If history is a collection of stories, telling Toledo’s has been an uphill battle for the city’s history museum.
Founded by a group of history buffs who wanted to create a home for the city’s physical artifacts, the THM is the latest in a decades-long attempt to rescue curios from precarious personal collections to a safe repository available for public viewing.
“I tend to like the word story more than history, because history is a word that seems to turn people off,” said Toledo History Museum board president Donna Christian Rehfeldt. “Toledo is a rich repository of stories.”
Formed and incorporated in 2006, the museum was granted non-profit status in 2007. Before its founding, Toledo was the only city in Ohio’s 10 largest to lack a museum dedicated to its history.
In 2011, the Toledo History Museum opened to the public at the Milmine-Stewart House, where it stayed until moving to the St. Clair Street side of the Valentine Building in 2018.
The museum timed its post-pandemic reopening with Jeep Fest to highlight an automotive exhibit. Visitors can still explore Toledo’s history with Willys–Overland Motors, Champion Spark Plug, and the factory workers who brought those businesses to life through the car parts, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia that formed the backdrop of their daily lives.