Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Question: In the 1830s, a border standoff with Ohio known as the Toledo War ended with Michigan giving up its claim to Toledo. What did Michigan get in return?

Answer: The western Upper Peninsula. Michigan ceded the 468-square-mile Toledo Strip to Ohio and took roughly 9,000 square miles of the western U.P. in exchange, along with the statehood Congress had been holding up. Michigan entered the Union as the 26th state on Jan. 26, 1837. The land looked like a consolation prize at the time; the copper, iron, and timber found there made it anything but.