Youngstown is a city in the
U.S. state of
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, and the largest city and
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Mahoning County. At the
2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068.
It is a principal city of the
Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which had a population of 541,243 in 2020, making it the
107th-largest metropolitan area in the United States and
seventh-largest metro area in Ohio.
Youngstown is situated on the
Mahoning River, southeast of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
and northwest of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. In addition to having its own media market, Youngstown is also part of the larger
Northeast Ohio
The region Northeast Ohio, in the US state of Ohio, in its most expansive usage contains six metropolitan areas ( Cleveland–Elyria, Akron, Canton–Massillon, Youngstown–Warren, Mansfield, and Weirton–Steubenville) along with eight m ...
region. Youngstown is midway between
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
via
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
.
The city was named for
John Young John Young may refer to:
Academics
* John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow
* John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Coll ...
, an early settler from
Whitestown, New York
Whitestown is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 18,667 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from Judge Hugh White, an early settler. The town is immediately west of Utica and the New York State Thruway (Inte ...
, who established the community's first
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
and
gristmill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
. Youngstown is a
midwestern
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
city, although it lies less than from the Atlantic Ocean, falling within the
Appalachian Ohio
Appalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, characterized by the western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and the Appalachian Plateau. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines t ...
region among the foothills of the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
. It was an early industrial city of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; with restructuring of heavy industry and movement of jobs offshore, it has been classified as part of the
Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions and ...
. Traditionally known as a center of steel production, Youngstown has been forced to adapt after the steel industry in the United States fell into decline in the 1970s, leaving communities throughout the region without any major industry. There has been a decline in population of more than 60% since 1959.
Downtown Youngstown
Downtown Youngstown is the traditional center of the city of Youngstown, Ohio. After decades of precipitous decline, the downtown area shows signs of renewal. Civic leaders have expressed hope that the district will emerge as a significant arts an ...
has seen tremendous change since 2010. It has become a center of culture, entertainment, and innovation. It is now home to bars, restaurants, and the recently completed
Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater. Youngstown's first new downtown hotel since 1974—the
DoubleTree by Hilton
DoubleTree by Hilton is an American hotel chain managed by Hilton Worldwide. DoubleTree has been the fastest growing Hilton brand by number of properties since 2007, and by number of rooms from 2007 to 2015. As of December 31, 2019, it has 587 p ...
—opened in 2018 in the historic Stambaugh Building, adapted for this use. First floor commercial space includes a restaurant. Several businesses, such as
Turning Technologies
Turning Technologies is an education technology company with a headquarters in Youngstown, Ohio, and additional offices in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Belfast. Turning Technologies serves educational, corporate, government and military markets.
Tur ...
, an education technology company, are headquartered in Downtown Youngstown.
History
Founding
![Image David Tod, Abbots History of Ohio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Image_David_Tod%2C_Abbots_History_of_Ohio.jpg)
Youngstown was named for New York native
John Young John Young may refer to:
Academics
* John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow
* John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Coll ...
, who surveyed the area in 1796 and settled there soon afterward.
On February 9, 1797, Young purchased the township of from the
Western Reserve Land Company for $16,085. The 1797 establishment of Youngstown was officially recorded on August 19, 1802.
The area that includes present-day Youngstown was part of the
Connecticut Western Reserve, a section of the
Northwest Territory
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...
that
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
initially did not cede to the federal government.
Upon cession, Connecticut retained the
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
to the land in the Western Reserve, which it sold to the
Connecticut Land Company for $1,200,000.
While many of the area's early settlers came from Connecticut, Youngstown attracted many Scots-Irish settlers from neighboring Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The first European Americans to settle permanently in the area were Pittsburgh native James Hillman and wife Catherine Dougherty. By 1798, Youngstown was the home of several families who were concentrated near where Mill Creek meets the Mahoning River.[Blue ''et al.'' (1995), p. 13.] Boardman Township was founded in 1798 by Elijah Boardman
Elijah Boardman (March 7, 1760 – August 18, 1823) was an American politician who served as a List of United States senators from Connecticut, senator from Connecticut. Born to a noted and politically connected Connecticut family, he served in ...
, a member of the Connecticut Land Company. Also founded in 1798 was Austintown by John McCollum who was a settler from New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
.
As the Western Reserve's population grew, the need for administrative districts became apparent. In 1800, territorial governor Arthur St. Clair
Arthur St. Clair ( – August 31, 1818) was a Scottish-American soldier and politician. Born in Thurso, Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office. During ...
established Trumbull County (named in honor of Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull
Jonathan Trumbull Sr. (October 12, 1710August 17, 1785) was an American politician and statesman who served as Governor of Connecticut during the American Revolution. Trumbull and Nicholas Cooke of Rhode Island were the only men to serve as gov ...
), and designated the smaller settlement of Warren as its administrative center, or county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
. In 1813, Trumbull County was divided into townships, with Youngstown Township comprising much of what became Mahoning County. The village of Youngstown was incorporated in 1848, and in 1867 Youngstown was chartered as a city. It became the county seat in 1876, when the administrative center of Mahoning County was moved from neighboring Canfield. Youngstown has been Mahoning County's county seat to this day.
Growth and industrialization
The discovery of coal by the community in the early 19th century paved the way for the Youngstown area's inclusion on the network of the famed Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...
. The Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal Company was organized in 1835, and the canal was completed in 1840. Local industrialist David Tod
David Tod (February 21, 1805 – November 13, 1868) was an American politician and industrialist from the U.S. state of Ohio. As the 25th governor of Ohio, Tod gained recognition for his forceful and energetic leadership during the American Civil ...
, who became Ohio governor during the Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, persuaded Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
steamboat owners that coal mined in the Mahoning Valley could fuel their vessels if canal transportation were available between Youngstown and Cleveland. The railroad's arrival in 1856 smoothed the path for further economic growth.
Youngstown's industrial development changed the face of the Mahoning Valley. The community's burgeoning coal industry drew hundreds of immigrants from Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, and Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. With the establishment of steel mills in the late 19th century, Youngstown became a popular destination for immigrants from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, and Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
In the early 20th century, the community saw an influx of immigrants from non-European countries including what is modern day Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
, and Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. By the 1920s, this dramatic demographic shift produced a nativist backlash, and the Mahoning Valley became a center of Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
activity. The situation reached a climax in 1924, when street clashes between Klan members and Italian and Irish Americans in neighboring Niles led Ohio Governor A. Victor Donahey
Alvin Victor Donahey (also known as A. Victor Donahey, A. Vic Donahey, Vic Donahey, A. V. Donahey, or Honest Vic Donahey) (July 7, 1873April 8, 1946) was an American Democratic Party politician from Ohio. Donahey was the 50th governor of Ohio and ...
to declare martial law. By 1928 the Klan was in steep decline; and three years later, the organization sold its Canfield, Ohio, meeting area, Kountry Klub Field. Despite the prevalence of Irish Americans in Youngstown, their presence wasn't always evident. When radio personality Pete Gabriel (who was Greek), came to Youngstown, he found out at the time that there was no St Patrick's Day parade there, so he started one.
The growth of industry attracted people from within the United States and from Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
. By the late 19th century, African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
were well represented in Youngstown, and the first local congregation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...
was established in 1871.[Aley (1975), p. 46.] In the 1880s, local attorney William R. Stewart was the second African American elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. A large influx of African Americans in the early 20th century owed much to developments in the industrial sector. During the national Steel Strike of 1919, local industrialists recruited thousands of workers from the Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
, many of whom were Black. This move inflamed racist sentiment among local Whites, and for decades, African-American steelworkers experienced discrimination in the workplace. Migration from the South rose dramatically in the 1940s, when the mechanization of southern agriculture brought an end to the sharecropping
Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land.
Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...
system, leading onetime farm laborers to seek industrial jobs.
Youngstown's local iron ore deposits were exhausted by the early 20th century. Since the city is landlocked (the Mahoning River is not navigable), ore from Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
and Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
had to arrive by rail from Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
and other Great Lakes port cities where large bulk carriers were unloaded. This put Youngstown at a competitive disadvantage to the iron and steel producers in Cleveland, Buffalo, Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
—all on Great Lake shores. Compared to these four cities, Youngstown had a higher cost of transporting raw materials to the mills, according to a Harvard Business Review report published in January 1933. Higher transportation costs are one reason why Youngstown mills began their decline slightly earlier than manufacturing in other cities.
The city had a healthy position within the Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
in terms of transportation connections. An airport built in 1930 hosted Capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
and United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. flights through the region and to New York prior to the jet age of the latter 1950s. It was on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
mainline to Chicago with the '' Capital Limited.'' Likewise, Youngstown was on the Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...
mainline, on its Chicago-Jersey City circuit, with trains such as the '' Atlantic Express/Pacific Express'' and the '' Lake Cities.'' The city was on the New York Central's Pittsburgh-Buffalo circuit and the Pennsylvania Railroad's Pittsburgh-Cleveland circuit.
Post-World War II decline
The city's population became more diverse after the end of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, when a seemingly robust steel industry attracted thousands of workers. In the 1950s, the Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
population grew significantly; and by the 1970s, St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church and the First Spanish Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
Church of Ohio were among the largest religious institutions for Spanish-speaking residents in the Youngstown metropolitan area. In 1951, city planners projected that Youngstown would grow to 200,000 to 250,000 in population due to continuously strong demand for domestic steel in western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, and so 12,000 acres on the city's East Side were annexed and extended utilities in expectation of future housing projects, in addition to aggressive re-zoning for expanded commercial spaces throughout the city.
At 11:30 on Wednesday, September 6, 1967, only 9 of the 50 scheduled patrolmen arrived for work at the Youngstown Police Department. The others were not on strike
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...
. That was prevented by Ohio state law. The patrolmen, eventually numbering 300, along with another 300 city-employed firefighters, were instead attending "continuous professional meetings", and would be until their demand for an immediate across-the-board raise of $1200 was met. By Saturday, the day they were ordered back to their jobs by a Common Pleas Court judge, citizens were reported as disturbed, rather than badly frightened, by the risks of police and fire services operating at about 30% normal headcounts. A car fire was the worst single incident. When ending the strike the judge also ordered the pay raise. Apart from a fruitless six-day "sick call" of police in Detroit in June 1967, Youngstown's was the first major police strike since the Boston Police Strike in 1919. As the editorial writers at '' The Sheboygan Press'' of Sheboygan, Wisconsin put it, "So we have seen the first successful strike by policemen and firemen. It is a precedent over which there should be little rejoicing."
The industrial economy that drew various groups to the area collapsed in the late 1970s, culminating with the September 19, 1977 closure of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Campbell Works after financial downturn due to changes in the steel manufacturing process and international competition. In response to subsequent challenges, the city has taken well-publicized steps to diversify economically, while building on some traditional strengths.
Modern developments
Downtown Youngstown has seen modest levels of new construction. In the 2000s, additions included the Nathaniel R. Jones
Nathaniel Raphael Jones (May 12, 1926 – January 26, 2020) was an American attorney, judge, and law professor. As general counsel of the NAACP, Jones fought to end school segregation, including in the northern United States. From 1979 until 199 ...
Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in 2002 (which features an award-winning design by the architectural firm, Robert A. M. Stern Architects), the Mahoning County Childrens Services center and George Voinovich
George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011, the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989, th ...
Government Center in 2004, and both the Covelli Centre and Ohio Seventh District Court of Appeals
The Ohio Seventh District Court of Appeals is one of the twelve Ohio District Courts of Appeal, the state intermediate appellate courts of Ohio. It has jurisdiction over eight counties: Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Mahoni ...
in 2006.
In 2004, construction began on a 60-home upscale development called Arlington Heights, and a grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...
allowed for the demolition of Westlake Terrace, a sprawling and dilapidated public housing project. Today, the site features a blend of senior housing, rental townhouses and for-sale single-family homes. Low real-estate prices and the efforts of the Youngstown Central Area Improvement Corporation (CIC) have contributed to the purchase of several long-abandoned downtown buildings (many by out-of-town investors) and their restoration and conversion into specialty shops, restaurants, and eventually condominiums. In addition, a nonprofit organization called Wick Neighbors is planning a $250 million New Urbanist revitalization of Smoky Hollow, a former ethnic neighborhood that borders the downtown and university campus. The neighborhood will eventually comprise about 400 residential units, university student housing, retail space, and a central park. Construction for the project began in 2006.
In 2005, Federal Street, a major downtown thoroughfare that was closed off to create a pedestrian-oriented plaza, reopened to traffic. The downtown area has seen the razing of structurally unsound buildings and the expansion or restoration of others. New construction has dovetailed with efforts to cultivate business growth. One of the area's more successful business ventures in recent years has been the Youngstown Business Incubator. This nonprofit organization, based in a former downtown department store building, fosters the growth of fledgling technology-based companies. The incubator, which boasts more than a dozen business tenants, recently completed construction on the Taft Technology Center, where some of its largest tenants will locate their offices.
In line with these efforts to change the community's image, the city government, in partnership with Youngstown State University, has organized an ambitious urban renewal plan known as ''Youngstown 2010''. The stated goals of ''Youngstown 2010'' include the creation of a "cleaner, greener, and better planned and organized Youngstown". In January 2005, the organization unveiled a master plan prepared by Urban Strategies Inc. of Toronto, which had taken shape during an extensive process of public consultation and meetings that gathered input from citizens. The plan, which included platforms such as the acceptance of a reduced population and an improved image and quality of life, received national attention and is consistent with efforts in other metropolitan areas to address the phenomenon of urban depopulation. ''Youngstown 2010'' received an award for public outreach from the American Planning Association
The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...
in 2007.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water.
Youngstown is in the Mahoning Valley on the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau. At the end of the last ice age, the glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
s left behind a uniform plain, with valleys such as that caused by the Mahoning River traversing the plain.[Aley (1975), pp. 8–9.] Lakes created by glaciers that dammed small streams were eventually drained, leaving behind fertile terrain.
Climate
Youngstown has a humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
( Köppen ''Dfb''/''Dfa''), typical of the Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
, with four distinct seasons and lies within USDA hardiness zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
6a. Winters are cold and dry but typically bring a mix of rain, sleet, and snow with occasional heavy snowfall and icing. January is the coldest month with an average mean temperature of , with temperatures on average dropping to or below on 4.1 days and staying at or below freezing on 43 days per year. Snowfall averages per season, somewhat less than the snowbelt areas closer to Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
. The snowiest month on record was in December 2010, while winter snowfall amounts have ranged from in 2010–11 to in 1948–49. Springs generally see a transition to fewer weather systems that produce heavier rainfall. Summers are typically very warm and humid with temperatures exceeding on 7.7 days per year on average; the annual count has been as high as 40 days in 1943, while the most recent year to not reach that mark is 2014. July is the warmest month with an average mean temperature of .
The all-time record high temperature in Youngstown of was established on July 10, 1936, which occurred during the Dust Bowl, and the all-time record low temperature of was set on January 19, 1994. The first and last freezes of the season on average fall on October 14 and May 6, respectively, allowing a growing season of 160 days; however, freezing temperatures have been observed in every month except July. The normal annual mean temperature is . Normal yearly precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
based on the 30-year average from 1991 to 2020 is , falling on an average of 168 days per year. Monthly precipitation has ranged from in June 1986 to in October 1924, while for annual precipitation the historical range is in 2011 to in 1963.
Neighborhoods
North Side
The North Side consists of the Brier Hill
Brier Hill is a neighborhood in Youngstown, Ohio, that was once viewed as the city's "Little Italy." The neighborhood, which was the site of the city's first Italian settlement, stretches along the western edge of Youngstown's lower north side and ...
, Crandall Park, North Heights
North Heights is a neighborhood in Youngstown, Ohio, located on the city's upper North Side. The neighborhood's name derives from the fact that it sits at a higher elevation than the Wick Park District, Youngstown State University, and Downtown ...
, and Wick Park
Wick Park Historic District is a historic neighborhood on the north side of Youngstown, Ohio, with Wick Park as its centerpiece. During the first half of the 20th century, the residential district surrounding Wick Park included some of the city' ...
neighborhoods and the northern section of the Riverbend Industrial Park. Brier Hill was considered one of the city's cultural hotbeds due to many Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
, Irish, Italian, and African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
migrants settling in it, but primarily was once viewed as the city's " Little Italy" as reflected by the Brier Hill-style pizza. Each year, at the end of August, the Brier Hill Fest attracts thousands of visitors from Northeast Ohio
The region Northeast Ohio, in the US state of Ohio, in its most expansive usage contains six metropolitan areas ( Cleveland–Elyria, Akron, Canton–Massillon, Youngstown–Warren, Mansfield, and Weirton–Steubenville) along with eight m ...
and Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
. The historic Crandall Park neighborhood was once home to the city's wealthiest families, and many of the mansions of industrial executives are still including in the Crandall Park-Fifth Avenue Historic District. The North Side is bounded by the Mahoning River abutting the West Side, Girard and Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
to the North, Crab Creek to the east and the Madison Avenue Expressway to the south.
South Side
Youngstown's South Side is, and historically has been, the city's densest and most populous division, with numerous neighborhoods from each of the city's periods of expansion. The older neighborhoods in this district, Oak Hill, Erie, Warren
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...
, and Lower Gibson, were among the first founded on the South Side during the 19th century and were completely annexed by 1910 as Youngstown grew from a farming community into an industrialized one. Later neighborhoods, such as Idora, Newport, Lansingville
Lansingville is a neighborhood in Youngstown, Ohio. Located on the city's south side, the area was named for John Lansing. The neighborhood was dominated by Slovak Americans, the majority of whom were Roman Catholic, during much of the 20th centu ...
, Buckeye Plat, and Cottage Grove came into being as industry and population expanded throughout the first half of the 20th century, being annexed in 1929 from the remainder of Youngstown Township. The Pleasant Grove and Brownlee Woods neighborhoods further south were also annexed in 1929 from Boardman Township. These neighborhoods were generally well connected to each together and were defined by economic class as they became increasingly suburban further from the Downtown area. There are further sub-neighborhoods in the South Side as well, such as Indian Village, Handel's, Boulevard Park, Cochran Park, Powerstown, and Gibsonville that have distinct identities within their larger neighborhoods. The South Side shares Mill Creek Park
Mill Creek Park (officially known as Mill Creek MetroParks) is a metropolitan park located in Youngstown, Ohio. The Trust for Public Land ranks one part of Mill Creek as the 142nd largest park located within the limits of a US city.
Mill Creek ...
with the West Side, and is bordered by the Mahoning River to the north and east. The southern border lies against Boardman and Struthers.
East Side
The East Side is the largest of the city's regions by area and consists of the East High, East Side, Hazelton, Landsdowne, Lincoln Knolls, Scienceville and Sharon Line/McGuffey Heights communities. The neighborhoods on the East Side closest to Downtown Youngstown were among the earliest developed in the city. However, much of the East Side is undeveloped rural fields and forests, as the land was annexed in the 1950s as part of a zoning effort for future development that never occurred. The East Side is bounded by the Mahoning River on the south west, Crab Creek on the west, Liberty and Hubbard Township on the north, Coitsville Township on the east and the city of Campbell Campbell may refer to:
People Surname
* Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell
Given name
* Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer
* Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...
on the south.
West Side
A total of eight neighborhoods compromises the West Side: Belle Vista, Cornersburg, Garden District, Kirkmere, Rocky Ridge, Salt Springs, Schenley, and Steelton. Altogether the most recently developed side of Youngstown, these neighborhoods were built from the 1930s until the 1950s progressing southward, apart from the early Steelton neighborhood and industrial Salt Springs neighborhood. It shares Mill Creek Park
Mill Creek Park (officially known as Mill Creek MetroParks) is a metropolitan park located in Youngstown, Ohio. The Trust for Public Land ranks one part of Mill Creek as the 142nd largest park located within the limits of a US city.
Mill Creek ...
with the South Side and lies southwest of the Mahoning River. Girard and Weathersfield Township lie to the north, Austintown to the west and Boardman to the south.
Central
Central Youngstown consists of the original city layout designed by John Young John Young may refer to:
Academics
* John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow
* John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Coll ...
