TOLEDO, Ohio — On Jan. 9, 1880, residents of Toledo woke up to an unseasonably warm day.
From National Weather Service records, we know high temperatures that day reached 59 degrees. That temperature remained on the books as the warmest recorded day it had ever been in Toledo on Jan. 9. That is, until Friday, 146 years later, that record was broken with a high temperature of 61 degrees.
But what was it like in the Glass City in 1880? (If it could even just yet be called the Glass City – Libbey Glass didn’t relocate to Toledo from Massachusetts until 1888.) It was also before the automobile – which would ultimately prove to be instrumental to the city’s economy – had been introduced to the city. 1880 would also have situated Toledo at the very beginning of the Gilded Age, a historical time period characterized by great prosperity for some, rapid industrial and commercial growth, and political corruption. As for specifics in Toledo, references to historical documents give us some – though certainly not exhaustive – insight into the city’s history, way of life and people.
City structure
In 1880, Toledo’s population was less than a quarter of what it is now. Its population was approximately 50,000 people…