Toledo’s First High School / Toledo-Lucas County Public Library

Side A: Toledo High School opened in 1854 on the site of the city’s first log schoolhouse. After an 1895 fire, it was rebuilt and named Central High School. The facility closed in 1914 with the opening of Scott and Waite high schools. It reopened as Woodward Technical School and later became Vocational High. The building was razed in 1938 for construction of the Toledo Public Library. Side B: Although Toledo had a subscription library as early as 1838, the city’s first free public library opened in 1873 at Madison and Summit streets. The library constructed a building at Madison and Ontario streets in 1890. The Public Works Administration helped finance the present building which was dedicated on September 4, 1940. The county’s three library systems merged in 1970.