I too was raised in the south end, i am 32 years of age. I left Toledo for 5 years to start a career in the automotive industry. wanting to see my city and the friends i once had, i fought hard for a transfer to toledo jeep. When i returned. It was gone. Everything. I am at a loss for words trying to explain how bad this actually feels.The City is Depressed. The Infrastructure is collapsing. The poor people who live here have no real job opportunities and the drug problem here is way worse than it was when i was growing up. I'm sad. All the great memmories i made in this city, and all the good people i have met along the way. I wil be saying goodbye to for good. To all the family members i have here that will not excape and to all the friends I once had, i wish you all the best. Thank you god for giving me such good memories of this place. Go Rockets!
I am from the south end right by the railroad tracks, am 33, except for my family left when I was young and we didn't have to actually live in that mess, but we visited all of the time because all of our poor relatives could not leave since they didn't have connections from outside the city as we did. Toledo is dead. It doesn't need a rebranding, it needs to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. There's nothing that can fix the corruption, the crime, and the infrastructure. The public there aren't smart enough to think of anything in the long term, and the politicians take advantage of how stupid the public is. I don't like putting it like that, but it's a fact. People are so impatient that they want a quick fix solution to the city and keep wanting to fund the museum and the zoo and build gigantic casinos for nobody to ever go to. To me looking at the city of my birth from AZ where I live now, I'm disgusted that the public keeps falling into this "Toledo is great!" mentality and getting defensive when people point out the failure that it is. Lots of great memories of the city and I sympathize with people even older than me who were able to fully enjoy middle class life in the heyday and had to see it collapse so completely.
does anyone remember tivits boutique at oldtowne .or dominics at the corner of glendale and reynolds rd. and lets not forget peaches records and tapes,the jesse james drive in theatre in the end,all we have is our memories. just for the record i grew up in perrysburg,but we had to cross the river for fast food back in the day [bet those in that lovely little burg wish that were still the case]
I'm 72 and grew up on Nicholas Street, between South St and Spencer. Walked to the OG Arlington grade school.My childhood home met the wrecking ball for reasons unknown. Regarding Highland Park pool, I can remember the original HP pool that was there BEFORE the missing pool that you're standing in. Walked there with my Mom. When I got a little older, I was able to ride my bike with my friends to the Scott Park pool. Happy, Happy childhood, all gone. Sad.
Raised on the South Side from 69-81 (South St and the Anthony Wayne Trail). Looking at this and what it's become is like getting kicked in the solar plexus.
I have looked at your video several times. I too miss Newbury, Jones, and Libbey. There is a Centennial party for Libbey ( with the Teen Town bunch) at Premier Han on Heatherdowns in case you are near Toledo on July 14, 2023. Am sharing your video with united
I to grew up in the southend Eastern ave & sumner st remember Ashley park the Blade Station Simmons store later Garsas mkt have the memories miss the childhood Hello Southend from Nebraska
Nice video. I grew up on Rugby Drive, then Driftwood Drive, across from Swan Creek on Glendale. Went to Beverly School, McTigue, and was in the first graduating class (8th grade) from Byrnedale. 1981 Bowsher grad. I still live in the South end, after living in Athens, Greenville, and Port Clinton, Ohio. Losing Southwyck was a shame. It's Amazon now. Southwyck was the place to be. There are some RUclips videos on Southwyck that shows you a different time in this area...
A very sobering video, most illustrative of the passage of time and the temporary state of places and people. Too often it's only memories that remain--until we take even the memories to our graves! After having moved from Toledo in 1987, living in Southern Cali and then moving back to Toledo this past November, I am very reflective about my childhood here. Many things are gone or changed, but not in the way this man's landmarks have disappeared. Wow. I look around now at the way Toledo is for my nephew & niece, and I can't help but wonder what will be gone and what they'll recall 30-some years from now. Time certainly marches on.
It's sad when things we grew up with are lost to growth and progress. It is even sadder when they simply lost....torn down and replaced by nothing at all. I used to live near the West Toledo Library when I was very little, and later near Secor and Laskey. At least a fair amount of that is still there, although I moved away so long ago that many big things (like the Franklin Mall) have come and gone since. It is good of you to remember these places that are gone. Toledo and much of the "Rust Belt" have endured 50 years of decay; perhaps a turnaround is coming.
this was great! Thanks for sharing it. It would have been awesome if you could have posted a little corner screen shot of each of those places how they were when they were still being used! But still, again... great job!
Everything disappearing in Toledo.... so little being built to replace what once was a fun place to live. I returned to toledo from a country where they're building a new mall every year, to see all but one destroyed in Toledo. Makes me wonder how much city government really cares about the people. We're not tax-paying-cattle, we're human beings. Give us something worth calling Toledo a place to "live".
Ohana Digital Filmworks Have you seen the Westgate area lately?(nvm: Just realized you uploaded a video of one of the new hotels there) There's a new restaurant built every other month it seems like. New retail stores and plazas have been built along Monroe near the mall. Downtown is coming back with a lot of local restaurants and bars, but the other areas aren't really growing and the areas that got worse are left to keep dying.
