Toledo’s Middle Grounds, 1856: A Window into the City’s Industrial Dawn

This article originally appeared in the April 25, 1856, edition of The Toledo Blade and offers a remarkably vivid portrait of the Middle Grounds at a transformative moment in Toledo’s history. Its rich descriptions of the landscape and the ambitious railroad works underway at the time provide a rare, first-hand look at the city's rapid industrial and infrastructural growth.

I recently discovered this article in my research into Toledo’s past and have carefully transcribed it to make this valuable resource more accessible to modern readers. The original text is presented here as faithfully as possible, preserving its 19th-century language and style. My hope is that this document will contribute to a deeper understanding of Toledo's development and inspire further interest in the city’s historic roots.

—Tedd Long

A Visit to the Works at the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana; the Cleveland and Toledo; and the Toledo and Illinois Railroads upon the “Middle Ground” at Toledo.

We have had it in contemplation for some time past to present our readers with a detailed account of the extensive railroad works, which have been, and are, progressing upon the “Middle Ground” of this city. These are improvements so broad in their scope; so masterly in design, so immense in size; and so perfect in detail, are unequalled by anything of the kind in the United States, and their influence upon the commercial future of Toledo, can easily be realized even by the most sanguine.

The citizens of Toledo may certainly be pardoned for indulging a most natural pride in this great public work, whose iron fingers grasp and draw into her lap, the commerce of the East, the South and the illimitable West.

Accordingly, with the intention of presenting a reliable, connected and more extended account than has hitherto been offered to the public, we spent several days last week in collecting the necessary items and statistics. From all the officers and employees of the several roads, to whom, in the prosecution of our labors, we applied, we received every courtesy, free access to maps, plans, &c., was generously granted, and we feel assured that the statement herewith presented, may be implicitly relied on as accurate. We will, therefore, begin with the

MIDDLE GROUND

It is well known to most of our readers that the improvements now in course of erection by the Michigan Southern, the Cleveland & Toledo, and the Wabash Valley & Illinois Railroad Companies are situated on what is familiarly known as the “Middle Ground.” But it may be well to explain, for the benefit of the non-residents, the former position and nature of the ground.

The site of the present “Middle Ground” in its improved condition was a shoal, lying in the Maumee River, over which the water stood at its ordinary state at the deepest point almost twelve feet, and its lowest around three feet. This bank as it was traced up the stream, emerged, and at the distance of a mile and a quarter above the North end of the station, formed a tongue of tolerably hard land, alluvial in its nature, being formed by an eddy in the current, which here changes it course nearly 90 degrees.

Such was the original “lay of the ground,” although at an early day in the history of the city, the aptness of this shoal for commercial purposes had been recognized by a few enterprising spirits and some efforts had, indeed, been made to improve it, yet it was reserved for the more extended means of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Company to undertake and accomplish what private enterprise had failed to do.

The Michigan Southern Railroad Company, as early as they could estimate the amount of business for which they would have to provide, fixed upon this point as their Eastern terminus, offering as it did the only feasible means of direct connection with the railroads running East, and as being best situated for the accommodation of their Lake and local business. Accordingly, as soon as the great and all-important object of opening their main line to Chicago was accomplished, this company with Mr. John R. Jervis at their head, speedily turned their attention to the “Middle Ground.”

Surveys having been made and plans agreed upon, the necessary title to the shoal was procured to make upon it a strip of land about 2,700 feet long and 400 feet wide (comprising in all some twenty-three acres,) connected with the city by a draw-bridge. It is bounded on both sides by water, navigable for the largest Lake vessels. Upon this strip they determined to erect their terminus in common with the Toledo & Cleveland railroad, (their Eastern connection,) the grounds begin at their Southern extremity equally approachable from each side of the river.

In the month of November, 1852, the contract was let to do all the piling, driving and docking. The earth for the “filling in” was obtained from a deep cut (twenty feet deep and over a mile in length) made through a high bluff on the West side of the river. The whole was to be done within two years, but the work proving more difficult than had been anticipated, the contractor abandoned it within a year. The Company then took the management of the work upon itself; two Steam Excavators were set to work, and after two years of untiring exertion and immense outlay they have brought this gigantic undertaking into the state which we now find it.

About 500 feet from the Northern end of the ground and 150 feet South of the draw-bridge, we come to the immense building known as the

PASSENGER DEPOT,

400 feet long by 160 feet wide, built of brick, and having on its front two finely proportioned towers, 83 feet high from the base to the top of the coping. In one of these towers will be placed a clock, and the other, will hold a bell. And here it should be remarked that this building is divided into two parts, one as the Depot proper, and the other the front part as a hotel, very appropriately named

THE ISLAND HOUSE

This part of the edifice is 100 feet long and 70 feet wide, four stories in height. It is intended mainly as a convenience for the traveling public (especially those on the night trains) to whom the advantages of a first-class hotel connected with a Depot will be easily appreciable. Passing in at the grand entrance we find ourselves in a spacious hall 100 feet long and 20 feet wide. On one side of this hall is a beautiful Ladies Sitting Room 65 by 25 feet connected with which is a Dressing Room 25 by 25 feet. These rooms, we understand, are to be furnished in a style of elegance and comfort that will be worthy its fair occupants. Adjoining this room, in the lower floor of one of the towers, is a neat Telegraph Office. On the opposite side of the hall is a spacious and neatly furnished Gentlemen’s Sitting Room, 25 by 50 feet in size. Connected with this is a Barber Shop, which we are told will be a “little the nicest” thing in “these diggings,” the furniture alone costing some $500.

