The Erie people were living around the mouth of the Maumee River when the region was first explored by Europeans. The French built a trading post nearby in 1680 and established a fortification on the site of the present-day city in 1700. The area passed to the British in 1763 following resolution of the French and Indian War. In turn the land was ceded in 1783 to the United States in the wake of the American Revolution and was subsequently incorporated (1787) into the Northwest Territory.
Native Americans opposed white settlement until defeated by United States forces under command of General Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, fought just south of the present city in 1794. During the War of 1812, the region was secured by the construction of the massive Fort Meigs on the Maumee River and the defeat of the British in the Battle of Lake Erie. In 1817 Port Lawrence was founded on the northwest side of the Maumee River. In 1833 Port Lawrence and Vistula, a village that had grown up to the north, were consolidated and named Toledo after the city in Spain. The reason for the name choice is obscure. One suggestion has been that it was selected because of the popularity at the time of American author Washington Irving, then writing about his life in Spain.
