Here in our area, we have been known for many different industries over the centuries. Some of the earliest industries we have been noted for are agriculture, woolen products, glass, pottery, oil and iron products, among others. Industries that thrived here have had their day of prominence in our history, such as the woolen industry, as an example.

There were so many woolen factories in Steubenville at one time, they called the city Jeans Town because of all the clothes being made here. This industry was big in the first half of the 19th century, and by the Civil War, only a few manufactures were left in operation. Few remember the impact of that industry today. Operations of this type come and go through time.

The big industry that certainly has defined us during the past century is unequivocally, steel. The steel industry impacted our area for more than 100 years and still defines us today. The history of iron- and steel-making in our valley, goes back far into the past. The first iron furnace west of the mountains was located on Kings Creek at the Peter Tarr Furnace. This operation was started sometime between 1790 and 1794 at its present location.

Iron products were needed on the frontier, such as cooking implements, wagon parts, farming tools, etc., and these objects were too heavy to transport from manufacturing centers of the east. Products made in the furnace were sold on site or sent to Wellsburg, then known as Charles Town, or to points as far as Pittsburgh, along the river. When the great furnace was tapped, molten iron would run onto the floor of the foundry, filling up the molds of products that were made there.

Local iron ore was quarried near the site and limestone was brought in to be added to the furnace. The fuel for the process was not coal, but charcoal. Charcoal was made by felling trees along the creek and burning them in little ovens of their own with very limited oxygen. This process created charcoal, and it is what the Peter Tarr Furnace used to melt the iron.

Large bellows also were part of the process. A wooden run was built from Kings Creek to the furnace to divert water to power the water wheels that, in turn, allowed the bellows to operate. This pumped air to the furnace, resulting in higher heat. The Peter Tarr furnace lasted until about 1840, when it closed due to better-quality iron products being available for better prices in our area.

Furnaces of our area after the Peter Tarr Furnace relied on coke to power their operations, and coke comes from coal.

In our area, there were quite a few underground coal mines operating from the mid-19th century, until the mid-20th century. It is hard to pinpoint an exact number operating, as some of these mines were very short-lived. Some were tiny operations, employing small numbers of folks, and when the coal ran out, the mines were abandoned. I have heard stories of more than a few places in Weirton alone, where deep mines were located and the entrances, sealed off. I am sure there are other places where there are entrances that are still accessible. It is never a good idea to go into these places, as they are extremely dangerous, and are often filled with water, gases or are unstable and could collapse on your head.

Lewis Truax, in his book about growing up in Weirton, talks about the few mines that operated on Weirton Heights about 1916 or so. He writes, “Can anyone remember the great coal mine that Sam and his son, Wilber Hudson, had there? (The Hudson land was located north of Pennsylvania Avenue, down 12th Street to below Thurman Avenue, and east, from there, to North 15th Street, encompassing both sides of Webster Avenue, 13th and 14th streets and south to Pennsylvania Avenue.) In 1916, he opened a large mine below what is now Van Horn’s Confectionery (today below Patty’s Restaurant.) My brothers, Walter and Jess, worked for him clearing the land from where Van Horn’s is at to where 15th Street is now. The miners used mules to haul the coal out of the mine and then they used a long cable and a winch with a large gas engine to pull the coal up to the tipple.”

Lewis goes on to say that there were always eight to 10 coal bins along the highway, and how he would watch the miners dump the coal cars by using a large wheel that would pass over the cars. The building that housed the great wheel, according to Truax, is where the car wash is today. The mine closed in about a years time, and the area was laid out in streets and home lots.

Lewis remembered that many folks who owned teams of horses in the winter months would haul coal. Most of all, homes at that time had coal furnaces and relied on 250 bushels of coal in the winter for heat. Lewis talks about visiting his brothers in a mine under what is today Helen Street and all of the surrounding areas. He said that good miners could mine 200 and 300 bushels a day. The farmers, with their horses, would come and haul the coal out and deliver it. A team could move 50 bushels to 60 bushels, per load. One could buy coal at the mines for 20 cents a bushel or 35 cents a bushel, delivered.

In Steubenville, coal has been mined since the late 1820s and there have been many mines in the north and south of the city, both small and large operations. Joseph Doyle, in his book about Steubenville and Jefferson County, describes many mines in the Steubenville area. In 1863, the La Belle Iron works sunk a mine at 175 feet. This mine covered an area estimated to be about 1,500 acres in downtown Steubenville, and under the river into West Virginia. The mine produced 5,000 bushels a day and provided coal to 110 coke ovens, which could produce 2,500 bushels, per diem.

South of this mine was the shaft of the Ohio and Pennsylvania Coal Co. In 1861, they dug a mine to 210 feet. This mine produced 600,000 bushels a year. In 1862, the Swift Iron Works opened a mine called the Boreland Shaft that was dug to 240 feet and produced 800,000 bushels a year.

In the north of Steubenville was the Steubenville Furnace and Iron Co. Its mine reached a depth of 96 feet, and brought up 2,000 bushels a day. About half a mile from that mine was the Jefferson Coal and Iron Co., with a shaft at 76 feet. Further north along the river, was the Alikanna and the Cable Shaft.

The most well-known mine in Steubenville was the High Shaft Mine. This mine was located at Market Street near where the Martin Luther King Recreation Center is now on a street called Liberty Street. The mine was established around 1857 as the Steubenville Coal and Mining Co., and reached a depth of 221 feet. By 1865, the mine was producing 7,000 bushels a day, and had more than 100 coke ovens operating at that time, producing 3,500 bushels of coke.

Doyle says that in 1871, another shaft was dug at Stoney Hollow, about a mile from the old shaft and that reached 187 feet. The mining operation continued into the 20th century, and in 1919, the output from the mine was 700 tons a day. The mine extended more than 2.75 miles under Steubenville and the surrounding areas. In 1947, it was estimated, as recorded in the Steubenville Sesquicentennial publication, that the mine could last for another 44 years, but it was not to be. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s website showing historic mines, the High Shaft was last recorded in 1953, ending a history of mining at that location that lasted nearly 100 years.

The history of industry is fascinating in our area. From iron, steel, woolen goods, glass, pottery and agriculture, our area contributed much to the national economy. Coal played an important role, from powering our steel mills to heating our homes and businesses. If you know where to look, these historic mines can still be seen on our landscape today.

(Zuros is executive director of Historic Fort Steuben)