At the further extremity of the hall, we find two handsome Ticket Offices, one to be used by the Michigan Southern and the Cleveland and Toledo Railroads, in common, and the other by the Wabash Valley & Illlin. Road. Here we find also 24 washbowls and other conveniences for cleaning off “the dust of travel.” Two large doors on either side of the offices, give egress into the depot proper. From the rear of the ticket offices, arises a beautiful circular staircase, eight feet broad, leading to the hall of the second story. Here we find a magnificently proportioned Dining Hall 70 feet long and 45 feet wide, running across the whole front of the building, and capable of seating 275 persons at a table. At night this room will be lit with 22 gas burners. Adjoining this is a little carving and serving room, connecting with the kitchen by a window, through which the eatables are passed as fast as they are cooked. Into this kitchen we next passed. And such a kitchen! We advise our lady friends to go and see it. A room about 40 feet long, completely surrounded with pantries and shelves, water and gas, and stretching entirely across one side of it is a gigantic cooking range, 32 feet long, capable of cooking for 500 “hungry souls” all at once. Crossing the hall, we find ourselves in a beautiful suite of rooms (8 in number) designed for the family of Mr. Angier, the landlord. In the third story we find 36 rooms, 18 of which are double rooms. In the fourth story, are 14 rooms for employees.

Water and gas will be carried to the third story, and we learn that the whole house will contain over 100 gas burners. The house will be furnished throughout in a style of elegance equal to any house in the West, and will probably be opened for the reception of the traveling public by about the 1st of June.

This circa 1883 photograph by Charles Mensing shows the back of the Eclectic Style Island House Hotel and Passenger Station. Swan Creek is in the foreground, and the Maumee River is visible in the upper left side of the photograph. Courtesy of the Local History and Genealogy Department of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library.

We should mention before leaving this part of the building that the “Island House” will be kept by Mr. Angier, lately of Cleveland, and whose reputation in connection with the Angier House of that city, will be the best guarantee of his success and popularity in his new home.

Returning to the lower hall, we pass into the

DEPOT PROPER

This is 400 feet long, by 160 wide. The roof of which is of tin, is supported by trussed girders of 53 feet span, resting upon two rows of columns, 4 feet apart, in the length of the building.

In this building are laid ten tracks, four through the centre and three on each side of the building, leaving two corridors, 30 feet wide. The five tracks on the east side belong to the Mich. S. & North. Ind.; and the other five are occupied by the Cleveland & Toledo and Wabash Valley R. Rs. The cost of the entire building—including the hotel—will be $80,000.

From the south end of this building the Middle Ground is divided; the eastern side being occupied by the Michigan Southern and the western side by the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad; and most of the buildings on the ground are erected in common by the two companies.

Leaving the depot, we see on its eastern side, and running parallel with it the immense

FREIGHT HOUSE

of the M. S. & Nor. Ind. R. R. 600 feet long and 75 feet wide; its walls, which are of brick, are 18 feet high, and have two tracks running through its entire length. It has, facing the river, a dock 30 feet wide, from which goods and freight can be shipped directly upon the decks of the company’s steamers. At the south end of this building are the Freight Offices, two stories high, the upper office—75 by 26 feet—for “up” freight; the lower one—50 by 26 feet—for “down” freight. These offices are models in the way of completeness and handsome finish.

Some rods southward is a large

STEAM ELEVATOR GRAIN WAREHOUSE

Built by the M.S. R. R. Co., 67 by 150 feet, and 40 feet high; and estimated to hold 200,000 bushels. One track runs the entire length of the building, which contains five sets of elevators. Five cars, holding 300 bushels each, can thus be unloaded at one time. Allowing twenty minutes to the unloading of a car, would give an average of 4,500 bushels per hour, or in a working day of 10 hours something like 45,000 bushels in a day. From the bins, grain can be unloaded again, at the rate of 2,000 bushels per hour, with the work of one man. Each loaded car is weighed as it enters the building, and after being emptied, is again weighed as it emerges from the other end of the track. At the northern end of the grain house is a large brick building containing a reservoir and also a stationary engine, which works the elevators, and which also raises the water from the river, which (standing in this reservoir 45 feet above the track,) is distributed to all the buildings on the grounds, so that in case of fire every part of the ground could be easily and sufficiently supplied water. The cost of this grain house cannot be far from $20,000.

The builders of the buildings which we have thus described, are Messrs. Smith, Dezendorf & Co., of Cleveland, O., who commenced operations on the 4th of April, 1855. To Mr. Dezendorf we are personally indebted for kind attention and for information furnished us.

