Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio: A History of the World’s Greatest Iron Ore Receiving Port

Ashtabula Harbor was a sleepy Lake Erie port until 1873, when competing railroads finally connected it to the steel mills of Pittsburgh and Youngstown, Ohio. Within two decades, it had become the greatest iron ore receiving port on the Great Lakes. Much of the greatness was due to immigrant labor – Finns, Italians, Irish and many others found work, home and a better life in Ashtabula. The Harbor had a reputation for being the toughest port on the Great Lakes, thanks to dozens of saloons, brothels, fights, murders and bums. This is a story of innovation, hard work, transformations and revival, the story of the world’s greatest iron ore receiving port.