Ashtabula Harbor, a history
In the fall of 2016 I embarked upon the most ambitious writing project of my life, crafting a history of Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio.
Why? For more than two decades, The Harbor was the greatest iron ore receiving port in the world. More iron ore flowed through this port and to the mills of Youngstown, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pa., than through any other port. Immigrants built the railroads that linked the lake to the Ohio River and steel mills, and then worked on the docks unloading the vessels with shovels and wheelbarrows.
“Lively times” reported the Ashtabula Telegraph in July 1873, when the first ore boat arrived in The Harbor. Thousands more, each year progressively larger, would arrive at The Harbor. Brown Hoists replaced shovels, Huletts replaced Brown Hoists, and eventually the self-unloaders and demise of the domestic steel industry ended it all.
And before ore there were schooners and passengers steamers and a curse on ships built at Ashtabula Harbor. And during the ore boom there were saloons, murders, brothels, drownings and beachfront resorts. Lighthouses came and went, as did bridges and tugs and hundreds of Bridge Street businesses.
And they are all in this hefty volume, available for order from this site.
Comments (8)
Dan Clapp
February 24, 2022 at 9:09 pm
Hi Carl,
I’m in the process of finishing your book “Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio”. A few years ago, I ran across your video on the Ashtabula Carferry. My time growing up in Ashtabula in the 1950’s and 60’s supplied me with plenty of very fond memories. Between your book and the Carferry video, two very vivid memories come alive for me. One is the night the Carferry sank in Ashtabula Harbor. My Dad was the boiler operator on board that night. I remember the phone ringing and my mother having a conversation of great concern after which we were quickly off the Coast Guard station to wait for my dad’s return to us. He was fine. The other memory is a sound which I don’t ever expect to hear again in my life. We lived at Lake Shore Park. On summer nights my bedroom window would be open to let in cooler air. The sounds of the working harbor would come through the window as I tried to sleep. One sound in particular, which I have to believe was that of the trolleys of the ore bridges moving back and forth, is like no other sound I’ve ever heard since. It was a unique whining sound that seemed to lull me to sleep.
Thank you for all the work you have done to memorialize the wonderful town of Ashtabula. And for triggering memories that I will cherish forever.
I look forward to exploring more of your work.
Kind regards,
Dan Clapp
Maillot de football
August 14, 2023 at 4:38 pm
Maillot de football
[…]one of our guests a short while ago encouraged the following website[…]
Maillot de football
August 14, 2023 at 7:06 pm
Maillot de football
[…]we like to honor a lot of other web internet sites on the internet, even though they arent linked to us, by linking to them. Beneath are some webpages worth checking out[…]
Maillot de football
August 14, 2023 at 7:54 pm
Maillot de football
[…]The info mentioned within the write-up are some of the best available […]
Maillot de football
August 14, 2023 at 9:00 pm
Maillot de football
[…]here are some hyperlinks to sites that we link to for the reason that we believe they are really worth visiting[…]
Maillot de football
August 14, 2023 at 10:29 pm
Maillot de football
[…]very handful of websites that occur to be in depth beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly nicely worth checking out[…]
Maillot de football
August 15, 2023 at 5:02 pm
Maillot de football
[…]check below, are some completely unrelated websites to ours, on the other hand, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[…]
Maillot de football
August 15, 2023 at 9:54 pm
Maillot de football
[…]Sites of interest we have a link to[…]