In 1803 the Heaton brothers, Daniel and James (later changed to Eaton) came to an area later known as Yellow Creek with the intentions of building a furnace. They recognized all the ingredients to make iron in the area and the water from streams could provide the blast. They built this furnace right below Lake Hamilton about one and a quarter miles from the Mahonning River. It started operation sometime around 1803-1804. The furnace, named Hopewell produced around 2-3 tons of metal each day. In 1807 the brothers decided to sell Hopewell Furnace to John Struthers, Robert Montgomery and David Clendenin. John Struthers’s sixth child purchased his fathers land in 1865 and laid out the village. A post office and two railroads for the coal mines were brought to town, he also partnered with other businessmen and brought a hotel and started the Anna furnace. This brought jobs and with that supported work for the community. Thomas Roberts was elected the first mayor of Struthers when it broke off from Poland Township and became a village in 1902.
The first public school in Struthers was a one-room school house, Elm Street School, located where city hall stands today. Boys and girls sat on opposite sides of the room and were punished by being moved to the other side of the room. The one room school house was replaced by a school with eight rooms in 1906. Elm street school was also used as a hospital during the 1917 flu epidemic, a soup kitchen during the depression and as a community center in the 1950s and 1960s. More schools were built as Struthers grew including the high school in 1921. In 1920 the village became a city and the government addressed community concerns such as intoxicating liquor sales, livery sales, boarding stables, laying out new streets and granting contracts. Located on the east end of the city, Nebo, a neighborhood in Struthers, first became populated in 1874. The community grew and expanded through the 1950s; in 1932 Struthers annexed the southern half of the neighborhood as the northern half grew.
The birthplace of the iron and steel industry in the Mahoning Valley and Ohio is credited to the Hopewell Furnace. Many immigrants from all over moved into Struthers and Nebo for the work it provided and much of the town was built up around the furnaces built in the area. The War of 1812 critically impacted the furnaces since their labor force was decimated by the call to arms. In 2003 Hopewell was honored by the Ohio Historical Society as a significant site of early Ohio industry. The Anna Furnace built in 1869 by the Struthers Furnace Company was the first built to use coal instead of timber and operated until 1953 and was demolished in 1966. Products from this furnace supplied troops during the Spanish-American War, Mexican War, World War I, and World War II. The Youngstown Iron, Sheet and Tube Company became a major industry in Struthers around 1909 but was organized in 1900.
Italians and Slovaks were the dominant groups to settle in Struthers. Most often families boarded together in housing provided by the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company. Eventually unrest grew with the workers and riots started taking place in 1916 and a strike in 1919 demanded a six-day workweek and an eight-hour workday. In 1937 a strike tried to burn rail ties to prevent freight car food deliveries. In 1950 the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company operated plants throughout the Mahoning Valley and 18 other states. In 1976 the labor force in Struthers received substantial paychecks, paid vacations from 1 to 13 weeks, medical coverage, life insurance, a retirement plan and a survivor’s benefit plan. Many business not connected to the steel industry in the area worked around the laborers schedule to provide their services for them. The Home Saving and Loans Company and the Dollar Bank were positioned in downtown Struthers so the workers could take their paychecks straight from the mills. Holiday Bowl on Youngstown-Poland Rd provided a locker room with showers as well as a pool so laborers could clean up after work to use the lanes. Many families would also meet the men in their families by the mills to deliver them lunch.
In 1977 the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company announced they wee closing the mills in Youngstown. About 5,000 employees in Youngstown were laid off, this became known as Black Monday. In response to this CASTLO Industrial Park was incorporated in the area and many of the workers that were laid off picked up jobs there. Without the mills many families ended up leaving the area and the communities in Struthers, Nebo and the Steel Valley began to decline.
The first public school in Struthers was a one-room school house, Elm Street School, located where city hall stands today. Boys and girls sat on opposite sides of the room and were punished by being moved to the other side of the room. The one room school house was replaced by a school with eight rooms in 1906. Elm street school was also used as a hospital during the 1917 flu epidemic, a soup kitchen during the depression and as a community center in the 1950s and 1960s. More schools were built as Struthers grew including the high school in 1921. In 1920 the village became a city and the government addressed community concerns such as intoxicating liquor sales, livery sales, boarding stables, laying out new streets and granting contracts. Located on the east end of the city, Nebo, a neighborhood in Struthers, first became populated in 1874. The community grew and expanded through the 1950s; in 1932 Struthers annexed the southern half of the neighborhood as the northern half grew.
The birthplace of the iron and steel industry in the Mahoning Valley and Ohio is credited to the Hopewell Furnace. Many immigrants from all over moved into Struthers and Nebo for the work it provided and much of the town was built up around the furnaces built in the area. The War of 1812 critically impacted the furnaces since their labor force was decimated by the call to arms. In 2003 Hopewell was honored by the Ohio Historical Society as a significant site of early Ohio industry. The Anna Furnace built in 1869 by the Struthers Furnace Company was the first built to use coal instead of timber and operated until 1953 and was demolished in 1966. Products from this furnace supplied troops during the Spanish-American War, Mexican War, World War I, and World War II. The Youngstown Iron, Sheet and Tube Company became a major industry in Struthers around 1909 but was organized in 1900.
Italians and Slovaks were the dominant groups to settle in Struthers. Most often families boarded together in housing provided by the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company. Eventually unrest grew with the workers and riots started taking place in 1916 and a strike in 1919 demanded a six-day workweek and an eight-hour workday. In 1937 a strike tried to burn rail ties to prevent freight car food deliveries. In 1950 the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company operated plants throughout the Mahoning Valley and 18 other states. In 1976 the labor force in Struthers received substantial paychecks, paid vacations from 1 to 13 weeks, medical coverage, life insurance, a retirement plan and a survivor’s benefit plan. Many business not connected to the steel industry in the area worked around the laborers schedule to provide their services for them. The Home Saving and Loans Company and the Dollar Bank were positioned in downtown Struthers so the workers could take their paychecks straight from the mills. Holiday Bowl on Youngstown-Poland Rd provided a locker room with showers as well as a pool so laborers could clean up after work to use the lanes. Many families would also meet the men in their families by the mills to deliver them lunch.
In 1977 the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company announced they wee closing the mills in Youngstown. About 5,000 employees in Youngstown were laid off, this became known as Black Monday. In response to this CASTLO Industrial Park was incorporated in the area and many of the workers that were laid off picked up jobs there. Without the mills many families ended up leaving the area and the communities in Struthers, Nebo and the Steel Valley began to decline.
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