Label
The Clerk Reports
Title
Declaring the intent to designate the building located at 25 S. Superior Street, Toledo, Ohio a historic landmark; and declaring an emergency.
Summary
SUMMARY & BACKGROUND:
The building at 25 S. Superior Street was originally built in 1909 for the Feilbach Company.
The Feilbach Company was a cornerstone of Toledo’s early commercial and industrial development and played a vital role in the developing Warehouse District - exemplifying the city’s commercial growth during the early 20th century. The company was founded by Charles Feilbach, a prominent local businessman and civic leader whose entrepreneurial and philanthropic contributions left a lasting impact on Toledo’s economic and social landscape.
Charles Feilbach was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, in 1862. He moved to Toledo at the age of 16 to begin an apprenticeship in harness making. Finding little satisfaction in that trade, he turned to sales and became a traveling salesman for a Toledo grocery house, a role that offered him valuable insights into the wholesale grocery business.
In 1884, drawing on his experience, Charles Feilbach co-founded the Feilbach Company, a wholesale produce business. Initially operating out of a rented space at 524 Monroe Street, the company quickly grew. Charles was named “President” of the company in 1900, guiding its rapid expansion during a period of national industrial growth. By 1900 the company had eight salesmen on the road and trade was done in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan.
As the company’s success continued, so did its need for space. In 1909, the Feilbach Company constructed a dedicated warehouse at 25 S. Superior Street, the nominated building, in Toledo’s Warehouse District - a strategically located area serving as a junction between business, commerce, and warehousing activities. The site was chosen for its proximity to the Great Lakes port, canal terminus, and railroad hub, making it an ideal location for the efficient transport and distribution of goods.
The original warehouse was a three-bay, six-story brick structure, exemplifying the scale and ambition of growing produce wholesalers during the industrial boom. By 1912, just three years later, the Feilbach Company had outgrown even this space and expanded the building northward with a two-bay addition, reinforcing its role as a major player in Toledo’s thriving produce market.
Beyond his business achievements, Charles Feilbach was deeply engaged in civic life. He served as head of the National Wholesale Grocers' Association, was a member of the Toledo Public School Board, a Director for Toledo’s Chamber of Commerce, and was a founding member of the Toledo Rotary Club. His commitment to community betterment was most notably reflected in his advocacy for education and accessibility. Using his connection with the Rotary, Feilbach helped establish a school for children with disabilities in Toledo - the Feilbach School, which opened in 1917 and operated until 1976, when it merged into what is now the GlendaleFeilbach School, continuing his legacy of service. Being a passion of Charles Feilbach’s he went on to be president of Toledo Society for Crippled Children, vice president of the Ohio Society for Crippled Children, and director of the International Society for Crippled Children.
Charles Feilbach was also the sole wholesale grocer in Toledo on the Toledo War Industries Commission, along with automotive businessmen, machinery businessmen, retailers, and bankers, to help the government survey the manufacturing companies in Toledo and provide possible production bids for the war effort in 1918 - helping provide insight and access to food for the soldiers and communities across the country and at war.
The Feilbach Company’s warehouse stands as a testament to the importance of Toledo’s Produce Warehouse District during a transformative era. As the city grew, this district became a 7 of 18 dynamic buffer between the business-centric Central Business District and the city’s canal, rail, and shipping infrastructure. The Feilbach building, in particular, is an enduring example of the district’s influence on Toledo’s early 20th-century commercial expansion and its integration into the national industrial economy.
In 1937, after over five decades in operation, the Feilbach Company ceased operations in the Superior Street warehouse. The building was then purchased by Joseph Robinson, who repurposed it as a warehouse serving Toledo’s glass industry. Over the ensuing decades, the structure continued to serve the evolving warehousing needs of the region. It housed a metal products company in the 1960s and 1970s, and served as the warehouse for the Lucas County Board of Elections in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1984, the building entered a new chapter when it was purchased by the F.W. Galliers Company, which converted it into a warehouse for wholesale clothing distribution, a use that continues to the present day. Despite changes in occupancy, the building remains a significant architectural and historical marker of Toledo’s industrial and commercial past. NOW, THEREFORE,
Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Toledo:
SECTION 1. That this matter be referred to the Toledo City Plan Commission and the Toledo City Historic District for its review, recommendation and appropriate hearing date.
SECTION 2. That this Resolution hereby is declared to be an emergency measure and shall be in force and effect from and after its adoption. The reason for the emergency lies in the fact that same is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety and property, and for the further reason that this Resolution must be immediately effective so that the historic property will be eligible for the federal and/or state historic tax credit as soon as feasibility possible.
Vote on emergency clause: yeas _____, nays _____.
Passed: _________________, as an emergency measure: yeas _____, nays _____.
Attest: ________________________ __________________________________
Clerk of Council President of Council
Approved: _____________________ __________________________________
Mayor
I hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of an Ordinance passed by Council ________________________.
Attest: ________________________
Clerk of Council