page_title: Ironton, Ohio
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Ironton, Ohio / History
caption_attribution_description: Lawrence County Courthouse, Ironton, Ohio, USA. The gun is a 155 mm howitzer M1917 or M1918, either French-made or based on a French design.
context_page_description: Ironton is a city in and the county seat of Lawrence County, Ohio, United States. Located in southernmost Ohio along the Ohio River 15 miles northwest of Huntington, West Virginia, the city includes the Downtown Ironton Historic District.
  The population was 11,129 at the 2010 census. Ironton is part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 287,702. New definitions from February 28, 2013 placed the population at 363,000.
  Ironton is a contraction of "iron town." The city has a long history with the iron industry. It also had one of the first professional football teams.
context_section_description: Ironton was founded in 1849 by John Campbell, a prominent pig iron manufacturer in the area. He chose the location of Ironton because of its site along the Ohio River, which would allow for water transport of iron ore to markets downriver.
  Between 1850 and 1890, Ironton was one of the foremost producers of iron in the world. England, France, and Russia all purchased iron for warships from here due to the quality. Iron produced here was used for the USS Monitor, the United States' first ironclad ship.  More than ninety furnaces were operating at the peak of production in the late 19th century.
  The iron industry generated revenues that were invested in new industries, such as soap and nail production.  The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad was constructed through two states, carrying iron to Henry Ford's automaking plants in Michigan.  The city had a street railway, the Ironton Petersburg Street Railway, four daily newspapers, and a few foreign-language publications.  Ironton was also known for its accommodating attitude toward sin and vice associated with the mine and ironworkers.
caption: The Lawrence County, Ohio courthouse in Ironton, Ohio
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