Locally known as Little Syria, the area has changed from a majority Arab American neighborhood to a more diverse community as many of the Middle Eastern immigrants have moved to the suburbs. Cheaib is one of the few Arabs who still lives in the Old North End Neighborhood. PHOTO: Courtesy of the Toledo Blade.

TOLEDO — From the late 1800s to the early 1960s, the homes of Toledo’s historic Old North End neighborhood were owned by Arab immigrants from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. Today, the once thriving Arab American enclave is nearly empty of immigrants from the Middle East. 

And as Arab immigrants moved out of the neighborhood to the suburbs, so did the religious institutions, including two Syrian churches and a mosque. 

The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo was one of the first mosques in that city. It’s now located in Perrysburg, Ohio. 

The neighborhood no longer has ethnic grocery stores, markets or restaurants, either. The mosque Masjid of Al Islam is all that remains. 

“There is literally nothing except for this mosque,” said Hasan Dudar, a web editor at the Toledo Blade. “Aside from this mosque and these few families, there is very little, nothing.” 

Dudar and Toledo Blade photojournalist Katie Rausch co-produced the documentary “The Last of Little Syria.”

They worked on the documentary for about a year. It focuses on preserving the history and culture of “Little Syria” and is important to people who treasure the memories they made living there.  

Initially, Dudar considered writing something about the neighborhood. He hadn’t planned on producing a documentary.

“I wanted to write something about it and I didn’t really know the extent it would be,” he said. Eventually, the project grew into something greater.

 Dudar, who is half Lebanese and half Palestinian,  was curious about the neighborhood’s history as both a journalist and an Arab American. 

Instead of an article or a five minute interview on camera, Dudar and Rausch decided to take the project in a different direction.

“I really began to love the north end and wanted to spend more time there,” he said. 

Knowing he was looking into the history of the Old North End neighborhood, his mother recommended that he interview Hassan Cheaib, one of the  last Arab Americans still living there. 

The 81-year-old shopkeeper from Lebanon refuses to leave. To him, it’s home, his “New Lebanon”, even though most of his friends and family have left for the suburbs, leaving behind blocks struggling against blight and crime.

Cheaib, a father of six, immigrated to the United States in 1961 and first settled in the historic Arab neighborhood around Dix Avenue in Dearborn. He came as a Greco-Roman wrestler and competed in the United States until he injured his shoulder and had to give up the sport. A year later, he moved to Toledo, where he settled in Little Syria.

He started off renting an apartment and washing dishes at a local bar. Over time, he began bringing his family from overseas and settling them with him in Little Syria. His nephew, Khouder Tawil, calls him the “original immigrant” and his sister, Leila Tawil, calls him the “family tree.”

“A lot of people who grew up there were really happy to see the north end live on through this documentary and the life of Hassan Cheaib,” Dudar said. “A lot of people connected with Hassan and this story.” 

Much of Cheaib’s family has remained in Toledo, but he also has relatives living as near as Dearborn and as far as Florida. He and his wife, Khadije, own and operate a convenience store in the Old North End, just two blocks from their home. Cheaib spends most of his day at the store.

Cheaib is well known in the community and has contributed immensely to it.

“I am very proud to know this man and to call him my uncle,” said Moose Scheib, an Arab American from Detroit. “Toledo is a better place because of Ammo Hassan and people like him.”

Many former residents of the neighborhood were interviewed in the documentary. 

Manira Saide-Sallock, a former North Toledo resident said it is very sad to see the neighborhood today. 

“The old timers have passed on and people have moved away,” she said. “And most of them passed on before the kids moved away. It is very different. It is not like it used to be. It never will be.” 

Another resident, Toufic Awada, 81, has lived in he neighborhood for 20 years. He moved into the neighborhood after fleeing war-torn Lebanon.  

“The situation in Lebanon wasn’t good with all the wars and attacks, so we fled. And maybe I’ll die here too,” he said. 

Cheaib’s brother, Mohammed, 70, still lives in the north end neighborhood and has been there for about 45 years. 

In the video, he recalls the area being filled with Greeks, Italians and Lebanese. 

“My sister was living in the house facing mine,” he said. “My niece’s house was right next to hers, too. And Jomaa next to her. And my mother—right over there. All the neighbors were close by each other. There was nothing nicer than it. They wouldn’t have breakfast without each other.”

Today, a majority of the neighborhoods residents are African Americans, White and Hispanic.

Dudar said people have visited Cheaib at his store after watching the documentary 

“They visit him and some people tell him they like his story and they want to swing by and say hello,” Dudar said. “For a lot of visitors, it is about rediscovering that part of Toledo.” 

To view the documentary visit www.littlesyriatoledo.com.