A story repeated worldwide. I started out in a small Alabama town which today is unrecognisable---the schools and half of the houses are demolished, with a population 1/2 of its 1980 figure. The decline and relevance of small/medium sized towns over the last four decades has occurred from France to New Zealand and everywhere in between. Leaving Alabama in 1973 for Southern California, my family never looked back--the move provided education, experience, financial and professional prosperity and a wider world view. The few remaining cousins in Alabama today own little but rickey houses declining in value and resentment and fear of the world outside of their dying little town. On my last visit, I stood in the deserted Main Street and thought...thank God we left all those decades ago.
I miss south Toledo the way it used to be......I used to swim at Highland park as well Newberry is also the first school I attended Mr. Hathaway was the principal I wonder what ever happened to the good old days
I am 74, and I don't remember there EVER being a high dive, Or ANY diving board, or any really DEEP end at Highland Park Pool. The rules were no running, no diving. I remember Bernie's carryout. We used to take that road and cut through the woods to go home to Colton Street. And I remember the soda fountain and penny candy at the Rexall Drug Store on the corner of South and Spencer.
I'm always saddened when I return to Toledo and take a ride through the south side of town. Libbey, scott park pool,Jack's corner of campbell/Hawley, fruit standin the corner of Hawley/Nebraska, Hostess on Nebraska, Pollock's miller/Nebraska, frank else corner/Buckingham/ Hoag, many things of the past are all gone!.Keepees, Whittowers, Dennys,Frishes big boy, A&W rootbeer, Secor grill, are all gone . One saving grace is Tony Packos,and Coney Island, and Rudy's hotdogs. ...
Toledo is just like Rochester, NY everything appears to be disappearing with few viable replacements on the horizon. Like Toledo, Rochester has also lost most of its industry and many of its older neighborhoods are empty just like Toledo's south end.
I have seen the city (officials) just devour the place. It's almost like they are trying to commit suicide without committing TO it. I have been away for eight years and am stunned by the changes. I can never go home anymore.
Southwick is now Amazon warehouse. This is what happens my elementary school,Hi-School, our drive in theaters.& 8 employers gone. Now we have Wal-greens, Walmart,RiteAid,Dollar General or gas station on every corner.
I went to Newbury in the original brick building for 1 school year (Mrs. Shaw), the last year it was open, I remember the coin operated milk machine, then to the new building on the lot you showed (Mrs. Monroe), wish someone still had a photo of our class. Randy, Patty and Arthur classmates. I lived on Lorain St. duplex is still there. Went to Glenwood Elementary after that, lived on Detroit Ave. Vividly remember Nov. 22. Ice skating at Sports Arena, Tiedke's, Lions, Eppes Essen, The Wheel (best hot beef sandwiches), Esquire, Rivoli and Paramount. I've dreamed more than once of walking in neighborhoods where I used to live, in one dream I was on the sidewalk near my house on Lorain St., my grandmother stood at the open window upstairs...I was going to ask her if I was at home but I didn't, asked her instead if my uncle Robert was there, she said he was at work. Yeah I miss the place.
i remember old town in southwyck mall. i remember the driving the cars , behind the plexi glass. i used to swim at highland park. i lived on nicholas st. just a few blocks away. champion cleaners was on the corner.
restaurants, convenience/gas stores, grocery stores, and bars will be the only things left...they say we need small businesses but the problem is none of the consumers would shop there because everything is cheaper online
Thank you for the video. Unfortunately things in the South end has changed for the worse. My family has been South enders for many years. When you mention the different parks you're leaving out the activities at each park. Like the sporting games against other parks. Or signing out sports equipment to go play on the diamond, basketball court, football field. This was going on everything week day. You can also add many things to that list of places that are gone, changed or ripped out. St. James School and Church, Kroger's on Broadway, woolfords across from there, Mayhams restaurant, little Chefs, lanes Drug store, the candy store at the corner of Stebbins and Colburn. A few doors from your house. Another one at Stebbins and South. The Candy store at Harding and Hawley. Nowak's old building. The drug store at St. James and Broadway. Across from Dr. Ewerts ( the spot Frank Uncle's sat) before he moved to Glendale. My favorite was Grandma Touts on Broadway. The Best Person to ever live on all of Broadway Lady. Remember the bars. B&G, Charley's, Steve and Bob's, Sam's, Bartrums, George's, Soddeck's, Shermbecks, Bob&Lucey's, Western, most if not all are gone. Gino's on Broadway "The real Original Gino's" I sat at that counter eating pizza before those scammers in West Toledo ever existed. Yes before the fire
I went to Libbey High school,,, had so much fun, ,, I ran with a Gang called Knower Blocc Gangstas.... I miss dem dudes man ,, my hood brothers fo life.
Rather than seeing dilapidated and/or abandoned buildings, I see clean lawns and open areas - places where kids can play football and soccer (are they? no - but they would be when I was a kid). Normally what we see with old buildings is decay, instead here we see some attempt at greening and preparation for possible future growth. I am not discounting your memories, only suggesting there appears to be a silver lining in some of the changes you show here. And "Sam K" below makes a good point as well. Thanks for posting.
We used to come to downtown Toledo in the 60s and it was great with the large multi-floor department stores like Tiedtkes Lasalles and more but my late mom said a lot was missing as she remembered all the stores downtown in the 30s to the 50s...places were demolished for parking...suburbs growth with shopping malls and more killed downtown Toledo-too bad-sure was a lot better than anything today...and now online shopping are killing malls ans brick and mortar stores...ten years from now there will be nothing but fields and warehouse where all of todays shopping is now...
