The Toledo Zoo began in 1900 with one large woodchuck in a box at Walbridge Park. After the organization of the Toledo Zoological Society from 1905 to 1910, the zoo began its steady growth, particularly after 1923 under the leadership of Percy C. Jones. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, an ambitious federal construction program provided several major zoo structures. Toledo, hit as hard as any city by the Great Depression, benefited greatly from federal New Deal programs, and federal and local projects transformed the city through construction of zoo buildings, two high school stadiums, nine elementary schools, park shelter houses, highways, and the Toledo Public Library.