, including Downtown Youngstown
Downtown Youngstown is the traditional center of the city of Youngstown, Ohio. After decades of precipitous decline, the downtown area shows signs of renewal. Civic leaders have expressed hope that the district will emerge as a significant arts an ...
. Downtown Youngstown is the site of most of the city's government buildings and banks. A number of entertainment venues are also located in the downtown, including the Covelli Centre, Powers Auditorium
Powers Auditorium, in Youngstown, Ohio is one of the largest auditoriums in the Youngstown-Warren area. The facility is the main venue of downtown Youngstown's DeYor Performing Arts Center. The complex also includes the Adler Art Academy, Beecher ...
, the DeYor Performing Arts Center, and Oakland Centers for the Performing Arts. In addition, the downtown sits to the immediate south of notable cultural and educational resources, including Youngstown State University, the Butler Institute of American Art
The Butler Institute of American Art, located on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, was the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art. Established by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., the museum h ...
, and the McDonough Museum of Contemporary Art. The Arlington, Mahoning Commons, Riverbend, Smoky Hollow and University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
neighborhoods that surround Downtown compromise what is considered Central Youngstown. The area is the smallest division of Youngstown, as well as its least populous, but also its least residential by zoning. It is surrounded by the I-680 Interstate 680 may refer to:
*Interstate 680 (California), a connecting freeway between I-80 and I-280 in the San Francisco Bay Area, California
*Interstate 680 (Nebraska–Iowa), a bypass in Omaha, Nebraska
*Interstate 680 (Ohio), a loop through Y ...
and Madison Avenue Expressway highway system as all three of the Mahoning River, Crab Creek and Mill Creek pass through the area.
Demographics
Between 1960 and 2010, the city's population declined by over 60%. The Mahoning Valley metropolitan area had 541,243 residents as of the 2020 census.
2020 Census
According to the 2020 Census, Youngstown had 28,303 households. The population density was 1770.5/sq mi. The city's racial makeup was 47.8% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 41.1% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.3% Native American, 0.7% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.0% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, and 7.4% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 10.9% of the population. The median household income was $30,129.
2010 Census
According to the 2010 Census, Youngstown had 26,839 households and 15,150 families. The population density was 755.2/km2 (1958.5/sq mi). There were 33,123 housing units at an average density of 968.5 per square mile (373.4/km2). Youngstown's vacant-housing rate in 2010 was twenty times the national average. The city's racial makeup was 47.0% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 45.2% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.4% Native American, 0.4% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.02% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 3.3% of some other race, and 3.7% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 9.3% of the population. The European ancestry included had 10.8% Italian, 10.8% Irish, 10.0% German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, and 4.2% English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
ancestries. Among the Hispanic population, 5.7% were Puerto Rican, 1.9% Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
, 0.1% Cuban
Cuban may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean
* Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent
** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof
* Cuban citizen, a perso ...
, and 0.7% some other Hispanic or Latino.
Records suggest 28.6% of the households had children under the age of 18. Of these, 25.6% were married couples living together, 24.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.6% were non-families. Meanwhile, 37.8% of all households comprised a single person, and 14.5% of households comprised a person over 65 years of age living alone. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 3.02.
22.8% of the city's population was under the age of 18, 10.8% was from age 18 to 24, 24.3% was from age 25 to 44, 26.2% was from age 45 to 64, and 15.8% was age 65 or older. The median age was 38 years old. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95 males.
Economy
Historical
Endowed with large deposits of coal and iron as well as "old growth" hardwood forests needed to produce charcoal, the Youngstown area developed a thriving steel industry, starting with the area's blast furnace in 1803 by James and Daniel Heaton. By the mid-19th century, Youngstown was the site of several iron industrial plants, and because of easy rail connections to adjacent states, the iron industry continued to expand in the 1890s despite the depletion of local natural resources. At the turn of the 20th century, local industrialists began to convert to steel manufacturing, amid a wave of industrial consolidations that placed much of the Mahoning Valley's industry in the hands of national corporations.[Blue ''et al.'' (1995), p. 94.]
In the late 1930s, the community's steel sector again gained national attention when Youngstown became a site of the so-called "Little Steel Strike", an effort by the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, a precursor to United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headqua ...
, to secure contract agreements with smaller steel companies. On June 21, 1937, strike-related violence in Youngstown resulted in two deaths and 42 injuries. Despite the violence, historian William Lawson observed that the strike transformed industrial unions from "basically local and ineffective organizations into all-encompassing, nationwide collective bargaining representatives of American workers".
Between the 1920s and 1960s, the city was known as an important industrial hub that featured the massive furnaces and foundries of such companies as Republic Steel and U.S. Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...
. At the same time, Youngstown never became economically diversified, as did larger industrial cities such as Chicago, Pittsburgh, Akron, or Cleveland.[Fuechtmann (1989), p. 16.] Hence, when economic changes forced the closure of plants throughout the 1970s, the city was left with few substantial economic alternatives.[Fuechtmann (1989), pp. 41–43.] The September 19, 1977, announcement of the closure of a large portion of Youngstown Sheet and Tube, an event still referred to as "Black Monday", is widely regarded as the death knell of the old area steel industry in Youngstown. In the wake of the steel plant shutdowns, the community lost an estimated 40,000 manufacturing jobs, 400 satellite businesses, $414 million in personal income, and from 33 to 75 percent of the school tax revenues. The Youngstown area has yet to fully recover from the loss of jobs in the steel sector.
Current
Youngstown is the site of several steel and metalworking operations, though nothing on the scale seen during the "glory days" of the "Steel Valley". The city's largest employer is Youngstown State University (YSU), an urban public campus that serves about 15,000 students, just north of downtown.
The blow dealt to the community's industrial economy in the 1970s was slightly mitigated by the auto production plants in the metropolitan area. In the late 1980s, the Avanti, an automobile with a fiberglass body originally designed by Studebaker
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...
to compete with the Corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
, was manufactured in an industrial complex on Youngstown's Albert Street. This company moved away after just a few years. A mainstay of Youngstown's industrial economy has long been the GM Lordstown plant. The General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
' Lordstown Assembly plant was the area's largest industrial employer. Once one of the nation's largest auto plants in terms of square feet, the Lordstown facility was home to production of the Chevrolet Impala, Vega, and Cavalier
The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ). It ...
. It was expanded and retooled in 2002 with a new paint facility.[Lyne, Jack (2002)]
GM Doling Out $500M to Build New Model in North Ohio.
Site Selection Online Insider. Retrieved March 8, 2007 However, this region was dealt another blow in early 2019 with the closing of Lordstown Assembly in March 2019.
The largest industrial employers within the city limits are Vallourec Star Steel Company (formerly North Star Steel), in the Brier Hill district, and Exal Corporation on Poland Avenue. The latter has recently expanded its operations.
Youngstown's downtown, which once underscored the community's economic difficulties, is a site of new business growth. The Youngstown Business Incubator
Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture ca ...
(YBI), in the heart of downtown, houses several start-up technology companies that have received office space, furnishings, and access to utilities. Some Incubator-supported companies have earned recognition, and a few are starting to outgrow their current space. ''Inc. Magazine
''Inc.'' is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events y ...
'' rated one such company–Turning Technologies–as the fastest-growing privately held software company in the United States and 18th fastest-growing privately held company overall. To keep such companies downtown, the YBI secured approval to demolish a row of nearby vacant buildings to clear space for expansion. The project will be funded by a $2 million federal grant awarded in 2006. In 2014, the YBI was ranked as the number 1 university associated business incubator in the world by the Swedish UBII (University Business Incubator Index). In 2015, the YBI was the top University Associated Incubator in North America, and came in second to the Dublin Enterprise & Technology Centre, also known as the Guinness Enterprise Centre, in Dublin.
Extensive coverage of Youngstown's economic challenges has overshadowed the city's long entrepreneurial tradition. A number of products and enterprises introduced in Youngstown became national household names. Among them is Youngstown-based Schwebel's Bakery
Schwebel's Bakery is a regional producer of bread and other baked goods that was established in Youngstown, Ohio, in the early 20th century.
History
The Schwebel's brand was created by Joseph Schwebel and Dora Schwebel, a married couple that sta ...
, which was established in neighboring Campbell in the 20th century. The company now distributes bread products nationally. In the 1920s, Youngstown was the birthplace of the Good Humor brand of ice cream novelties, and the popular franchise of Handel's Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt was established there in the 1940s. In the 1950s, Youngstown-born developer Edward J. DeBartolo Sr.
Edward John DeBartolo Sr. (May 17, 1909 – December 19, 1994) was an American businessman. In 1971, his Ohio-based corporation was ranked as 47th among the nation's top 400 construction contractors. In 1983, DeBartolo was included on ''For ...
established one of the country's first modern shopping plazas in the suburban Boardman. The fast-food chain, Arby's, opened the first of its restaurants in Boardman in 1964, and Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips was headquartered in Youngstown in the late 1970s. More recently, the city's downtown hosted the corporate headquarters of the now-defunct pharmacy chain store Phar-Mor, which was established by Youngstown native Mickey Monus Michael I. "Mickey" Monus (born 1947) is the former president of Phar-Mor, Inc., founder of the World Basketball League and was an original owner of the Colorado Rockies, a Major League Baseball expansion team. Phar-Mor was a deep-discount drug an ...
.
Culture
Entertainment
Despite the impact of regional economic decline, Youngstown offers an array of cultural and recreational resources. Youngstown's newest venue is the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre
The Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre is an outdoor amphitheater in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. The venue holds approximately 4,800 fans. It is owned by the city of Youngstown and operated by JAC Management Group.
History
The origins of ...
; an outdoor venue opened in 2019 upon former industrial grounds in Downtown that hosts various musicians.
One of the city's sports-related attractions is the Covelli Centre, which was funded primarily through a $26 million federal grant secured in 2000 by then-Congressman Jim Traficant
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James (given name), James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy (given name), Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
* Jim (comics), ...
. Located on the site of an abandoned steel mill, the large, high-tech facility opened in October 2005. It was formerly called the Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
Center, and during planning it was known as the Youngstown Convocation Center. The centre's main tenants are the Youngstown Phantoms, who play in the United States Hockey League
The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...