I myself am from south Toledo, and my grandmother stayed there until just before she died, when she could no longer bear staying there. She held out for so long waiting for the city to improve, then moved to Lakeland. Fact is that Toledo needs a new image, badly. It's sad to see so many historic sites meet the wrecking ball, but Toledo simply can't maintain its identity. It's far gone and there's too much corruption, too much pandering to rich White affluents who still live there and the ghettos in the south have been ignored for so, so long that it's just dead. I don't know of any other way to fix it than to just bulldoze it and let the city grow in an organic way again. There is no way you are going to brand Toledo to attract many businesses and skilled workers. It is literally impossible to get anyone. The casino was the dumbest idea ever proposed in the history of city management. Yeah, build a gigantic casino in a city full of gangs and abandoned homes, that'll attract people! It's going to just end up being a pile of concrete in itself, or turned into something else like a lot of other places.
The gambling casino is just going to siphon all of what is remaining while the areas around it are dead and decayed. Just like in Niagara Falls NY, the luxury hotel and gambling casino just sucked all the little remaining life of a rundown, drug infested, former industrial town on the US side of the falls.
KBG !!! Knower Blocc Gangstas ... Booty and Western... I lived on Walbridge and Maumee right across the street from Jones jr High... I missed those days the south end use to be fun.
Paul you & any of the viewers here that were born & raised in the Real Old South-End are welcomed.. The town might be gone But the people & their memories are at a Group site here and yer welcomed to share this video & join Us.... facebook.com/groups/1665092940407217/
JJH Remember the best pizza burgers ever, the pig table and the ROAD RUNNER (beep beep) Mr Welsh? The smell of lunch cooking at 9am when lunch ladies cooked our lunch? Sliding down the handrail and knowing just when to jump off? The catwalk track inside the gym? Battle ball? Mr Vandersal, Buttersworth, Abrams and McClowsky? Mr Hathaway too? Those cookies!!! Yep its gone, so am I. They have ripped out the heart of Toledo and I have no desires to return.
"...foreeeeverrrrr, not." What causes places like this to just disappear? Is this just economic fall out or what? I hate to see this happen to Toledo, Even in the melancholy aftermath of all of it, its good for you to find the comedy enough to make a video. I found this to be quite entertaining. There is a funny game that you found in it. There is a whole bunch of history that inevitably is followed by "Gone." I love you, man.
7 months later -- I'll respond. lol. Like most "rust belt" cities, the populations collapse and head out to the suburbs. There just aren't enough kids in the city to support the amount of schools that were open 30+ years ago. This is what happens when your tax base leaves. I grew up in West Toledo, and while my old schools still stand tall, many of the places I frequented as a young lad are long gone.
First it was our federal government that encouraged the departure from older northern cities like Toledo with VA loans for new housing only for returning WW2 vets. Than it was both urban renewal and the interstates that did more severe damage to these cities. In the late 60s it was rioting in the inner city slums that chased more people out of these older northern cities, Detroit is the most outstanding example. Democrats have already had long term monolithic rule over city hall and their failed urban policies just made these cities go over the cliff. Court ordered school busing by ultra leftist federal judges was one of the final nails in the urban coffin. The other final nail was the horrendous folly of supply side/trickle down economics. Business and industry fled all these older northern cities and their old first ring suburbs.
You never got a soda out of the cooler at Bernie's ... You may have pulled an ice cold COKE out of that cooler but never a soda! Everything else was a pop ...... Are you sure your from the old south end? Ok, ok, I'm just giving you a hard time but really don't mix soda and pop with coke, especially when were talking Bernie's ... BTW, I too hate what they did to the old south end....
Mark, Thanks for the chastisement. I've been down here too long. At Bernie's it was rarely (if ever) a coke. If it was a cola it was a Pepsi. My preference was a pop from Mohr Brothers, especially their cream soda, er, pop. "Fine flavor means Mohr" was their slogan. Made in Toledo by hand, by the actual Mohr Brothers and shipped in clear bottles. Great stuff! I went into a gourmet shop in Atlanta and they were having a tasting of some new brand of boutique pop. "It's all the rage," the dude said. "Hell, that's not new, I drank boutique pop when I was 7 -- just didn't know it at the time." If I couldn't find one of those in the cooler, then a Vernor's Gingle Ale bottled in Detroit was in order. Bernie also carried Choc-Ola, which was the best damned thing ever invented. What was cool about this stuff was the way the chocolate syrup would congeal on the bottom and you had to shake it up. Don't even try to compare a Yoo-Hoo to it because a Yoo-Hoo does not even come close. I remember being sent to Bernie's by my parents to buy Uptown (made by Faygo if my memory serves me). That always meant an upcoming visit from Aunts and Uncles for highballs (and sneaky sips for me). I'm rambling, but I can't help myself, The memories of those days are pouring out of me right now.
Each Tiny Moment , Great video. Is this a result of loss of manufacturing in Toledo that all the families moved out and facilities torn down ? I would have loved to watch all those rock bands back in the day at the former hockey arena.
