Toledo, the seat of Lucas County, sits on the northern border of Ohio at the western end of Lake Erie. This mid-sized city has long been known as "Frog Town" because of its proximity to what used to be the Great Black Swamp. However, early settlers devoted years to digging ditches and lining them with clay tiles, braving the elements and the disease-bearing mosquitoes, to turn the vast swamp into viable farmland. Toledo is also known for its glass industry, thanks to Edward Libbey and Michael Owens. Their innovations in glass manufacturing have earned Toledo the much more flattering nickname, "The Glass City."

In 1794, during the course of the Northwest Indian War, General "Mad Anthony" Wayne constructed Fort Industry near the site of present-day Toledo, at the junction of Swan Creek and the Maumee River. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which stipulated that the 12 miles square around Fort Industry should be established as a reservation. Following the War of 1812, the U.S. Congress decided that this land should be surveyed and auctioned off. It was purchased by two companies who founded two separate settlements, Port Lawrence and Vistula. These two villages united in 1833 to form the town of Toledo.