Center City in Toledo in Lucas County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

The Blade

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 28, 2018

1. The Blade Marker (side 1)

Inscription.
The Toledo Blade is the city's oldest continuing business. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835, during the Ohio-Michigan boundary dispute known as the "Toledo War." The name is derived from that conflict and the famous swords of Toledo, Spain. A copy of the first edition and two gift swords from that Spanish city are displayed inside the Blade Building.

David Ross Locke, editor (1865-1888), made The Blade nationally known. Using the pseudonym, Petroleum V. Nasby, Locke gained fame for his satirical Nasby Letters and advocacy of social reforms.

On May 1, 1927, President Coolidge assisted Paul Block, Blade publisher (1926-1941), by touching a gold key at the White House to officially start the presses at this location.

Erected 1987 by Toledo Sesquicentennial Commission and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 19-48.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #30 Calvin Coolidge, and the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection series lists. A significant historical date for this entry is May 1, 1927.

Location. 41° 39.299′ N,

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83° 32′ W. Marker is in Toledo, Ohio, in Lucas County. It is in Center City. It is on North Superior Street 0.1 miles north of Jackson Street, on the left when traveling north. Marker is located beside the sidewalk, near the southeast corner of the Toledo Blade building, between the building and the associated parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 541 North Superior Street, Toledo OH 43660, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Ohio’s Lake Erie Shore.

It is also in the American Midwest,

on the Great Lakes,

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Engine House Number One / Neptune Engine No. 1 (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Toledo (about 400 feet

The Blade Marker (<i>side 2</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 28, 2018

2. The Blade Marker (side 2)

away); James A. Rhodes Plaza (about 500 feet away); Project Blue Light (about 500 feet away); Combat Veterans Wounded Memorial (approx. 0.2 miles away); Boundary Between Rival Pioneer Villages (approx. 0.2 miles away); Lucas County Civil War Memorial (approx. 0.2 miles away); Trinity Episcopal Church (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Toledo.

Also see . . .
1. David Ross Locke. David Ross Locke was an American journalist and early political commentator during and after the American Civil War. During the war, he edited and wrote for the Toledo Blade in Toledo, Ohio, which he purchased in 1867. Locke's fictional alter ego, Nasby, loudly championed the cause of the Confederate States of America from Secession onward, but did little to actively help it. They were consciously intended to rally support for the Union cause; "Nasby" himself was portrayed as a thoroughly detestable character. Abraham Lincoln loved the Nasby Letters, and quoted them frequently. He is quoted as saying, "I intend to tell him if he will communicate his talent to me, I will swap places with him!" (Submitted on August 12, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. The Toledo War: When Michigan and Ohio Nearly Came to Blows.

The Blade Marker (<i>wide view; looking north on Superior Street; Blade building in background</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 28, 2018

3. The Blade Marker (wide view; looking north on Superior Street; Blade building in background)

The so-called “Toledo War” had its roots in the shortcomings of 18th century geography. In 1787, Congress drafted the Northwest Ordinance, which stipulated that 260,000 square miles of territory surrounding the Great Lakes would eventually be carved into a handful of new states. Specifically, the law decreed that the border between Ohio and Michigan was to run on “an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan” until it intersected with Lake Erie. There was just one problem: the best available maps depicted Lake Michigan’s southern tip as being several miles north of its true location. As a result, the original border placed the mouth of the Maumee River and the future city of Toledo in northern Ohio rather than in southern Michigan. Ohio and Michigan both had good reason for wanting control of Toledo and the Maumee River. By 1825, the completion of the Erie Canal had linked the Great Lakes to the east coast, presenting valuable opportunities for trade. (Submitted on August 12, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Toledo Blade Building (<i>north side</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 28, 2018

4. Toledo Blade Building (north side)

Toledo Blade Building image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 28, 2018

5. Toledo Blade Building

Hauger, Dressel & Hunt (photo courtesy of the Indiana University Libraries), circa 1930

6. Toledo Blade building

Credits. This page was last revised on February 4, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 11, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 853 times since then and 71 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on August 12, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 6. submitted on August 13, 2018. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.