I remember Bernies and Uptown , and Mohr Bros pop. How about Kuhlmans Potato Chips in an orange bag.! I lived on South Steet near Spencer. I walked past it on the way to St. James School...gone! I was a Cowboy Class of 66 State Runner Up in basketball....gone. First job, Maumee Valley Hospital....gone. Lots of good memories but the town is going down the tube.We need a good Republican mayor to turn things around!
i like to say soda too, and i'm born and raised in south toledo. I know most of us call it pop, but I always liked the word 'soda.' It's hard for me to drive in the south end these days, it's like getting kicked in the stomach.
James Gasser I mean Bowsher is still a school, it literally moved half a mile up the street. Atleast the old location isn’t a vacant lot and the new bowsher football games are at the old location
I grew up in Toledo oh. You can thank Carty Finkbiner for a lot of unnecessary construction and demo work that him and his buddy contractors that gouged what little tax money there was. Don't believe me. Then tell me how long did it take to get Anthony Wayne trail completed? That whole what, five miles.
Here's a little bit different way of looking at things. The Bible says: "So teach us to number our days that we get a heart of wisdom." Yep folks, things are passing away, now more quickly than ever. What we thought would always be lasting turns out not to be so after all. Have we prepared for the day when we ourselves will no longer be here...when we like the empty lots are not to be found on earth? Personally, I recommend Jesus...but hey, that's just me.
Some of this is just progress. We have some of the best school facilities in the city now as all schools were either built new or massively renovated. And the torn down buildings look much better than it did when they sat here empty and boarded up. Places like the old Southwyck Mall will be redeveloped into something soon I hope - some plans for apartments, restaurants and office space are currently on the table. Hopefully some large empty areas like Southwyck will find a new purpose soon.
Everything takes time. It took 20 years to redevelop the Westgate area and now its almost completely redone. They started with the Central/Secor shopping center and now they've focused on where the old theaters were, developing that into a couple new hotels and dozens of new shops, including a new Whole Foods, which will be the first in Toledo. That whole area is new and revitalized and it leads into Monroe Street and the Franklin Park Mall area - ties in very nice to the area as a whole. At some point the Southwyck land will be redeveloped into something. Whether its new shops and apartments, a sporting complex, some industrial complexes .... they will do something with it. With its location I am surprised it has taken this long - I'd have thought by now something would have been done. But Westgate is even more prominent and it took time there too.
An exact copy of Cleveland's SE.side where I was born.Blacks moved in and can see in this vlog what happened to a once vibrant area of Jeeptown I knew well then.Very sad.😢
Toledo has become an exact copy of all of Cleveland not just its east side. Both cities are in severe urban crisis along with Gary IN and Rochester NY. All four of these once proud and prosperous cities are no more. Horribly sad but true.
Blacks moving in does not cause the issue, blacks move in because of the issue, many blacks are low income and take advantage of the lower property prices. But never just blame a race especially since low income comes in shades of white as well and so the problem is much bigger than you deceive yourself into thinking . Also East toledo is not the worst side...why people keep saying that makes no sense, for me the north side is the most disgusting side and poorest condition, And I agree every side is really bad regardless of who we compare what to, but the east side is really the quietest outside of suburban west side neighborhoods, South and North are most violent and own the most violent neighborhoods in toledo, but atleast the south side has some good parts and has groups that go around cleaning the area up...the north is bad and doesnt try to change.
I too was raised in the south end, i am 32 years of age. I left Toledo for 5 years to start a career in the automotive industry. wanting to see my city and the friends i once had, i fought hard for a transfer to toledo jeep. When i returned. It was gone. Everything. I am at a loss for words trying to explain how bad this actually feels.The City is Depressed. The Infrastructure is collapsing. The poor people who live here have no real job opportunities and the drug problem here is way worse than it was when i was growing up. I'm sad. All the great memmories i made in this city, and all the good people i have met along the way. I wil be saying goodbye to for good. To all the family members i have here that will not excape and to all the friends I once had, i wish you all the best. Thank you god for giving me such good memories of this place. Go Rockets!
I am from the south end right by the railroad tracks, am 33, except for my family left when I was young and we didn't have to actually live in that mess, but we visited all of the time because all of our poor relatives could not leave since they didn't have connections from outside the city as we did.
Toledo is dead. It doesn't need a rebranding, it needs to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. There's nothing that can fix the corruption, the crime, and the infrastructure. The public there aren't smart enough to think of anything in the long term, and the politicians take advantage of how stupid the public is. I don't like putting it like that, but it's a fact. People are so impatient that they want a quick fix solution to the city and keep wanting to fund the museum and the zoo and build gigantic casinos for nobody to ever go to. To me looking at the city of my birth from AZ where I live now, I'm disgusted that the public keeps falling into this "Toledo is great!" mentality and getting defensive when people point out the failure that it is.
Lots of great memories of the city and I sympathize with people even older than me who were able to fully enjoy middle class life in the heyday and had to see it collapse so completely.
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I was born in 63 Loved the south end...Miss the old Buds. Jose,Danny,David,Rickey,Jodi,Gina,Dawn, lisa and more.....DM
does anyone remember tivits boutique at oldtowne .or dominics at the corner of glendale and reynolds rd. and lets not forget peaches records and tapes,the jesse james drive in theatre in the end,all we have is our memories. just for the record i grew up in perrysburg,but we had to cross the river for fast food back in the day [bet those in that lovely little burg wish that were still the case]
Armando Flores I used to work at Domonics
Wow there is some memories from my Dad's past. He 42 and knew and went too every place u spoke of...
