Private Utilities and Public Resources: 19th-Century Capitalism and Local Governance in Northwest Ohio

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Northwest Ohio experienced explosive growth in the second half of the 19th century due to the importance of Toledo as a Great Lakes shipping entrepôt as well as the discovery of oil and natural gas deposits in the counties to the south of Toledo. From the 1870s to the early 1900s private ventures and local governments sparred over the competing roles of the capitalist system of free enterprise and municipal entities in providing utility service to residents – and control of the resulting monetary benefits. This paper will use recent archaeological research in Toledo and the smaller city of Findlay (approximately 45 miles to the south and an important secondary hub in the regional economy) to examine how the organization of space in and between urban centers and the materiality of residents’ everyday lives were shaped by this competition between public and private interests.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow