Description: John Campbell, of pig iron fame, established the city of Ironton and subsequently brought an economic boom to the area. He also aided in the escape of slaves to Canada on the Underground Railroad. Scorching marks behind the front door of the residence are alleged to be the product of a horrific accident. A Campbell daughter died of burn injury after a chandelier fell. In mourning, another daughter postponed her marriage for a year. From 1935 to 1942, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) through its Federal Writers' Project created The American Guide Series, which included forty-eight state guides, as well as supplemental guides for large cities, etc. The state guides are divided into three sections. In the first section are general essays about the state on things such as agriculture, culture, history, industry, religion, etc. The second section contains an overview of the various cities and towns around the state, as well as enumerating various points of interest. The last section is dedicated to various tours around the state. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F01_082
Subjects: Ironton; Underground Railroad; Book Illustration; Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Works Progress Administration; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ironton Ohio; Ohio River; Lawrence County
 

Description: These photographs of the Vesuvius Iron Furnace near Ironton, Ohio were taken around 1965. Named after the Mt. Vesuvius volcano in Italy, the furnace was built in 1833 to supply iron to steel manufacturers in northern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other parts of the nation. It produced 3,000 tons of pig iron, made from iron ore and limestone, per year. The supply of iron ore diminished by the end of the nineteenth century and the furnace was abandoned. The furnace was one 46 charcoal iron furnaces located in the Hanging Rock Iron Region of southern Ohio. Vesuvius Iron Furnace is located north of Ironton, Ohio in the Wayne National Forest. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The slides measure 2.75" x 2.75" (6.99 x 6.99 cm). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3025_3643547_001
Subjects: Geography and Natural Resources; Furnaces; Iron industry; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows downtown Ironton, Ohio, at 3rd and Center Streets during the 1937 Ohio River flood, also referred to as the Great Flood. Visible business signs include S.S. Kresge Co. 5-10-25 store, Peoples Credit Clothing, and Gallaker Drugs. In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F04_003_012_003
Subjects: Floods; Natural Disasters; Ohio River; Storefronts; Ohio Federal Writers' Project;
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows the corner of Park Avenue and 2nd Street in Ironton, Ohio, featuring signs for state routes 75 and 141, Jackson 45 miles and Gallipolis 46 miles. Signs in the window of the building on the corner advertise Grimes Realty Co. and Real Estate and Insurance, in addition to a drug store and some type of aluminum product retailer. In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F04_003_012_011
Subjects: Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Stores and shops; Works Progress Administration
Places: Ironton, Ohio; Lawrence County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows part of downtown Ironton, Ohio, during the 1937 Ohio River flood, also referred to as the Great Flood. In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F04_003_012_015
Subjects: Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Downtowns; Works Progress Administration
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio)
 

Description: Two men in a small boat in front of the remains of Layne's Tailor Shop in Ironton. The greatest volume of water ever known to pass along Ohio's southern shores flooded all Ohio River communities during the last two weeks of January 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, 1 million were left homeless, with 385 dead and property losses reaching $500 million, further worsened by the fact that it occurred during the Great Depression and just a few years after the Dust Bowl. Crests were 20 to 28 feet above flood stage and 4 to 9 feet above previous records. Six to 12 inches of rain fell in Ohio during January 13-25, 1937, totals never before or since experienced over such a large area of Ohio. January 1937 remains as the wettest month ever recorded in Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F04_003_012_017
Subjects: Flood; Industry; Works Progress Administration;
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated 1937, this photograph shows the stoplight at Center and 4th Streets in Ironton, Ohio, during the 1937 Ohio River flood. A note on the photograph reads “'F.W. Woolworth's Co. 5 and 10 cent store' 'Florsheim Shoes' 'Arch Preserver Shoe' 'Klein's Lunch, Soda' Along the right: 'Edelson Clothing'." In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F04_003_012_018
Subjects: Floods; Natural Disasters; Ohio River; Storefronts
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photographic reproduction of a portrait of Asbury Parker (b. 1830?). He was a fugitive slave who crossed into Ohio at Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio, on his way to freedom in Canada. He is shown here wearing the slave clothes he escaped in. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03192
Subjects: Ironton (Ohio); Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Multicultural Ohio--African American Ohioans
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio)
 

Description: Two photographs show Lake Vesuvius near Ironton, Ohio. The first photograph was taken in winter, the second in the fall. Lake Vesuvius was named after the iron furnace located nearby. The lake was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The slides measure 2.75" x 2.75" (6.99 x 6.99 cm). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3026_3645061_001
Subjects: Geography and Natural Resources; Climate and weather; Snow; Lakes & ponds
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image shows the front facade of the Lawrence County Courthouse. This Neoclassical building sits at the top of the hill near downtown Ironton and has a Ionic pilasters, pedimented doors and a dome. During the 19th century, Lawrence County was the center of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, which produced some of the world's best iron. In honor of this, a stone replica of an iron furnace sits on the courthouse grounds. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F04_259
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; pilasters; pediments; Neoclassical
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio); 1 Veterans Square
 

Description: This image shows the rear facade of the Lawrence County Courthouse. This Neoclassical building sits at the top of the hill near downtown Ironton and has a Ionic pilasters, pedimented doors and a dome. During the 19th century, Lawrence County was the center of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, which produced some of the world's best iron. In honor of this, a stone replica of an iron furnace sits on the courthouse grounds. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F04_261
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; pilasters; pediments; Neoclassical
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio); 1 Veterans Square
 

Description: This image shows the rear facade of the Lawrence County Courthouse. This Neoclassical building sits at the top of the hill near downtown Ironton and has a Ionic pilasters, pedimented doors and a dome. During the 19th century, Lawrence County was the center of the Hanging Rock Iron Region, which produced some of the world's best iron. In honor of this, a stone replica of an iron furnace sits on the courthouse grounds. Also depicted is a Statue of Liberty which was dedicated in 1951. It was one statue in a series established by the Boy Scouts of America in a "Crusade to Strengthen Liberty." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F04_260
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; Statues--Ohio; pilasters; pediments; Neoclassical
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio); 1 Veterans Square