stop in front of Gendron Wheel. Gendron Wheel was located on Superior Street across from the Toledo Blade.
Here is an unusual view of the old Union Station showing the Railway Express shed.
A late 1920's photo of The Community Traction Company trolley barn on Central Avenue.
A Community Traction Company service truck and crew replace a pole on Cherry Street. The poles were necessary to support the cables for the trolleys that were still in use. This picture is from the mid-1930's at about the time when trolleys were being replaced by buses.
Another Community Traction crew working at night to repair trolley track at Cherry and Ontario Streets. According to the notations on the back of the photo, this was taken at 2:15 AM but the date is unknown.
Here's car 302 and the motormen on the Nebraska - Lagrange Line.
The retail sales area of the Toledo Rubber Company at 428-430 Summit Street in 1917. They seem to carry a full range of hot-water bottles.
A Buckeye Brewing Company truck and a couple of the employees pictured in 1938.
When a motorman on a trolley needed instructions he would call in from one of these conveniently located call boxes.
The Murnen Strong Cartage Company was located at 316 - 322 Erie Street. Here is one of their teams and driver in front of what looks like the Lucas County Courthouse.
The Community Traction Company trolleys ran by means of overhead electric cables. When the cables needed to be repaired or replaced this repair car was called in.
Here is a picture of people either going to or coming from work at this factory. Trolleys and buses were the only way to travel because a lot of people didn't yet own an automobile. Quite often people lived and worked in the same neighborhood and factories would be located in residential areas.
An 1898 interior photograph of reporters at work at the Toledo Blade.
Dr. Herman F. Sass' Horse and Dog Hospital was located at 232 - 236 St. Clair Street.
Hattie Duncan ran a ladies millinery shop at 1012 Dorr Street and here she is with her friends - and a donkey!
Jacob and Reddish paint store, featuring
Jap-A-Lac
, a paint made by Glidden , was at 923-925 Starr Avenue.
Ludwig's Drug Store was at 1342 - 1344 Dorr Street. I love this building!!
Here's some of the gang from the Toledo Laundry Company. I don't know where the laundry was located - perhaps someone could let me know.
Here's the rest of the Toledo Laundry crew. Note the "early and late" dropoff box.
After dropping off your laundry you could stop at Miller and Son Barber Shop for a light trim
Here are more of the barbers from Miller and Son. Looks like they might have been running a barber school.
An interior photograph from 1925 of the Ideal Furniture Store at 2932 Monroe Street.
"Ye Bull Dog Cafe" looks like a friendly place. Note the cuspidors lined up near the bar.
Here's an interior photo of another of Toledo's turn of the century saloons showing the bartender and some of the patrons.
The Shantytown Inn was at Belmont and 15th Street.
Where else would the The Art Schetter Saloon and Pool Room be located but in the A. Schetter building ?
A Lucas County Auditor photo of The Pulaski Social Club at 3111 Lagrange Street in 1937.
The Davis Brothers ran a beer garden at 2009 - 2011 Monroe Street.
Johnson's Place in Point Place.
The banking room of the Home Savings Bank at Madison and Superior in the Gardner Building. The safe is still in the lower level of the building.
The Sisters of St. Ursula built their convent in 1872 on Cherry Street.
This is a 1915 photo of the original Flower Hospital on Cherry Street.
A 1915 picture, taken in the early evening, of The Guardian Trust & Savings Bank of Toledo located in the Spitzer Building.
The Temple B'nai Jacob was located on State Street. This photo, from the 1930's, shows the unusual architectural style of this building.
St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church was on the north side of Madison Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets. In December of 1979, the church was gutted by fire and, in 1981, the exterior walls were torn down.
The interior of an unknown bank in Toledo.
Out at 1609 Summit Street, just about where Riverside Hospital is now located, was the mansard-roofed Toledo Maternity Hospital. Unfortunately, I don't know any of the history of this building.
Gradwohl's Market was well known in Toledo at the turn of the century. George Gradwohl is the gentleman wearing a hat at the far right.
Gradwohl's also provided home delivery of meats. Here's a picture of one of their delivery vehicles. The man pictured is one of the Gradwohl family.
Ruedy's Meat Market at 1001 Cherry Street.
The City Bakery and two of the bakers standing out front.
Dreyers Confectionary and Sundries was at 1301 South Avenue
If you thought Kroger Supermarkets have been in Toledo for only a few years, think again. Here is a 1942 photo showing a wartime delivery of rationed sugar to the Kroger store at 2030 Adams Street. This building, and the one next door with the Cannan Cleaners sign, are still standing and viable.
This damaged photo is of the Inglasbe Grocery Store in Friendship Park. There is a Friendship Park on 131st Street in Point Place so that may have been where the store was located.
Here is an undated photograph of the ornate interior of the Williams & Thorner Confectioners which was located on the first floor of the Valentine Building. Note the stenciling on the walls and the light fixtures!
Another photo of the Williams and Thorner Confectioners in the Valentine Building. There's about an acre of marble here. This place is simply gorgeous!!
Lawson's Grocery was located along the interurban tracks in Point Place.
A hand-colored postcard of Lawson's Grocery. The store is draped in bunting and a GAR poster is displayed in the store's window. This picture is probably from around 1908 when the Grand Army of the Republic Civil War veterans held a convention in Toledo, which attracted over 100,000 people.
Lee and Company Cash Store at Bay Park in Point Place.
The American College Of Music was located in this Italianate style home. I don't know where it was located.
Here's another fine old Victorian housing a music school. This is the Columbia School Of Music and I don't know where it was located. I can't make out the street signs.
Where would you go for fun in Toledo? Well, Walbridge Park would have been a fine place. Here is a panoramic view from the early 1900s of the crowds at the park.
A popular feature at Walbridge Park was the Reinhold Opitz fountain near the conservatory. The conservatory is still there but, unfortunately, not the fountain.
This was the home and shop of D. E. Swaysgood, violin maker, at 2319 Lagrange Street.
The Diamond Theatre, a modestly sized movie palace, was at 1620 - 1622 Broadway.
The lobby and Box office of Keith's Theatre.
The Toledo Yacht Club, pictured while construction was being finished.
A great picture of the Ottawa River Yacht Club clubhouse and some of the members.
Wuerfels Boat House at Point Place in about 1907.
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