Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio:
A History of the World’s Greatest Iron Ore Receiving Port
Feather Cottage Media, 2017
Available from amazon.com (both print and Kindle editions), or support small business at Bridge Street Artworks, 1009 Bridge St., Ashtabula, Ohio
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, no port on the Great Lakes handled as much iron ore as what Ashtabula, Ohio’s, did. This book looks at the development of the port from a sand-bar blocked river to a shipping giant controlled by two railroads and built by the labor of Finnish, Italian and other immigrants. Ashtabula Harbor had the reputation of being one of the roughest ports in the world, and the book shares the stories of saloons, brothels, fights, murders and mutilating injuries and deaths in the industrial machinery. Illustrated with historical photographs from several collections, including that of the Ashtabula Maritime and Surface Transportation Museum. Includes lighthouse and keeper history, as well as the Hulett unloaders.
Amazon reader review:
I was born in Ashtabula, Ohio and my mother grew up in the Harbor and she told me of the Harbor in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Mr. Feather’s book about the History of the Ashtabula Harbor is a must have book of any person who has ties to Ashtabula County, Ohio. He has done an excellent job of telling the story of the Heart of Ashtabula. He includes stories of the docks, the Carferry Ashtabula which my uncle Kaarlo E. Wuori served on. My mother being of Finnish Ancestry and knowing many Italians in town, it increases the history and stories of my home town.
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