Toledo, Ohio, United States

🇺🇸 Toledo is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most-populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the 79th-largest city in the United States. It is the principal city of the Toledo metropolitan area. It also serves as a major trade centre for the Midwest; its port is the fifth busiest in the Great Lakes. The city was founded in 1833 on the west bank of the Maumee River, and originally incorporated as part of Monroe County, 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: "The Glass City". It has since become a city with a distinctive and growing art community, auto assembly businesses, education, thriving healthcare, and well-supported local sports teams. Downtown Toledo has been subject to major revitalisation efforts, allowing a bustling entertainment district.

Before the industrial revolution, Toledo was important as a port city on the Great Lakes. With the advent of the automobile, the city became best known for industrial manufacturing. Both General Motors and Chrysler had factories in metropolitan Toledo, and automobile manufacturing has been important at least since Kirk started manufacturing automobiles, which began operations early in the 20th century. The largest employer in Toledo was Jeep for much of the 20th century.

The University of Toledo is influential in the city, contributing to the prominence of healthcare as the city's biggest employer. The metro area contains four Fortune 500 companies: Dana Holding Corporation, Owens Corning, The Andersons, and Owens Illinois. ProMedica is a Fortune 1000 company headquartered in Toledo. One SeaGate is the location of Fifth Third Bank's Northwest Ohio headquarters.

Toledo has a long history of glass manufacturing, including windows, bottles, windshields, construction materials, and glass art, of which the Toledo Museum of Art has a large collection. Several large glass companies have their origins here. Owens-Illinois, Owens Corning, Libbey Incorporated, Pilkington North America, and Therma-Tru have long been a staple of Toledo's economy. Other offshoots and spinoffs of these companies also continue to play important roles in Toledo's economy. Fiberglass giant Johns Manville's two plants in the metro area were originally built by a subsidiary of Libbey-Owens-Ford.

Several Fortune 500 automotive-related companies had their headquarters in Toledo, including Electric AutoLite, Sheller-Globe Corporation, Champion Spark Plug, Questor, and Dana Holding Corporation. Only the latter still operates as an independent entity.

Faurecia Exhaust Systems, a $2 billion subsidiary of France's Faurecia SA, is in Toledo.

Toledo is the Jeep headquarters and has two production facilities dubbed the Toledo Complex, one in the city and one in suburban Perrysburg. During World War II, the city's industries produced important products for the military, particularly the Willys Jeep.

General Motors also has operated a transmission plant in Toledo since 1916. It manufactures and assembles GM's six-speed and eight-speed rear-wheel-drive and six-speed front-wheel-drive transmissions that are used in a variety of GM vehicles.

Belying its Rust Belt history, the city saw growth in "green jobs" related to solar energy in the 2000s. The University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University received Ohio grants for solar energy research. Xunlight and First Solar opened plants in Toledo and the surrounding area. In May 2019 Balance Farms began operation of a 8,168 square foot indoor aquaponics farm in downtown Toledo.