Imagine the Toledo area in the mid 1830s. Lucas County was brand new. People crossed the Maumee by boat or barge. A debate raged in Congress over whether Toledo and Lucas County belonged in Ohio or in Michigan.

Toledo itself was two villages: Port Lawrence and Vistula. These two small communities realized the need to merge, and there was feeling among the business interests at the time that a newspaper, with no ties to either village, was needed.

In 1835, The Blade was born. Two years later, the city itself was incorporated.

Just as the city itself took its name from a city in Spain, The Blade took its name from the most famous of the Spanish city's products, the sword.

In an explanation, George Way, the first editor of the young newspaper, asserted:

“We may be accused of challenging the rest of the world. No. We should prefer to keep our blade always in its scabbard, and hope not to be compelled to use it often in the offensive. We should not like, however, to have it rust in its sheath so that it will not easily leap forth when necessity or honor demand that we should use it.

“Our blade has no elasticity — it will break before it will bend... We hope it will always leap from its scabbard whenever the rights of individuals, or of the community, shall be infringed.”

The Blade changed editors quite frequently in those early years. In 1844, Jesup Scott became editor of The Blade. Mr. Scott was convinced that Toledo would one day become America's “great city,” and in his case, this went far beyond civic boosterism. He saw the importance of the port and of railroad development in Toledo. He bequeathed 160 acres of land at what are now Bancroft and Westwood Streets to create the Toledo University of Arts and Trades — better known today as The University of Toledo. He was the first Blade editor for whom a school in Toledo, Jesup W. Scott High School, was named. In 1848, The Blade began a daily edition of the newspaper when the telegraph came to town.

During the Civil War, The Blade was a steady supporter of the Union, and an early backer of Abraham Lincoln. The newspaper had been founded as a voice for the Whig party, which later became the Republican Party. The Blade followed the party line through the Civil War and into Reconstruction.

After the war, the owner of The Blade, Alonzo Pelton, was searching for a new voice. He settled upon David Ross Locke, whose witty editorial writings as Petroleum V. Nasby were popular with both the Union soldiers in the Civil War and even President Lincoln himself. Two years later, Locke was a partner in The Blade, and by 1874 was owner and president of the company.

The Weekly Blade had a circulation of 117,000 by 1883, and in 1884 reached 200,000. The daily edition had a smaller circulation. The newspaper was headquartered in a building at Superior and Jefferson streets, built for $125,000, a fortune at that time.

Four years later, David Ross Locke died at the age of 54. His son, Robinson Locke, took over as editor. While his father's interests had been the abolition of slavery and later, the politics of reconstruction, Robinson Locke was intensely interested in music, art, and the theater. He was influential in the founding of the Toledo Museum of Art and was active in arts organizations within Toledo.

Robinson Locke remained as editor until 1908, having seen Toledo grow from a just-established small town to a lively municipality. During his editorship, he saw the rise of Toledo under Mayor Samuel “Golden Rule” Jones and Mayor Brand Whitlock, two municipal reformers. At his retirement, the Locke family leased the newspaper to N.C. Wright and Harry Thalheimer of Cleveland. They, in turn, hired Grove Patterson, who would remain with The Blade nearly 50 years.

The Blade continued to support the Republican Party and its candidates. Circulation of the Weekly Blade had climbed to 230,000 by 1913, but by 1924, it had tapered off to 114,000 subscribers. This was common for weekly papers of the 1920s — Sunday editions had taken the place of many of these. In October, 1924, The Blade ceased publication of its weekly edition.

Two years later, The Blade was sold to Paul Block and Associates, the nation's largest publishers' representative firm. After 61 years under the Locke family, The Blade was now owned by the Block family, as it continues to be today.

Paul Block was an immigrant from East Prussia who came to the United States in 1885. To help provide for his family, as a young teenager he went to work selling advertising for the Elmira, NY, Telegram. In 1895, he moved on to New York City to work as an advertising representative for newspapers. Block left to establish his own advertising rep firm in 1900.

