Toledo /toLIdou/ is a city located on the Yaquina River and along U.S. Route 20 in Lincoln County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The population was 3,546 at the 2020 census.
History
European-American settlement in Toledo began in 1866, when John Graham, his son Joseph, and William Mackey, claimed land made available by the Homestead Act of 1862. The site was called "Graham's Landing" until a post office was established two years later. The city incorporated in 1893 and reincorporated in 1905. The county seat moved from Toledo to Newport in 1953. C. D. Johnson and associates formed a subsidiary, Pacific Spruce Corporation, which in 1920 bought the mill and related equipment, which by 1922 processed logs shipped to Toledo by rail and logs floated down the Yaquina River from nearby Lincoln County Logging camps. Georgia-Pacific acquired the operation in 1952 and turned it into a pulp mill by 1957. A book was written about this called The Toledo Incident of 1925.
Between 1927 and 1944, the Creamery Package Manufacturing Company, based in Chicago, operated a substantial sawmill and stock cooperage in Toledo. This mill was dedicated to producing butter tub stock, churning out up to two million spruce butter tubs annually. The butter was shipped in 63 pound tubs as knockdown kits via rail to three Midwestern factories for regional assembly and distribution.
The city was a 2009 All-America City Award finalist.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Toledo had a population of 3,546. The median age was 38.5 years. 23.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.3 males age 18 and over.
There were 1,369 households in Toledo, of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 43.2% were married-couple households, 17.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 2,980 || 84.0%
|-
| Black or African American || 8 || 0.2%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 136 || 3.8%
|-
| Asian || 18 || 0.5%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0%
|-
| Some other race || 60 || 1.7%
|-
| Two or more races || 344 || 9.7%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 238 || 6.7%
|}
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 3,465 people, 1,331 households, and 907 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,474 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 89.9% White, 0.6% African American, 3.8% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.7% of the population.
There were 1,331 households, of which 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.5% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.9% were non-families. 22.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.02.
The median age in the city was 37.6 years. 24.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.2% were from 25 to 44; 28.5% were from 45 to 64; and 11.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.
2000 census
As of the census
Government
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="3" |City Council members
|-
!Position
!Name
!Term
|-
|Mayor
|Rodney Cross
|Jan./2025 - Jan./2027
|-
|Seat 1
|Tracy Mix
|Jan./2025 - Jan./2029
|-
|Seat 2
|vacant
|
|-
|Seat 3
|Jackie Kauffman
|Jan./2025 - Jan./2029
|-
|Seat 4
|Frank Silvia
|Jan./2023 - Jan./2027
|-
|Seat 5
|Andrew Keating
|Jan./2025 - Jan./2029
|-
|Seat 6
|Jackie Burns
|Jan./2023 - Jan./2027
|}
Toledo mayor Rodney Cross is also a volunteer football coach at Toledo High School. In October 2025, mayor Cross was criminally charged with harassment for slapping a student during a conversation with the student at the school's gym. which was completed from Yaquina City through Toledo to Corvallis in 1885. This railroad later linked the city to Albany in 1887, with a 4000 foot long bridge across the Willamette River, in the Willamette Valley. The city is also served by the port authority (the Port of Toledo), and Toledo State Airport.
The area's railroad history is preserved and celebrated at the Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historical Society (YPRHS) in Toledo. Two local and historic Georgia-Pacific locomotives are on display at the museum. One locomotive is the "One Spot", a 2-8-2 steamer built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1922. This locomotive spent its entire working career within Lincoln County, from 1922 to 1959. The other locomotive at the museum is a GE 50 ton diesel, built in 1951 for the C.D. Johnson Lumber Co as their No. 8, which was later purchased by Georgia-Pacific. It was donated in 2016 to YPRHS. The Museum also has a restored Southern Pacific 1923 Railway Post Office / Baggage car.
First brick depot in Oregon
On 3 August 1893, Toledo became the first city to have a railroad depot made out of brick in Oregon. The reason to build a depot had to do with a dispute of a twenty-foot strip of land. The city of Toledo, at the time, had no depot provided to the citizens. However, the citizens of Toledo made a demand on the railroad commissioners asking that the Oregon Pacific be forced to provide reasonable accommodations there. The people of Toledo and Oregon Pacific agreed to a contract: the people would pay $250 in money and to furnish an equal amount of labor on the building. Oregon Pacific, in return, agreed to erect within sixty days from the date of the contract a brick depot building at Toledo of the size and dimensions as before agreed upon at 20 feet by 60 feet. The depot was later expanded and stuccoed by Southern Pacific Railroad in 1922-1923. The depot was torn down in 1961 to make way for street improvements.