Description: Caption reads: "New Railroad Bridge, North End, Steubenville, O." Steubenville's first bridge to cross the Ohio River was built between 1857 and 1865. The bridge connected the S&I (Steubenville and Indiana Railroad) and P&S (Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad). The new railroad line was operated by the Western Transportation Company as the Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad until 1868, when multiple companies joined together as the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway. All that remains of the original bridge is one pier which now braces the most current railroad bridge, viewable from State Route 7. The Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge, viewed best from LaBelle Avenue and Stanton Boulevard, a mammoth structure more than 1, 000 feet long, was installed as a unit September 29, 1936, to replace the old bridge. New piers were constructed, and the steel work was fabricated and welded on the spot. Traffic was delayed for only seven hours as the bridge was lifted into place by 10 powerful jacks. This massive metal riveted cantilever though truss bridge is sometimes called the Steubenville Railroad Bridge or the Norfolk Southern Railway Bridge. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F17_043_001
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio River; Railroad bridges--United States
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption on front reads: "Steubenville, O. Bridge No. 42. N.E. of bridge." The rest of the caption is illegible, but appears to be a designation number of some kind. Steubenville's first bridge to cross the Ohio River was built between 1857 and 1865. The bridge connected the S&I (Steubenville and Indiana Railroad) and P&S (Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad). The new railroad line was operated by the Western Transportation Company as the Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad until 1868, when multiple companies joined together as the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway. All that remains of the original bridge is one pier which now braces the most current railroad bridge, viewable from State Route 7. The Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge, viewed best from LaBelle Avenue and Stanton Boulevard, a mammoth structure more than 1, 000 feet long, was installed as a unit September 29, 1936, to replace the old bridge. New piers were constructed, and the steel work was fabricated and welded on the spot. Traffic was delayed for only seven hours as the bridge was lifted into place by 10 powerful jacks. This massive metal riveted cantilever though truss bridge is sometimes called the Steubenville Railroad Bridge or the Norfolk Southern Railway Bridge. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F06_052_001
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio River; Railroad bridges--United States
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Steubenville's first bridge to cross the Ohio River was built between 1857 and 1865. The bridge connected the S&I (Steubenville and Indiana Railroad) and P&S (Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad). The new railroad line was operated by the Western Transportation Company as the Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad until 1868, when multiple companies joined together as the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway. All that remains of the original bridge is one pier which now braces the most current railroad bridge, viewable from State Route 7. The Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge, viewed best from LaBelle Avenue and Stanton Boulevard, a mammoth structure more than 1,000 feet long, was installed as a unit September 29, 1936, to replace the old bridge. New piers were constructed, and the steel work was fabricated and welded on the spot. Traffic was delayed for only seven hours as the bridge was lifted into place by 10 powerful jacks. This massive metal riveted cantilever though truss bridge is sometimes called the Steubenville Railroad Bridge or the Norfolk Southern Railway Bridge. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F06_053_001
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio River; Railroad bridges--United States
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads "Opening in back porch of house, located at 408 East Sixth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, where slaves are said to have been stored awaiting shipment during slavery days. Photo by Writers' Projects. District #2. 11-12-36." The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and hiding places that helped runaway slaves escape to freedom in Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere outside of the United States. White and African-American "conductors" served as guides from place to place for runaway slaves. It remains unclear when the Underground Railroad began, but members of the Society of Friends, who were also known as the Quakers, were actively assisting runaway slaves as early as the 1780s. Some people living in Ohio began to help runaways by the 1810s. Several prominent abolitionists were from Ohio and they played a vital role in the Underground Railroad. Beginning in the late 1840s, Levi Coffin, a resident of Cincinnati, helped more than three thousand slaves escape from their masters and gain their freedom in Canada. Coffin's work caused his fellow abolitionists to nickname him the "president of the Underground Railroad." In Ripley, Presbyterian minister John Rankin served as a conductor and opened his home to African Americans seeking freedom. His home stood on a three hundred-foot high hill that overlooked the Ohio River. Rankin would signal runaway slaves in Kentucky with a lantern and let them know when it was safe for them to cross the Ohio River. He provided the runaways with shelter and kept them hidden until it was safe to travel further north. John Parker, Rankin's neighbor, brought hundreds of runaway slaves across the Ohio River in a boat. These men and many other people risked their lives to assist African Americans in their flight to freedom. Once they arrived in Ohio, some runaway slaves who decided to remain in the state. They usually settled in neighborhoods with other African Americans. Many runaway slaves continued on to Canada. At least eight cities, including Ashtabula, Painesville, Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo, Huron, Lorain, and Conneaut, along Lake Erie served as starting points to transport the former slaves to freedom in Canada. Historian Wilbur Siebert believes approximately three thousand miles of Underground Railroad trails existed in Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F05_020_001
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Cincinnati (Ohio)--History; Underground Railroad--Ohio
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: This scene depicts an accident at Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company's Brier Hill railroad yard. Railroad cars and steel mills are pictured. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B01F03_005
Subjects: Railroad cars; Railroad cars--United States; Railroad cars--History; Railroad switches; Railroad yards; Steel industry and trade-- Accidents; Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company-- Brier Hill works
