Toledo, Ohio
city in and county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States
Toledo ( tə-LEE-doh) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the 4th-most populous city in Ohio and 88th-most populous city in the U.S., with a population of 270,871 at the 2020 census. The Toledo metropolitan area has an estimated 601,000 residents. Toledo also serves as a major trade center for the Midwest; its port is the fifth-busiest on the Great Lakes.
The city was founded in 1833 on the west bank of the Maumee River and originally incorporated as part of the Michigan Territory. It was re-founded in 1837 after the conclusion of the Toledo War, when it was incorporated in Ohio. After the 1845 completion of the Miami and Erie Canal, Toledo grew quickly; it also benefited from its position on the railway line between New York City and Chicago. The first of many glass manufacturers arrived in the 1880s, eventually earning Toledo its nickname as "The Glass City". Downtown Toledo has been subject to major revitalization efforts, including a growing entertainment district.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Toledo, Ohio” is city in and county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Toledo, Ohio and city, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “city in and county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q49239. VIAF identifies the subject as 244551448. The Library of Congress control number is n81018142. Authority coordinates are 41.653, -83.538. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1833, 1837 and 1845.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Toledo, Ohio”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Toledo, Ohio primary sources, Toledo, Ohio archive and Toledo research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Toledo, Ohio”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Toledo, Ohio” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.