. Previously, it was home to the Youngstown Steelhounds hockey team, who played in the CHL. The venue also hosts "on ice" musical shows and concerts.
Historically, one of the area's most popular attractions was Idora Park
Idora Park was a Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek. It was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement P ...
in the Idora neighborhood of Youngstown's south side. An urban amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
, it operated from 1899 until it was closed after a large fire destroyed many of its premier rides in 1984.
Theater
The community's culture center is Powers Auditorium
Powers Auditorium, in Youngstown, Ohio is one of the largest auditoriums in the Youngstown-Warren area. The facility is the main venue of downtown Youngstown's DeYor Performing Arts Center. The complex also includes the Adler Art Academy, Beecher ...
, a former Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
movie palace that serves as the area's primary music hall and a home for the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra
The Youngstown Symphony is a symphony orchestra based in Youngstown, Ohio. Based in downtown Youngstown's Powers Auditorium, the symphony has been performing classical music for Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley
The Youngstown–Warren–Boa ...
. This downtown landmark is one of five auditoriums within the city. Ford Recital Hall was built in 2006 as an addition to newly renovated Powers Auditorium. Imposing and neo-classical Stambaugh Auditorium
Stambaugh Auditorium is located in Youngstown, Ohio in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Stambaugh Auditorium opened in 1926 through the generosity of Henry H. Stambaugh, one of the city's lead ...
, on the city's north side, has served for decades as a site of concerts and is often rented for private events. The facility also hosts the Stambaugh Youth Concert Band. Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
, who sang about the decline of Youngstown's steel industry and its adverse effects on local workers in his ballad "Youngstown
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...
", played at Stambaugh Auditorium on January 12, 1996, as part of his solo Ghost of Tom Joad Tour
The Ghost of Tom Joad Tour was a worldwide concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen performing alone on stage in small halls and theatres, that ran off and on from late 1995 through the middle of 1997.Santelli, ''Greetings From E Street'', pp. ...
.
The Youngstown Playhouse The Youngstown Playhouse, is a community theater located in the former industrial center of Youngstown, Ohio.
Early years
The Youngstown Playhouse traces its origins to February 16, 1924, when several local drama organizations formed a single org ...
, Mahoning County's primary community theater, has served the area for more than 80 years, despite intermittent financial problems. Believed by some observers to be the nation's oldest continuously operating community theater, the Youngstown Playhouse was the only community theater in Ohio to ever receive major institutional support from the Ohio Arts Council. The Oakland Center for the Arts The Oakland Center for the Arts (or the Oakland, as it is usually called) is an interdisciplinary arts center based in Youngstown, Ohio founded in 1986. The center was first supported by Youngstown businessman Richard Rosenthal and founded by Youngs ...
, formerly in the downtown area, was a well-known venue for locally produced plays before it closed in 2015 due to poor management. In late 2016. the Oakland Center for the Arts was re-established with a new focus on youth and kids theatre.
Well known theatrical personalities from the Youngstown area include comedic actor Joe Flynn, screen actress Elizabeth Hartman, singer and Broadway performer Maureen McGovern, and television and screen actor Ed O'Neill
Edward Leonard O'Neill (born April 12, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. His roles include Al Bundy on the Fox Network sitcom '' Married... with Children'', for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes, and Jay Pritchett on the awar ...
.
Museums
The Butler Institute of American Art
The Butler Institute of American Art, located on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, was the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art. Established by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., the museum h ...
is on the northeastern edge of the Youngstown State University campus. Established by industrialist Joseph G. Butler Jr.
Joseph Green Butler Jr. (December 21, 1840 – December 20, 1927) was an American industrialist, philanthropist, and popular historian. He is remembered primarily for establishing the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to Am ...
, in 1919, it was the first museum in the country dedicated to American art.[>] Across the street from the Butler Institute stands the McDonough Museum of Art
The McDonough Museum of Art is a center for contemporary art located in Youngstown, Ohio, USA, on the campus of Youngstown State University (YSU). Opened in 1991 in a building designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, the museum focuse ...
, YSU's University Art Museum and the Mahoning Valley's center for contemporary art. The McDonough, established in 1991, features changing exhibitions by regional, national and international artists and provides public access to the work of students, faculty and alumni from the Department of Art. The Clarence R. Smith Mineral Museum, also on the YSU campus, is operated by the university's geology department and housed in a campus building.
To the immediate north of YSU is the Arms Family Museum of Local History. The museum, housed in a 1905 Arts & Crafts style mansion on the main artery of Wick Avenue, is managed by the Mahoning Valley Historical Society. Once the estate of a local industrialist, it maintains period rooms that showcase the household's original contents, including furnishings, art objects, and personal artifacts. The museum mounts rotating exhibits on topics related to local history. Recently, the museum opened the "Anne Kilcawley Christman Hands-on History Room". The MVHS Archival Library operates in the estate's former carriage house, near the back of the site.