Same .💔
I'm 72 and grew up on Nicholas Street, between South St and Spencer. Walked to the OG Arlington grade school.My childhood home met the wrecking ball for reasons unknown. Regarding Highland Park pool, I can remember the original HP pool that was there BEFORE the missing pool that you're standing in. Walked there with my Mom. When I got a little older, I was able to ride my bike with my friends to the Scott Park pool. Happy, Happy childhood, all gone. Sad.
Raised on the South Side from 69-81 (South St and the Anthony Wayne Trail). Looking at this and what it's become is like getting kicked in the solar plexus.
I know the feeling, raised near burroughs elementary, and when I drive by, it's also like a damn kick to the stomach.
City to have a soul. Time and tide waits for none. Only one remembers the good old days.
the good ole daze!
Great video I went to Marshall and then Jones and Libbey for 2 years..... So sad. Mr Schroder and Mr Swora were my favorite teachers ever.
I have looked at your video several times. I too miss Newbury, Jones, and Libbey. There is a Centennial party for Libbey ( with the Teen Town bunch) at Premier Han on Heatherdowns in case you are near Toledo on July 14, 2023. Am sharing your video with united
I to grew up in the southend Eastern ave & sumner st remember Ashley park the Blade Station Simmons store later Garsas mkt have the memories miss the childhood Hello Southend from Nebraska
Nice video. I grew up on Rugby Drive, then Driftwood Drive, across from Swan Creek on Glendale. Went to Beverly School, McTigue, and was in the first graduating class (8th grade) from Byrnedale. 1981 Bowsher grad. I still live in the South end, after living in Athens, Greenville, and Port Clinton, Ohio. Losing Southwyck was a shame. It's Amazon now. Southwyck was the place to be. There are some RUclips videos on Southwyck that shows you a different time in this area...
A very sobering video, most illustrative of the passage of time and the temporary state of places and people. Too often it's only memories that remain--until we take even the memories to our graves!
After having moved from Toledo in 1987, living in Southern Cali and then moving back to Toledo this past November, I am very reflective about my childhood here. Many things are gone or changed, but not in the way this man's landmarks have disappeared. Wow.
I look around now at the way Toledo is for my nephew & niece, and I can't help but wonder what will be gone and what they'll recall 30-some years from now. Time certainly marches on.
Bill Hargate ,, why did you move back?
I went to New Berry from K-6th grade.. still remember all the teachers names ! 👀💔 thankful for them . 🙏🏽
It's sad when things we grew up with are lost to growth and progress. It is even sadder when they simply lost....torn down and replaced by nothing at all. I used to live near the West Toledo Library when I was very little, and later near Secor and Laskey. At least a fair amount of that is still there, although I moved away so long ago that many big things (like the Franklin Mall) have come and gone since. It is good of you to remember these places that are gone. Toledo and much of the "Rust Belt" have endured 50 years of decay; perhaps a turnaround is coming.
Thanks for posting Sir .
Excellent report. The Sports Aroma was in East Toledo !
this was great! Thanks for sharing it. It would have been awesome if you could have posted a little corner screen shot of each of those places how they were when they were still being used! But still, again... great job!
I'll make note of that when I make the professional documentary. Thanks for watching.
Everything disappearing in Toledo.... so little being built to replace what once was a fun place to live. I returned to toledo from a country where they're building a new mall every year, to see all but one destroyed in Toledo. Makes me wonder how much city government really cares about the people.
We're not tax-paying-cattle, we're human beings. Give us something worth calling Toledo a place to "live".
Ohana Digital Filmworks Have you seen the Westgate area lately?(nvm: Just realized you uploaded a video of one of the new hotels there) There's a new restaurant built every other month it seems like. New retail stores and plazas have been built along Monroe near the mall. Downtown is coming back with a lot of local restaurants and bars, but the other areas aren't really growing and the areas that got worse are left to keep dying.
A story repeated worldwide. I started out in a small Alabama town which today is unrecognisable---the schools and half of the houses are demolished, with a population 1/2 of its 1980 figure. The decline and relevance of small/medium sized towns over the last four decades has occurred from France to New Zealand and everywhere in between. Leaving Alabama in 1973 for Southern California, my family never looked back--the move provided education, experience, financial and professional prosperity and a wider world view. The few remaining cousins in Alabama today own little but rickey houses declining in value and resentment and fear of the world outside of their dying little town. On my last visit, I stood in the deserted Main Street and thought...thank God we left all those decades ago.
I miss south Toledo the way it used to be......I used to swim at Highland park as well Newberry is also the first school I attended Mr. Hathaway was the principal I wonder what ever happened to the good old days
Of course I started school in 1987 lol
I went to Newbury from 1st to 6th grade same started in 86
I am 74, and I don't remember there EVER being a high dive, Or ANY diving board, or any really DEEP end at Highland Park Pool. The rules were no running, no diving. I remember Bernie's carryout. We used to take that road and cut through the woods to go home to Colton Street. And I remember the soda fountain and penny candy at the Rexall Drug Store on the corner of South and Spencer.
oh, how could you forget the high dive... when i was young, it seemed sooooo tall and it was such an adrenalin rush to jump.
