The Grand State of Ohio, Part 1

Questions: Why would pioneer Ohioans call their State, "The Gateway State?"  And why would they name the capital city they created in the center of the state in the middle of virgin forests, "Columbus?"  Answers: In the mid-1800s, these statesmen were one-month's journey by horseback from the East coast.  They saw their new state certainly as the Gateway to the western part of America, stretching 2,000 miles west of Ohio to the coast.   "And, since the far traversed of virgin forests and that of virgin seas have somewhat in common, why not call their new capital "Columbus?"  (Ohio, The Gateway State,  Melville Chater, National Geographic Magazine, May, 1932, p. 525).

*This long 68-page article lays out a detailed history and geography of the state since pioneer times.  We get a bonus: the history of travel on the Ohio River, equally as interesting.  With no suitable roads, the state, and indeed, the country was settled using the rivers as highways, in large part.  "In that steamless era the Ohio was a one-way river.  At its head (in Pennsylvania) the pioneer bought lumber, built an ark, and having floated his family downstream, broke up the craft into the makings of a cabin. Soon, there being no shops, came the Salesboat - a red flag indicating groceries, a yellow flag indicating dry goods - at the sound of whose conch-shell horn buckskin-clad planters or their sunbonnetted wives would hoist the stop-signal to barter tobacco, dried venison, or furs for store goods" (p. 547).

With the advent of the steamboat in 1811, traffic on the Ohio River was now two-way (downstream and upstream).  Mr. Chater, in 1932, predicted that since that there were plenty of roads and highways for cars and trucks, the steamboat would soon fade into oblivion.  However, in our time, there are still steamboats on the river for entertainment and travel.

Steamboat, paddlewheeler, the Belle of Louisville.  Last fall our church group had a fine outing on the Ohio River.  Every year during Kentucky Derby week, the first weekend in May, the Belle of Louisville races the steamboat from Cincinnati, Ohio, the Delta Queen.  The Delta Queen is much larger and faster and usually wins the races but it takes a shorter distance for the Belle to turn around and she wins once in a while!  Nobody really cares who wins and can claim the 'antlers' trophy for their boat for another year - we just have fun!

FYI:  The Ohio River is widest at the city of Louisville, Kentucky, at one mile width.  I would have guessed it would be widest at its entrance into the mighty Mississippi River.

In addition to the Ohio and other rivers in the state, Ohio developed a system of connecting canals, 800 miles of them.  There was not only transporting of products in the canals, there was passenger travel as well.  "For over 30 years Ohio's canals constituted the chief factor in developing her toward a rank among the Union's foremost States" (p. 561).  Then in 1839 the railroads started building their transcontinental lines which effectively ended the canal traffic.  Isolated parts of those canals survive today.  I have crossed a few of them.  Some are used for recreation; some are Historic Landmarks.

This Ohio River forms the southern boundary of the state as well as the eastern boundary clear to the city of East Liverpool, where it turns east into Pennsylvania.  "As a ceramics producer, Ohio takes first rank in the United States, its 490 plants making tableware, art, tile, brick, electrical porcelain, sanitary ware, and other clay products . . . East Liverpool now has upward of 300 kilns" ( photo caption, p. 573).

Ohio was in 1932 and still remains a vast industrial state.  Ranking 35th in land area, in 1932, Ohio ranked 4th in population in America.  Ohio is ideally situated for iron and steel production.  Youngstown, Ohio, is situated near the eastern border of the state.  The city was actually named after a real person named John Young, who settled there in 1797.  Six years later Daniel Eaton built Ohio's first blast furnace.  This was the first of what would become a major industry for the state, production of iron and steel.  In 1932, Ohio produced 1/8th of all steel made in the United States.  At that time one of the steel mills covered an area three miles by 3/4 of a mile in area and employed 15,000 workers. "One-half of its homes are occupant-owned" (p. 550).

As a freshman at the University of Dayton, Ohio, in 1962, I visited a steel mill with my colleagues in the American Chemical Society.  It was awesome. At night, everything was dark, lit only by the furnaces and immense vats of liquid steel transported from overhead and dumped into molds.  The weather was cold but we were warmed by this molten steel.  Awesome and unforgettable!

Of the cities in Ohio, I am most familiar with Dayton, having lived there for two years, and Cincinnati, visiting there many times, beginning when I was in the sixth grade.  I've also visited Toledo, Columbus, and Cleveland, and traveled the interstate highways between these cities.  The next blog entry will give a few facts about these cities and perhaps several photos.

*My apologies for the delay in writing about "Ohio."  The weather here in Lexington, Kentucky has been so warm and clear for the past three days, I chose to spend most of the time outside in the yard, cleaning up weeds and dead branches, planting daisies and mulching. This article is long - 68 pages - too long to sit down in an hour and digest!