Wilkinson: Toledo was a prize for good reason

They don't call it the Menominee Massacre or the Escanaba Affair. No, the "battle" over the Ohio-Michigan border is called The Toledo War.

Why? Because the contested land along the Maumee River was what both sides wanted so desperately. And well they should.

In a "war" that involved little more than verbal skirmishes, Ohio came out the clear winner — both then and now.

Michigan got a huge chunk of the Upper Peninsula — now-shuttered copper and ore mines, casinos and an endless supply of snow and pasties. Yawn.

Ohio got a city that has been a transportation hub and industrial leader for nearly two centuries and produced enduring national icons: Jeep, the Mud Hens and Owens Corning.

Ever put Champion Spark Plugs in your car? Ever get weighed on a Toledo Scale? Ever drink from a Libbey glass? I thought so. And I'll bet you've had a "light beer" in your day: A Toledo brewery spawned the first "low calorie" beer in the 1960s.

Besides, if the Porcupine Mountains or Pictured Rocks were in Wisconsin instead, you could still go there.

Now, as a Michigan native and a Detroit-based reporter who has lived in Toledo since 1994, I hope you won't label the Glass City as a smallish Rust Belt city in decline because Michigan has its share.

Instead, realize what Michigan lost, and why pioneers on both sides of the 42nd parallel wanted a piece of it: Toledo had great soil, access to a major body of water and was likely to be a key stop for commerce in the region.

Its farms produce bountiful yields of grain, and its factories — from bikes and glassware to transmissions and cars — have churned for decades. But it hasn't just produced mountains of food and auto parts; it's also contributed culturally.

When a traveling Van Gogh art exhibit came to the United States in 2003, it came to just one U.S. city: yep, Toledo, whose Museum of Art is renowned for its collection. It sure didn't hit Houghton.

For families, it has a nationally ranked zoo, and its children's science centers are still open.

Most know Toledo better as the place where Jamie Farr, er, the cross-dressing Cpl. Klinger of "M*A*S*H" fame, came from. He's helped boost the city's profile by touting two other icons on TV: the Mud Hens and Tony Packo's, a Hungarian joint known for its sausage and chili dogs. Fast-forward to this century, Toledo is also the home of Mrs. Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes.

Take that, Ishpeming.

Rather than think what Michigan lost, think about what it could have gained: if the "war" had gone Blue, Ann Arbor might be one sleepy town. The University of Michigan owned property in the contested area, and some suggested U-M's main campus might have ended up in, gulp, Toledo.

And perhaps, with a growing port on Lake Erie, Toledo would have grown into the center of Michigan's commerce, and Detroit would just be the spit of land closest to Windsor.

mwilkinson@detnews.com

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