It was at highland park but it was in it’s on section, across swan creek. Closer to the library off of Shasta. They tore it down like 6 or 7 years ago
I'm always saddened when I return to Toledo and take a ride through the south side of town. Libbey, scott park pool,Jack's corner of campbell/Hawley, fruit standin the corner of Hawley/Nebraska, Hostess on Nebraska, Pollock's miller/Nebraska, frank else corner/Buckingham/ Hoag, many things of the past are all gone!.Keepees,
Whittowers, Dennys,Frishes big boy, A&W rootbeer, Secor grill, are all gone .
One saving grace is Tony Packos,and Coney Island, and Rudy's hotdogs.
...
Toledo is just like Rochester, NY everything appears to be disappearing with few viable replacements on the horizon. Like Toledo, Rochester has also lost most of its industry and many of its older neighborhoods are empty just like Toledo's south end.
R. Pres. Great mirror image you present of tale of 2 very deindustrialized cities the fate they've suffered.Am very familiar with both.Very sad😢
at least Rochester has two very good universities and a top-notch music conservatory
class of 85 grew up across from westfield
Went to Heatherdowns elementary, Bowser Jr. high, and Bowser high school. Graduated in 1980. Man, the South End was the cats ass back then. Loved it.
the cats ass! LOL
I have seen the city (officials) just devour the place. It's almost like they are trying to commit suicide without committing TO it. I have been away for eight years and am stunned by the changes. I can never go home anymore.
Southwick is now Amazon warehouse. This is what happens my elementary school,Hi-School, our drive in theaters.& 8 employers gone. Now we have Wal-greens, Walmart,RiteAid,Dollar General or gas station on every corner.
It's sad..Toledo is no more..Great Swimming at the end though..Ha!
I went to Newbury in the original brick building for 1 school year (Mrs. Shaw), the last year it was open, I remember the coin operated milk machine, then to the new building on the lot you showed (Mrs. Monroe), wish someone still had a photo of our class. Randy, Patty and Arthur classmates. I lived on Lorain St. duplex is still there. Went to Glenwood Elementary after that, lived on Detroit Ave. Vividly remember Nov. 22. Ice skating at Sports Arena, Tiedke's, Lions, Eppes Essen, The Wheel (best hot beef sandwiches), Esquire, Rivoli and Paramount. I've dreamed more than once of walking in neighborhoods where I used to live, in one dream I was on the sidewalk near my house on Lorain St., my grandmother stood at the open window upstairs...I was going to ask her if I was at home but I didn't, asked her instead if my uncle Robert was there, she said he was at work. Yeah I miss the place.
I lived on Lorain st. in a duplex and went to Newbury
i remember old town in southwyck mall. i remember the driving the cars , behind the plexi glass. i used to swim at highland park. i lived on nicholas st. just a few blocks away. champion cleaners was on the corner.
restaurants, convenience/gas stores, grocery stores, and bars will be the only things left...they say we need small businesses but the problem is none of the consumers would shop there because everything is cheaper online
Thank you for the video.
Unfortunately things in the South end has changed for the worse. My family has been South enders for many years. When you mention the different parks you're leaving out the activities at each park. Like the sporting games against other parks. Or signing out sports equipment to go play on the diamond, basketball court, football field. This was going on everything week day. You can also add many things to that list of places that are gone, changed or ripped out. St. James School and Church, Kroger's on Broadway, woolfords across from there, Mayhams restaurant, little Chefs, lanes Drug store, the candy store at the corner of Stebbins and Colburn. A few doors from your house. Another one at Stebbins and South. The Candy store at Harding and Hawley. Nowak's old building. The drug store at St. James and Broadway. Across from Dr. Ewerts ( the spot Frank Uncle's sat) before he moved to Glendale. My favorite was Grandma Touts on Broadway. The Best Person to ever live on all of Broadway Lady. Remember the bars. B&G, Charley's, Steve and Bob's, Sam's, Bartrums, George's, Soddeck's, Shermbecks, Bob&Lucey's, Western, most if not all are gone.
Gino's on Broadway "The real Original Gino's" I sat at that counter eating pizza before those scammers in West Toledo ever existed. Yes before the fire
What a shame! I lived Libbey
most of what you show to be torn down has been rebuilt, just in different locations. the schools, the sports arena all rebuilt with better facilities.
you are missing the point.
@@nicholascisternino4760 not reallllly tho lol
@@nicholascisternino4760 I am missing the (Cedar) Point!
Toledo is not an Island. It is no different than any other medium sized city in America. A lot of cities Judy don’t publicize its problems.
Have you seen the videos posted by econcat88?
So sad. I knew all of those places so well.
I went to Libbey High school,,, had so much fun, ,, I ran with a Gang called Knower Blocc Gangstas.... I miss dem dudes man ,, my hood brothers fo life.
A part of what's wrong with Toledo.....gangs. Thanks for your contributions.
@@guyincognito83 yeah, but it was the Knower Blocc Gangstas!
