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Toledo history on display at 51st annual Old West End Festival

For the first time, two homes open for historic tours will be in the middle of an active renovation at the Old West End Festival.

TOLEDO, Ohio — The 51st Annual Old West End Festival is happening this weekend and organizers want northwest Ohio to know that they have something for everyone.

For more than half a century, the owners of some of Toledo's oldest homes have opened their doors to the community.

And this year they are focusing on not only preserving history but revitalizing it as well.

Built in 1908, the Wolcott-Huston house near Scott High School will be one of five Old West End homes open for walking tours during this year's festival.

Along with showcasing history preservation, this year festival leaders wanted to show a home in the process of restoration.

As Dan Finkel, the festival's public relations chair said, these historic homes all have a story behind them and those stories are tied to Toledo's history.

"One thing you're going to find when you go through these homes is they all have a story. And it's a story connected to Toledo and it's a story connected to our past. How we got here and where we came from," Finkel said. "Those stories are maybe kept in books, but they're best told in the buildings in which they happened."

Along with the historic home tours, the festival is offering children's activities, a 50-50 raffle, Imagination Station and Toledo Museum of Art demonstrations, food trucks, a beer garden and live music all day long.

Credit: Jon Monk
The Wolcott-Huston House was built as a single family home in 1908, but was later turned into a duplex and then a nursing home.

Home tours cost $10 for a single tour or $20 for a full tour of all homes.

"It's a very walkable neighborhood. You're going to find yard sales and you're going to find friendly people on their porches that might be having parties of their own," Finkel said.

Finkel said the neighborhood continues to grow and thrive in an ongoing revitalization.

Thanks to a wide range of different homeowners who come into the area for a variety of reasons and learn to love calling this piece of Toledo history home.

"When you meet the community, that's when you fall in love," Finkel said. "We come for the houses, we stay for the people. That's the saying." Finkel said

Some pre-festival events are beginning Friday at 6 p.m., while the festival goes full swing Saturday at 10 a.m. with the King Wamba Carnival Parade.

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