Introduction
"Meanwhile, as Toledo grew, the part of Oregon Township closest to the river was incorporated into the city in 1853. The first Cherry Street Bridge was built in 1865 at the end of the Civil War, and business and industry would slowly grow and thrive throughout the remainder of the 19th century. Birmingham was developed in the 1890s, just as the Main Street, Starr Avenue, and East Broadway business corridors were rapidly expanding. Immigrants poured into East Toledo, and the population grew from a few hundred people in 1870 to about 45,000 by the 1920s. Most of the schools, churches, and neighborhoods were formed during that time. The East Side continued to prosper for most of the 20th century, until the demographics of urban decay began to take their toll in the last few decades. Oregon also prospered during the years of the 20th century. Early one-room schoolhouses were consolidated in the 1920s, churches were formed, and community services were expanded. The East- moreland neighborhood was laid out as Euclid Park in the 1920s. Pearson Park, a last surviving part of the Black Swamp saved through the efforts of Blade reporter George Pearson, opened in 1934. Slowly, but steadily, a business corridor developed along Navarre Avenue between Wheeling and Coy. St. Charles Hospital opened in 1954, replacing the old East Side Hospital on Oak Street."
Excerpt from "East of the Maumee River: a pictorial history of East Toledo, Oregon, & other communities east of the river" by Larry R. Michaels and Ronald J. Mauter