Rather than seeing dilapidated and/or abandoned buildings, I see clean lawns and open areas - places where kids can play football and soccer (are they? no - but they would be when I was a kid). Normally what we see with old buildings is decay, instead here we see some attempt at greening and preparation for possible future growth. I am not discounting your memories, only suggesting there appears to be a silver lining in some of the changes you show here. And "Sam K" below makes a good point as well. Thanks for posting.
We used to come to downtown Toledo in the 60s and it was great with the large multi-floor department stores like Tiedtkes Lasalles and more but my late mom said a lot was missing as she remembered all the stores downtown in the 30s to the 50s...places were demolished for parking...suburbs growth with shopping malls and more killed downtown Toledo-too bad-sure was a lot better than anything today...and now online shopping are killing malls ans brick and mortar stores...ten years from now there will be nothing but fields and warehouse where all of todays shopping is now...
And the Lion Store and Lamson's.
In my view, downtown Toledo died when they tore down The Paramount.
I myself am from south Toledo, and my grandmother stayed there until just before she died, when she could no longer bear staying there. She held out for so long waiting for the city to improve, then moved to Lakeland.
Fact is that Toledo needs a new image, badly. It's sad to see so many historic sites meet the wrecking ball, but Toledo simply can't maintain its identity. It's far gone and there's too much corruption, too much pandering to rich White affluents who still live there and the ghettos in the south have been ignored for so, so long that it's just dead. I don't know of any other way to fix it than to just bulldoze it and let the city grow in an organic way again. There is no way you are going to brand Toledo to attract many businesses and skilled workers. It is literally impossible to get anyone. The casino was the dumbest idea ever proposed in the history of city management. Yeah, build a gigantic casino in a city full of gangs and abandoned homes, that'll attract people! It's going to just end up being a pile of concrete in itself, or turned into something else like a lot of other places.
The gambling casino is just going to siphon all of what is remaining while the areas around it are dead and decayed. Just like in Niagara Falls NY, the luxury hotel and gambling casino just sucked all the little remaining life of a rundown, drug infested, former industrial town on the US side of the falls.
This video saddens me.
Yea I went to Bowsher and know of all the places you talk!! Used to live on Knower st just a block from Jones JR. High
KBG !!! Knower Blocc Gangstas ... Booty and Western... I lived on Walbridge and Maumee right across the street from Jones jr High... I missed those days the south end use to be fun.
@@rafealterry1610 huh huh huh huh, you said Booty, huh huh huh huh huh
How could they take Libbey! It hurts!
Keylo Green hi how are you
Paul you & any of the viewers here that were born & raised in the Real Old South-End are welcomed.. The town might be gone But the people & their memories are at a Group site here and yer welcomed to share this video & join Us.... facebook.com/groups/1665092940407217/
Well done Paul.
JJH Remember the best pizza burgers ever, the pig table and the ROAD RUNNER (beep beep) Mr Welsh? The smell of lunch cooking at 9am when lunch ladies cooked our lunch? Sliding down the handrail and knowing just when to jump off? The catwalk track inside the gym? Battle ball? Mr Vandersal, Buttersworth, Abrams and McClowsky? Mr Hathaway too? Those cookies!!! Yep its gone, so am I. They have ripped out the heart of Toledo and I have no desires to return.
"...foreeeeverrrrr, not."
What causes places like this to just disappear? Is this just economic fall out or what? I hate to see this happen to Toledo,
Even in the melancholy aftermath of all of it, its good for you to find the comedy enough to make a video. I found this to be quite entertaining. There is a funny game that you found in it. There is a whole bunch of history that inevitably is followed by "Gone."
I love you, man.
7 months later -- I'll respond. lol. Like most "rust belt" cities, the populations collapse and head out to the suburbs. There just aren't enough kids in the city to support the amount of schools that were open 30+ years ago. This is what happens when your tax base leaves. I grew up in West Toledo, and while my old schools still stand tall, many of the places I frequented as a young lad are long gone.
Why did the tax base leave?
First it was our federal government that encouraged the departure from older northern cities like Toledo with VA loans for new housing only for returning WW2 vets. Than it was both urban renewal and the interstates that did more severe damage to these cities. In the late 60s it was rioting in the inner city slums that chased more people out of these older northern cities, Detroit is the most outstanding example. Democrats have already had long term monolithic rule over city hall and their failed urban policies just made these cities go over the cliff. Court ordered school busing by ultra leftist federal judges was one of the final nails in the urban coffin. The other final nail was the horrendous folly of supply side/trickle down economics. Business and industry fled all these older northern cities and their old first ring suburbs.
i forgot about the big merry go round in the middle of the mall. wow, this video brings back a lot of memories
Damn
Latta??
You never got a soda out of the cooler at Bernie's ... You may have pulled an ice cold COKE out of that cooler but never a soda! Everything else was a pop ...... Are you sure your from the old south end? Ok, ok, I'm just giving you a hard time but really don't mix soda and pop with coke, especially when were talking Bernie's ... BTW, I too hate what they did to the old south end....
Mark,
Thanks for the chastisement. I've been down here too long. At Bernie's it was rarely (if ever) a coke. If it was a cola it was a Pepsi. My preference was a pop from Mohr Brothers, especially their cream soda, er, pop. "Fine flavor means Mohr" was their slogan. Made in Toledo by hand, by the actual Mohr Brothers and shipped in clear bottles. Great stuff!
