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Three Roads Diverged in a Wood and I, I Took the One to Toledo

Metafilter engages in a little Michigan bashing in a thread about the Toledo War. “[T]here’s an intersection when you’re heading east on I-94, I think it’s US-23 though it might be 275, where the road splits 3 ways and the choices are ‘Flint / Detroit / Toledo.’ If anything was gonna convince you to just give up and turn around…” writes one poster. “[A]nd do what? … head back to jackson?” is the reply. But another participant reminds them, “Don’t forget Ann Arbor.” As his ZIP puts him in Cambridge, though, he would seem to have the luxury of doing so.

15 Responses to “Three Roads Diverged in a Wood and I, I Took the One to Toledo”


  1. I had a senile 4th-grade social studies teacher who always talked about the Toledo War. He was forced into early retirement, and I’ve never heard mention of it again. I was thinking he had made it all up. Who knew.

    posted by golightly on December 19th, 2005 at 8:07 pm

  2. I love the Toledo War. One of my favorite Michigan history tidbits. Say, that’d make a good song…

    posted by Brandon on December 19th, 2005 at 8:41 pm

  3. According to Wikipedia, “The ‘war’ ended at a Michigan territorial convention in Ann Arbor on December 14, 1836, at which Peter Morey, a delegate from Lenawee County, put forward a resolution noting that though the delegates ’solemnly protest’ the conditions of admission to the union, they would nevertheless agree to the terms ‘as a token of our respect for the Congress of the United States…’”
    Is it just me, or is this the last time Ann Arbor did anything to respect the Congress of the United States?

    posted by Bobcat on December 20th, 2005 at 12:25 am

  4. Ohio got Toledo, we got the UP. Who got the better of the exchange is left as an exercise for the reader.

    posted by tom on December 20th, 2005 at 9:33 am

  5. The UP rules.

    posted by Brandon on December 20th, 2005 at 12:37 pm

  6. But the UP doesn’t have Tony Packo’s…..:)

    posted by Kozzie on December 20th, 2005 at 2:02 pm

  7. I didn’t learn about the Toledo War in my Toledo schools. I hadn’t even heard about it until I came to Michigan.

    posted by ellen on December 21st, 2005 at 4:26 pm

  8. If *you* had fought to get Toledo, would you want people to know?

    posted by carbonear on December 23rd, 2005 at 8:20 pm

  9. Ellen, I think part of the problem is that the national standardization of curricula has really cut-out local and regional history. When I was in middle school, there was an entire unit in my American Culture class about the founding and history of my hometown. It has since been cut since such things don’t show up on standardized state and national tests. One more way we are losing our connection to place in America, along with mass media, suburbanization, and the like. And I sound like a cranky old man.

    posted by Brandon on December 24th, 2005 at 2:37 pm

  10. I don’t know, Mr. Brandon Z. I was in a program from 2nd - 8th grade that took the MEAP every year (if it was a year it wasn’t ordinarily taken, they just jumped us up to the closest one). It was semi-obsessive, since that was partly the justification for keeping the program funded and viable.

    But we had an awesome little Michigan segment in history class. We all had to pick a city to do a report on. I got first choice, picked Ann Arbor because I was raised a U of M kid, and did a camcorder movie from a day trip there. The kid who picked Hell really didn’t have much to work with. Like, one brouchure. Then we did group projects on Michigan companies. We got last choice, and got stuck with Chrystler (the only company we couldn’t bring in food for - the others were Little Ceasar’s, Kiplingers, Faygo, Better Made). I’m surprised I still retain a good amount of the random trivia I learned 11 years ago.

    Forgive me, waxing nostalgic and such.

    Then again, the program has since been slowly cut down to pieces, and I think officially doesn’t exist anymore… so there’s what we get for spending that month not teaching directly to the test, and thinking we’d gain academic skills by other means. For shame, 6th grade social studies teacher. For shame.

    posted by Jen on December 25th, 2005 at 12:06 am

  11. PS

    If you’re going to talk about learning Holland history, you’re gonna have to sing the Tulip Time song.

    posted by Jen on December 25th, 2005 at 12:07 am

  12. Just as a bit more to add to the Toledo War issue. There is a historical marker in downtown Toledo near the new stadium which marks the spot once chosen for the University of Michigan before the settling of the Toledo War. Obviously once Toledo got stuck with Ohio, U of M was eventually sited in Ann Arbor. I guess this proves that the Toledo War was an important part of history. If it had been decided differently perhaps then the website would be toledoisoverrated.com and would mark the first time that Toledo was ever considered overrated!

    posted by Brent on January 3rd, 2006 at 3:18 pm

  13. When I was a history major at MSU, I took a wonderful class on History of Michigan from Prof. Kestenbaum (Larry’s dad). It was a great class.

    posted by OFWinsurgent on January 3rd, 2006 at 3:22 pm

  14. “If it had been decided differently perhaps then the website would be toledoisoverrated.com and would mark the first time that Toledo was ever considered overrated!”

    Or rated, even.

    posted by Dave on January 3rd, 2006 at 4:32 pm

  15. I’m waiting for the book, “The Toledo War No One Ever Told You About.”

    posted by C. R. Geach on February 14th, 2006 at 10:47 pm

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