The Toledo Zoo / Toledo’s Canals

Side A: Now ranked among the country’s finest, the zoo began in 1900 with one large woodchuck in a box at Walbridge Park. After the organization of the Toledo Zoological Society, 1905-10, the zoo began its steady growth, particularly after 1923 under the leadership of Percy C. Jones. An ambitious federal construction program during the Great Depression of the 1930s provided several major structures. Side B: The Anthony Wayne Trail, constructed in the 1930s, was built over much of the shared route of two canal systems: The Wabash and Erie, which joined Toledo with Indiana and operated from 1843 until 1874; and the Miami and Erie, which joined Toledo with Cincinnati and operated from 1845 until 1913. These developments in the Maumee Valley were responsible for the creation of the Great Lakes port city of Toledo.