I went into a gourmet shop in Atlanta and they were having a tasting of some new brand of boutique pop.
"It's all the rage," the dude said.
"Hell, that's not new, I drank boutique pop when I was 7 -- just didn't know it at the time."
If I couldn't find one of those in the cooler, then a Vernor's Gingle Ale bottled in Detroit was in order.
Bernie also carried Choc-Ola, which was the best damned thing ever invented. What was cool about this stuff was the way the chocolate syrup would congeal on the bottom and you had to shake it up. Don't even try to compare a Yoo-Hoo to it because a Yoo-Hoo does not even come close.
I remember being sent to Bernie's by my parents to buy Uptown (made by Faygo if my memory serves me). That always meant an upcoming visit from Aunts and Uncles for highballs (and sneaky sips for me).
I'm rambling, but I can't help myself, The memories of those days are pouring out of me right now.
Each Tiny Moment ,
Great video. Is this a result of loss of manufacturing in Toledo that all the families moved out and facilities torn down ?
I would have loved to watch all those rock bands back in the day at the former hockey arena.
I remember Bernies and Uptown , and Mohr Bros pop. How about Kuhlmans Potato Chips in an orange bag.! I lived on South Steet near Spencer. I walked past it on the way to St. James School...gone! I was a Cowboy Class of 66 State Runner Up in basketball....gone. First job, Maumee Valley Hospital....gone. Lots of good memories but the town is going down the tube.We need a good Republican mayor to turn things around!
i like to say soda too, and i'm born and raised in south toledo. I know most of us call it pop, but I always liked the word 'soda.' It's hard for me to drive in the south end these days, it's like getting kicked in the stomach.
Bloods and Crips walking together at 3:02. Ain't that nice.
hence, and there in lies the problem.
As a fellow South Ender I feel so bad for you. My old E. L. Bowsher also gone....
James Gasser I mean Bowsher is still a school, it literally moved half a mile up the street. Atleast the old location isn’t a vacant lot and the new bowsher football games are at the old location
I grew up in Toledo oh. You can thank Carty Finkbiner for a lot of unnecessary construction and demo work that him and his buddy contractors that gouged what little tax money there was. Don't believe me. Then tell me how long did it take to get Anthony Wayne trail completed? That whole what, five miles.
Carty! _Put all the deaf people out by the airport!_ LOL
Take a shot everytime he spreads his arms like a cross
Here's a little bit different way of looking at things. The Bible says: "So teach us to number our days that we get a heart of wisdom." Yep folks, things are passing away, now more quickly than ever. What we thought would always be lasting turns out not to be so after all. Have we prepared for the day when we ourselves will no longer be here...when we like the empty lots are not to be found on earth? Personally, I recommend Jesus...but hey, that's just me.
John Ritter! I liked your work in Three's Company!
@@richardthegingerbo909 Yes...it's hard to speak from the dead but I work at it.
@@johnritter5951 Good to hear your voice again!
You’ll do better “away” from Toledo.
Some of this is just progress. We have some of the best school facilities in the city now as all schools were either built new or massively renovated. And the torn down buildings look much better than it did when they sat here empty and boarded up. Places like the old Southwyck Mall will be redeveloped into something soon I hope - some plans for apartments, restaurants and office space are currently on the table.
Hopefully some large empty areas like Southwyck will find a new purpose soon.
Keep dreaming guy! Southwyck has been a flat piece of land forwell over 10 years,ain't NOTHING happening there! Just more politics talking!
Everything takes time. It took 20 years to redevelop the Westgate area and now its almost completely redone. They started with the Central/Secor shopping center and now they've focused on where the old theaters were, developing that into a couple new hotels and dozens of new shops, including a new Whole Foods, which will be the first in Toledo. That whole area is new and revitalized and it leads into Monroe Street and the Franklin Park Mall area - ties in very nice to the area as a whole.
At some point the Southwyck land will be redeveloped into something. Whether its new shops and apartments, a sporting complex, some industrial complexes .... they will do something with it. With its location I am surprised it has taken this long - I'd have thought by now something would have been done. But Westgate is even more prominent and it took time there too.
@@MaximusX67 True that, the word on the street is the new(er) Rogers HS building is way better than the building it replaced.
An exact copy of Cleveland's SE.side where I was born.Blacks moved in and can see in this vlog what happened to a once vibrant area of Jeeptown I knew well then.Very sad.😢
Toledo has become an exact copy of all of Cleveland not just its east side. Both cities are in severe urban crisis along with Gary IN and Rochester NY. All four of these once proud and prosperous cities are no more. Horribly sad but true.
Blacks moving in does not cause the issue, blacks move in because of the issue, many blacks are low income and take advantage of the lower property prices. But never just blame a race especially since low income comes in shades of white as well and so the problem is much bigger than you deceive yourself into thinking . Also East toledo is not the worst side...why people keep saying that makes no sense, for me the north side is the most disgusting side and poorest condition, And I agree every side is really bad regardless of who we compare what to, but the east side is really the quietest outside of suburban west side neighborhoods, South and North are most violent and own the most violent neighborhoods in toledo, but atleast the south side has some good parts and has groups that go around cleaning the area up...the north is bad and doesnt try to change.
@@kingboo843 Thank you for setting the record straight. Much appreciated.