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads "Number 408 East Sixth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio. A slave station of the Underground Railway System, reputed to be 115 years old. Photo by Writers' Projects. District #12." The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and hiding places that helped runaway slaves escape to freedom in Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere outside of the United States. White and African-American "conductors" served as guides from place to place for runaway slaves. It remains unclear when the Underground Railroad began, but members of the Society of Friends, who were also known as the Quakers, were actively assisting runaway slaves as early as the 1780s. Some people living in Ohio began to help runaways by the 1810s. Several prominent abolitionists were from Ohio and they played a vital role in the Underground Railroad. Beginning in the late 1840s, Levi Coffin, a resident of Cincinnati, helped more than three thousand slaves escape from their masters and gain their freedom in Canada. Coffin's work caused his fellow abolitionists to nickname him the "president of the Underground Railroad." In Ripley, Presbyterian minister John Rankin served as a conductor and opened his home to African Americans seeking freedom. His home stood on a three hundred-foot high hill that overlooked the Ohio River. Rankin would signal runaway slaves in Kentucky with a lantern and let them know when it was safe for them to cross the Ohio River. He provided the runaways with shelter and kept them hidden until it was safe to travel further north. John Parker, Rankin's neighbor, brought hundreds of runaway slaves across the Ohio River in a boat. These men and many other people risked their lives to assist African Americans in their flight to freedom. Once they arrived in Ohio, some runaway slaves who decided to remain in the state. They usually settled in neighborhoods with other African Americans. Many runaway slaves continued on to Canada. At least eight cities, including Ashtabula, Painesville, Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo, Huron, Lorain, and Conneaut, along Lake Erie served as starting points to transport the former slaves to freedom in Canada. Historian Wilbur Siebert believes approximately three thousand miles of Underground Railroad trails existed in Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F04_001_001
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Cincinnati (Ohio)--History; Underground Railroad--Ohio
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: 1877 engineering drawing of the Ashtabula Bridge, built by the Cleveland and Erie Railroad Company in 1863. This drawing shows the bridge, designed by Amasa Stone, that was involved with the infamous Ashtabula Train Disaster of 1876. On December 29, 1876, a Howe truss bridge near Ashtabula, Ohio, collapsed while a train with three passenger cars was crossing it. The train and its passengers plunged sixty feet into a ravine and creek, and the lamps and stoves used to light and heat the train cars quickly ignited the wreckage. Ninety-two people died either in the accident or as a result of their injuries, and more than sixty of the surviving passengers were injured. Railroad accidents were commonplace during the late nineteenth century, due in part to tracks built quickly and cheaply by companies hoping to make tremendous profits. Railroad companies built thousands of miles of track in Ohio during the late nineteenth century, providing more opportunity for accidents to occur. Even after the Ashtabula Bridge collapse, the Howe truss bridge remained popular, primarily due to its relatively cheap cost. Still, railroad companies began to feel pressure from their customers to provide a safer means of travel. By 1888, more than two thousand iron bridges existed in Ohio. The state had fewer than nine hundred wooden bridges still in use at this time. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: OVS4265_ashtabulabridge
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio; Railroads--Buildings and structures; Ohio Economy--Architecture and Engineering; Railroad accidents;
Places: Ashtabula (Ohio); Ashtabula County (Ohio);
 

Description: This appears to be an office for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad operated freight and passenger services. The railroad that was once called the Louisville and Nashville Railroad changed its name to CSX Transportation. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F08_014_001
Subjects: Louisville and Nashville Railroad; Typewriters; Offices
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Map of Underground Railroad stations, showing locations of stations around Ohio as well as major routes that fugitive slaves took on their escape to freedom. From "Pathways of Progress, A Short History of Ohio" by David Bowman, 1943. The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and hiding places that helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom in Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere outside of the United States. Reportedly, people living in Ohio began to help those seeking their freedom as early as the 1810s, and many prominent abolitionists from Ohio played a vital role in the Underground Railroad. Historian Wilbur Siebert believes approximately 3,000 miles of Underground Railroad trails existed in Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04138
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Ohio; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Fugitive slaves--Ohio--History
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Photograph showing Thomas L. Gray standing in front of his house that was once used as a station on the Underground Railroad. The handwritten caption at the bottom reads: "Thomas L. Gray and His House at Deavertown, Morgan County, Ohio, a station on the Underground Railroad." Born in 1815, Gray earned his living as a harness maker in Deavertown. Besides his economic pursuits, Gray was also active as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. It is believed that Gray helped as many as 500 fugitive slaves in gaining their freedom. His home served as a safe house for former slaves who had crossed the Ohio River between Marietta and Portsmouth. Upon leaving Gray's home, most fugitives then made their way to Zanesville. Gray remained an active conductor on the Underground Railroad until slavery's demise with the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865. During the American Civil War, Gray also warned his neighbors of General John Hunt Morgan's approach, giving his neighbors time to hide their horses and valuables. Gray died in 1899. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC1338_007_001
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Ohio; Abolitionists; African Americans--History; Houses; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century;
Places: Deavertown (Ohio); Morgan County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a house that was used as station on the Underground Railroad. The description on the back of the photograph reads: "One of the Winder Houses north of North Lewisburg where slaves were harbored [sic]." The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and hiding places that helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom in the northern United States or across the border in Canada. Thomas Winder, a Quaker, was an operator who helped escaped slaves in the North Lewisburg, Ohio, area along with other members of his family. Quakers were strongly opposed to slavery and offered help to slaves seeking their freedom as early as the late 1700s. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC1338_001_001
Subjects: Underground Railroad; Abolitionists; African Americans--History; Slavery; Houses; Underground Railroad--Pennsylvania
Places: North Lewisburg (Ohio); Champaign County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a house that was once used as a "station" on the Underground Railroad. The description on the back of the photograph reads: "The Alexander Doty home, one of the stations on the Underground Railroad and harbor of refuge for Udney Hyde." The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and hiding places that helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom in the northern United States or over the border to Canada. Udney Hyde was a well-known operator on the Underground Railroad in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. While aiding escaped slave Addison White, Hyde went into hiding from federal marshals, staying for a time at this home. The home has since been torn down. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC1338_002_001
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Ohio; Abolition; Abolitionists; African Americans--History; Houses; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century
Places: Mechanicsburg (Ohio); Champaign County (Ohio)