National advertising was growing rapidly in the early 1900s, and Paul Block and Associates did well. With the profits he bought newspapers around the country, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Block's friendships in those days read like a who's who of the late 1920s: newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst; Flo Ziegfeld; New York Mayor Jimmy Walker.

Paul Block paid $4.5 million for The Blade in 1926 and kept Patterson as his right-hand man. Patterson, in turn, hired Fred Mollenkopf as city editor. Mollenkopf had recently been fired from the competing News-Bee, and was eager to scoop the paper that had ousted him. He remained as The Blade's city editor from 1926 to 1949.

The Blade building at Superior and Jefferson was, by this time, inadequate for the newspaper's needs. The Toledo Blade Company purchased several lots at the corner of Superior, Huron, and Beech Streets, and hired the Henry J. Spieker Company to build a new headquarters at a cost of $646,067.

The building, where The Blade still stands today, opened May 1, 1927. President Calvin Coolidge, a friend of Paul Block's, touched a golden key in the White House to start the presses in Toledo.

The Great Depression hit Toledo hard, yet The Blade continued on. The Blade covered the Electric Auto- Lite strike, the exploits of the Licavoli gangsters, and the adoption of the city manager form of government. Under Paul Block's leadership, The Blade was a leader in the community, not only as a business, but also as a bully pulpit to improve the city.

In 1941, Paul Block died. He had been owner of The Blade for 15 years. He was the only shareholder of the Toledo Blade Company, which he bequeathed in equal shares to his sons Paul Block, Jr. and William Block. Both sons had been brought up in the newspaper business, but neither was available to take over at The Blade at that time. Paul Jr. was studying for his doctorate in chemistry at Columbia University, and William was in the U.S. Army. The two broth ers were named as co-publishers of The Blade and the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette.

Paul Jr. returned to Toledo in 1944 as active publisher. Because the rival News-Bee had gone out of business, Toledo no longer had a newspaper that favored the Democratic Party. Paul insisted that The Blade no longer espouse the views of the Republican Party but treat the two parties equally.

The Blade grew and prospered through the years, surviving when other newspapers were going under. Due to Paul's interest in chemistry, The Blade became a leader in reporting on science. Blade bureaus were established in Washington, Columbus and Europe. Paul worked hard to establish the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo (now known as the University of Toledo Medical Center) and the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.

In 1987, Paul Block Jr., died. William Block, Jr., son of William Block, and John Robinson Block, son of Paul Block, Jr., became co-publishers, with William Block serving as chairman.

As the Block family's holdings in other media grew, the Toledo Blade Company became a part of Block Communications, Inc. The Block family recently celebrated its 100th year in the communications business.

In 2004, William Block, Jr. retired. John Robinson Block became publisher of The Blade, and his brother, Allan, became chairman of Block Communications, Inc.

Throughout the years, The Blade's position as a bully pulpit for the community has not changed. The paper lobbied vociferously — and successfully — for a return to the strong mayor form of government, and for greater freedom of the press through open records laws. The newspaper continues to push community leaders for greater local improvement, and has become outspoken in its fight for recognition by the state legislature of the “Other Ohio” — communities other than Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus.

In 2004, The Blade's investigative series, “Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths,” about atrocities committed by an elite U.S. Army force during the Vietnam War, earned the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize. In 2005, The Blade was a Pulitzer finalist for its investigation of local coin dealer Tom Noe and his influence in state politics. The investigation led to Noe's conviction on federal campaign-finance violations, as well as an 18-year sentence for theft, forgery, record tampering and running a corrupt enterprise.

The Blade's mission statement, one that is certain to take it through the next century, says:

“We are dedicated to being the leaders in providing news, information and advertising to Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan.”

The Blade values include a free press, integrity, customer first, corporate citizenship, teamwork, and constant improvement.

First Published December 9, 2009, 8:42 p.m.