Remarkable Ohio

Results for: tire-industry
Jefferson Avenue
Toledo

, OH

This pioneer village, which was united with its downriver rival, Vistula, to be incorporated as Toledo in 1837, was platted by Cincinnati businessmen in 1817. The “Panic” of 1819 caused the enterprise to default. The village was re-platted in 1832. A two-story log warehouse along Swan Creek was the first important structure. The village was named for Captain James Lawrence, War of 1812 naval hero.

407 S 4th Street
Steubenville

, OH

Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. He immigrated to Allegheny City Pennsylvania with his family when he was 13. While operating the telegraphs for the Pennsylvania Railroad, Carnegie perceived the great need for steel in the railroad industry. With this insight, he founded the Carnegie Steel Corporation which operated for 35 years before he sold it to J.P. Morgan in 1901. Andrew Carnegie wrote the article, “Wealth” in 1889 in which he said that a responsible person of wealth should help his fellow man. Carnegie’s philanthropy provided 2,509 libraries throughout the world. Carnegie was already familiar with the city when he wrote a letter to offer funds to build the Steubenville library on June 30, 1899.(Continued on other side)

260 W Federal Street
Youngstown

, OH

The Warner Brothers – Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack – were members of a Jewish immigrant family from Poland that settled in Youngstown in the mid-1890s. The brothers attended local schools and worked in their father’s shoe repair shop and meat market before entering the motion picture business. They purchased a projector and opened the first of several theaters in the Mahoning Valley in 1905. The brothers left Youngstown for New York and Hollywood as their company developed into an industry leader. Warner Brothers Pictures, founded in 1923, released Don Juan in 1926, the first “talking picture” using Vitaphone technology. On May 14, 1931, the family gathered in Youngstown to dedicate a luxurious new Warner Theater to the people of the city where it all started, and to memorialize Sam, who died in 1927.

156 E. High Street
St. Marys

, OH

Established in 1823, the pioneer settlement of St. Marys became a thriving 19th century milling center following completion of the Miami & Erie Canal in 1845. The Reservoir Mill, built by Scott, Linzee & Co. in 1847, led this period of industrial growth as the first mill in St. Marys powered by the canal’s water. Robert B. Gordon purchased it in 1855 and in 1896 the mill passed to his son, Robert B. Gordon Jr., who formed the firm Gordon, Hauss & Folk. Producing “Purity” and “Pride of St. Marys” flour, Gordon, Hauss & Folk owned the mill until 1955. The mill was used as a grain elevator until 1972, then as a storage facility for the next 40 years. (Continued on other side)

Firestone Park, 338 E Park Avenue
Columbiana

, OH

Inventor, industrialist, and philanthropist, Harvey Samuel Firestone (1868-1938) was born on a nearby farm in 1868 and attended school in Columbiana. He founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in 1900 and soon after developed a method for mass-producing tires for the infant automobile industry. Continuing innovation and steady contracts with large automakers led to the company’s lasting success. Firestone Park is his lasting legacy to Columbiana. The Firestone family’s monument is located in nearby Columbiana Cemetery.

8115 High St
Garrettsville

, OH

Evidence abounds that Garrettsville was at the center of the maple industry in Ohio from the 1880s into the twentieth century. In 1881, Garrettsville held the first ever-professional association of maple syrup/sugar producers, a tradition that continued annually into the early 1900s. The one square mile of Garrettsville was home to several maple syrup canneries in the 1880s and to syrup evaporator manufacturers. It was also the home to Lifesavers candy, originally a maple sugar based company. In 1893, Garrettsville sent a contingent of maple syrup and sugar producers to the Columbian Exhibition at the Worlds Fair in Chicago. In that year, a Garrettsville area farmer was awarded the first place medal for the best maple sugar in the world.

Old Furnace Road in Mill Creek Metro Park
Youngstown

, OH

Pioneer Pavilion, one of the oldest structures in Youngstown, is a rare surviving example of early nineteenth-century industry. James Heaton constructed this sandstone building in 1821 as a mill for carding and fulling wool. A millrace from Mill Creek and a waterwheel on the west side supplied the power. In the 1830s and 1840s, the woolen mill was converted to a storage facility for the nearby Mill Creek Furnace and later served as a cattle barn. In 1891, Youngstown attorney Volney Rogers purchased the property for Mill Creek Park, renovating the building in 1893 as a dining and dancing facility, and naming it Pioneer Pavilion. Generations of area residents spanning three centuries have celebrated social events in this historic landmark.

1636 N. Main Street
Urbana

, OH

Raised in an Ohio orphanage, Warren G. Grimes (1898-1975) ran away after finishing the ninth grade and at age 16 went to work for the Ford Motor Company in Detroit. He later became a partner in an electrical business where he was instrumental in designing and developing the first lights for the Ford Tri-Motor airplane. In 1930 Grimes moved to Urbana and founded a small lighting fixture plant, Grimes Manufacturing. The inventor of the familiar red, green, and white navigation lights found on the wing tips and tails of aircraft, Grimes, known as the “Father of the Aircraft Lighting Industry,” also developed other aircraft fixtures, including landing, instrumental, and interior lights. Every American-made airplane flown during World War II was equipped with Grimes lights. Grimes served as mayor of Urbana and chairman of the State of Ohio Aviation Board.