In addition to the buildings already described, we learn that the following improvements are projected and preparations are being made to erect them during the coming season:

1.      At the north end of the freight house, a wooden Freight Shed will be added. This will be 240 feet long and 78 feet wide.

2.      Still farther north, at the extremity of this shed, will be erected a large Emigrant House, of brick, 75 by 50 feet.

3.      Opposite to the front of the passenger depot and just to the left of the drawbridge, as we enter the grounds, is to be erected a large brick building, 60 by 56 feet, and three stories high designed for the General Offices.

4.      On the north side of the building containing the stationary engine, and connected with it, is to be erected another large Steam Elevator Grain Warehouse, of the same capacity and construction as the one already described. The contract for this warehouse is given we believe, to Messrs. Smith, Dezendorf & Co., and foundations are already laid.

5.      In the same neighborhood will be erected an immense Union Transfer Freight Depot of the Michigan Southern and C. & T.R.R., 800 feet long and 75 feet wide.

6.      Machine-shops.

7.      An addition to the Round (or engine) house.

We cannot conclude this part of our labors without expressing our indebtedness in particular to Mr. Luther Whitney, Superintendent of the building, for much general information; and also to Rober P. Hope, the able draughtsman of the M.S.R.R. Co.’s Construction Office, who generously placed at our disposal private notes and memoranda, which have much facilitated our labors.

Having thus taken a hasty glance at the buildings and improvements erected, or in contemplation, by the Michigan Southern and Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Companies, let us turn our attention to the improvement of the

WABASH VALLEY RAILROAD

The company of this road have already erected on Baldwin’s Point an

ENGINE HOUSE

of brick, and having twenty sides. This building is 163 feet in diameter and 25 feet high, with a self-ventilating dome of 40 feet diameter, the whole height from the ground to the top of the dome being 102 feet. This beautiful roof was put on by Messrs. Thatcher, Burt & Co., of Cleveland, O.

In the center of the floor is a turn-table of 46 feet diameter, and so nicely adjusted that one man can turn an engine upon it, with one hand, in one minute. It has, indeed, been done, by one of the company’s engineer, in 40 seconds. This turn-table was designed and put in by Mr. Halstead, of Binghampton, N.Y.; and we learn the Mich. Southern Co. intend to have a similar one put in their Roundhouse at Adrian. The cost of this engine house cannot be far from $30,000.

They have also erected on the Point a large three-story frame building, designed as a boarding house for the machinists and others in their employ. This will accommodate 60 persons, will be called the “Baldwin House,” and is to be kept by Captain Rankin, of Wabash Canal memory. These are the only buildings as yet completed by the T.W. & Ill R.R. Co., but the plans have been decided upon, for the following

PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS,

which are most of them to be commenced this present season, and will be pushed forward to completion as rapidly as possible,

1.      On the east side of the “Middle Ground,” and south of the grain warehouses of the Michigan Southern Railroad, there will be erected the company’s mammoth

FREIGHT HOUSE

of brick, 600 feet in length, 80 feet wide with a shed on the riverside, making it 110 feet wide—and 20 feet high. Two tracks will run through its entire length. It will have at one end two towers, 40 feet high (two stories) entering the freight offices. In one of these towers will be contained an immense fire proof safe (8 by 12 feet,) carried up, through two stories. In these will be kept the company’s papers and valuable documents. This freight depot will have a dock of some 2,000 feet (or about half a mile) in length and an average width of 48 ft. The water in front of this dock is from 19 to 16 feet deep, which will easily accommodate the largest class of lake boats.

2.      The company will put up two large Grain Warehouses, similar in all respects to those of the Michigan Southern. One of these warehouses will be erected this season, and the other as soon after as practicable.

3.      Measures are now actively in progress, for erecting on Baldwin’s Point a spacious Machine Shop. This will be contiguous to the engine house, with which, it will connect by a track, and will be of brick, 200 feet long, 50 feet wide, and two stories in height. The Lathe and Forge room connected with it, will be 300 feet long, by 35 feet wide, one story high, and surrounded by one of Howe’s patent truss roofs. The company intend that this department of their works shall be as complete as anything of the kind in the country. They will here have facilities for every sort of work, from the building of their cars down to the smallest repairs that may be necessary on their road. Mr. E. B. Hall, of Rochester, N.Y., has the contract for these buildings.

To Mr. E.D. Mason, draughtsman of the W. & Ill. R.R. Co.’s Construction Office, we wish to express our thanks for the aid afforded us by an inspection of his beautifully executed maps of plans, and specifications, as also for the very interesting explanations, which accompanied them.

Such is a best outline of the Railroad Improvements on the Middle Ground of Toledo. We have endeavored to give a clear view of the present and prospective state of these important public works and to show what human energy and commercial spirit can do.

Twenty-three acres of land, reclaimed from the bottom of the Maumee river, have in a little more than three years become the centre of a chain of railroads and commercial connections, which almost startle belief by their magnitude, whose future importance can scarcely realize.

In conclusion, we would say that, if there are any inaccuracies in our article, we trust to be corrected from the proper quarter.