Since Toledo was founded in 1837, a lot has changed. Bibliophiles, history-buffs, and Toledoans beaming with Glass City pride will love these books on local history.
The Toledo War: The First Michigan-Ohio Rivalry
Don Faber (2008)
Our rivalry with the Mitten State began long before the football field contests between the Ohio State University and the University of Michigan. Go back to the Toledo War of 1835 in this engaging account of the first border battle that began before Michigan became a state.
Available through online retailers.
Legendary Locals of Toledo, Ohio
Barbara L. Floyd (2016)
From Jesup W. Scott to Edward Drummond Libbey, Toledo’s development is marked by entrepreneurs, visionaries, and pioneers. See who has developed industry, represented government, entertained and engaged since Toledo’s beginnings in this fascinating portrait of influential locals from the director of the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections at the University of Toledo.
Available through online retailers and at arcadiapublishing.com.
Illegal Gambling Clubs of Toledo: The Chips, The Dice, The Places and Faces
Terry Shaffer (2012)
Place your bets on illegal gambling clubs and gangsters with a look back on Toledo’s unholy history. Through pictures and descriptions of the players, owners, locations and police raids that attempted to shut it all down, this entertaining and informative read details 72 different illegal gambling operations that existed in 20th century Toledo.
Available at happychipper.com.
The Heritage Collection
The University of Toledo Press
This six-volume set includes some popular titles on local history published by The University of Toledo Press for $125: Timothy Borden’s American Originals: Northwest Ohio’s Polish Community at Home, Work, Worship, and Play; Samir Abu-Absi’s 2012 Bowling Green State University Center for Archival Collections’ Local History Publication Award-winner, Arab American in Toledo; Barbara Alice Mann’s account of her Northwest Ohio Seneca (Iroquois) ancestors, The Land of the Three Miamis; Army veteran Andrew Fisher’s What A Time It Was: Interviews with Northwest Ohio Veterans of World War II, as well as his series of interviews focused on the Korean War, 30 Below on Christmas Eve; and Seamus Metress and Molly Schiever’s 2006 Local History Award-winner from the Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University, The Irish in Toledo: History and Memory.
Available at utoledopress.com.
Totally Toledo Series
M.A. Mimi Malcolm (2016-2017)
This three-volume Totally Toledo series looks back at end-of-the-19th-Century businesses in Toledo through the author’s own collection of Victorian trade cards, an early method of advertising. Volume 1 catalogs the 19th century, Volume 2 narrows the focus to the years from 1877-1895, and Volume 3 includes trade cards from 66 different business owners buried in the Historic Woodlawn Cemetery.
Available through online retailers.
Lost Toledo
David Yonke (2015)
As businesses open and close, landmarks like Tiedtke’s and Lamson’s fade into the past. Learn about, or remember, some of the most beloved stores, shops, stadiums, neighborhoods, and nightclubs of Toledo’s past in this nostalgic account of local history.
Available through online retailers and at arcadiapublishing.com.
Through and Through: Toledo Stories, Second Edition (Arab American Writing)
Joseph Geha (2009)
First published in 1990, this collection of ten interrelated stories follows three generations of an Arab-American family as they acclimate to Toledo. A warm, inspiring and intimate portrait of an extended Arab family in a Lebanese and Syrian community, Toledo Stories spans the decades from the 1930s to the present.
Available through online retailers.
Glass Will: An Anthology of Toledo Writers
Joel Lipman (1986)
Featuring 56 Toledo-area poets from the later decades of the 20th Century, this book of poetry has earned a reputation as a comprehensive anthology of local writers. Illustrations by John Rockwood complement the sequential poems compiled by Lipman, the former Lucas County Poet Laureate (2008-2013).
Available through online retailers and at utoledopress.com.
Can I Get A Witness
John Gibbs Rockwood (2014)
Stage dive into photographer John Rockwood’s years spent shooting skillful images of artists and performers who hit Toledo stages in this fantastic book of fast-paced photography. Featuring rock and roll, blues, folk and pop performers, like Bob Dylan, Buddy Guy, BB King, Bruce Springsteen and more, Rockwood’s photos capture big names on, and off, local stages.
Available through online retailers and at utoledopress.com.
Hindsight: Northwest Ohio Through the Lens of Time
Ben Morales (2016)
Highlighting more than 100 Toledo area structures, this Bowling Green State University graduate juxtaposes images from the past over his own photos of the present to show how the area has changed over time in this inspiring and fascinating book of history and photography.
Available through online retailers and at utoledopress.com.