The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor
The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, located in Youngstown, Ohio, preserves the history of the steel industry that dominated the Youngstown area's economic life for much of the 20th century. The museum is owned by the Ohio Histo ...
sits south of the YSU campus on a grade overlooking the downtown area. This museum, owned and operated by the Ohio Historical Society, focuses on the Mahoning Valley's history of steel production. Other museums include the Children's Museum of the Valley, an interactive educational center in the downtown area, and the Davis Education and Recreation Center, a small museum that showcases the history of Youngstown's Mill Creek Park
Mill Creek Park (officially known as Mill Creek MetroParks) is a metropolitan park located in Youngstown, Ohio. The Trust for Public Land ranks one part of Mill Creek as the 142nd largest park located within the limits of a US city.
Mill Creek ...
.
On the city's north side the Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation is constructing the Tod Engine Heritage Park, featuring a collection of steel industry equipment and artifacts. The main exhibit is a 1914 William Tod Co. rolling mill steam engine that was built in Youngstown and used at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Brier Hill Works. The Tod Engine is one of three remaining rolling mill engines in the United States and is a Mechanical and Materials Engineering Landmark.
Parks and nature
Youngstown's most popular resource is Mill Creek Park
Mill Creek Park (officially known as Mill Creek MetroParks) is a metropolitan park located in Youngstown, Ohio. The Trust for Public Land ranks one part of Mill Creek as the 142nd largest park located within the limits of a US city.
Mill Creek ...
, a five-mile (8 km)-long stretch of landscaped woodland reminiscent of Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. Mill Creek Park is the oldest park district in Ohio, established as a township park in 1891. The park's highlights include the restored 19th century Lanterman's Mill, the rock formations of Bear's Den, scores of nature trails, the Fellows Riverside Gardens
Fellows Riverside Gardens (11 acres) are public botanical gardens, part of the Mill Creek Metro Parks system. The gardens are located at 123 McKinley Avenue, in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. They are open daily with no admission fee.
History
I ...
and Education Center, the "Cinderella" iron link bridge, and two 18 hole Donald Ross golf courses. Mill Creek Park encompasses approximately , of drives and of foot trails. Its attractions include gardens, streams, lakes, woodlands, meadows, and wildlife.
Fellows Riverside Gardens' popular lookout point offers visitors contrasting views of the area. From the south side, the canopied woodlands overlooking Lake Glacier are visible; from the north side, visitors are presented with a view of downtown Youngstown. The park features two 18-hole golf courses. The North Course is on rolling terrain, while the South Course features narrow, tree-lined fairways. Other features include playgrounds, athletic fields, and picnic areas.
In 2005, Mill Creek Park was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.[
] A plaque commemorating this event is near a memorial statue of Volney Rogers
Volney Rogers (December 1, 1846 – December 3, 1919) was a lawyer in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, who is known for his role in transforming Mill Creek "hollow" into one of the nation's most celebrated metropolitan parks. Rogers, a semi ...
, the Youngstown attorney who set aside land for the creation of Mill Creek Park.
A smaller recreational area called Wick Park
Wick Park Historic District is a historic neighborhood on the north side of Youngstown, Ohio, with Wick Park as its centerpiece. During the first half of the 20th century, the residential district surrounding Wick Park included some of the city' ...
is on the historic North side. Wick Park's periphery is lined with early 20th-century mansions built by the city's industrialists, business leaders, and professionals during Youngstown's "boom" years. Stambaugh Auditorium, a popular venue for concerts and other public events, is near the park's southwestern edge. Another small recreational area called Crandall Park is also on the North side. Crandall Park offers well-maintained and landscaped homes, tree-lined streets, and walkable access to shopping and recreations. Several cemeteries (notably historic Oak Hill Cemetery) and small recreational spaces are scattered throughout the city. Some of those recreational spaces include Homestead Park, John White park, Lynn park, Borts Pool, and the Northside Pool.
Sports
Youngstown has enjoyed a long tradition of professional and semi-professional sports. In earlier decades, the city produced scores of minor league baseball teams, including the Youngstown Ohio Works
The Youngstown Ohio Works baseball team was a minor league club that was known for winning the premier championship of the Ohio–Pennsylvania League in 1905, and for launching the professional career of pitcher Roy Castleton a year later. A tra ...
, Youngstown Champs
The Youngstown Champs were a minor league baseball team that competed in the Ohio–Pennsylvania League in 1907 and 1908. The club won the league championship in 1907 but disbanded in the middle of the 1908 season.''Spalding's Official Athletic L ...
, Youngstown Indians The Youngstown Indians were a Minor League Baseball club that competed during the 1909 season in the Ohio–Pennsylvania League.''Spalding's Official Athletic Library Baseball Guide'' (New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1910), p. 217. The te ...
, Youngstown Steelmen The Youngstown Steelmen was a minor league baseball franchise that competed in three different leagues between 1910 and 1915. The club, based in Youngstown, Ohio, participated at various times in the Ohio–Pennsylvania League, the Tri-State League ...
, Youngstown Browns
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...
, Youngstown Gremlins
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...
, and Youngstown Athletics. Local enthusiasm for baseball was such that the community hosted championship games of the National Amateur Baseball Federation throughout the 1930s and 1940s. The area's minor league baseball teams were supplemented by semi-professional football teams, including the Youngstown Patricians, who won the 1915 championship of the informal " Ohio League" (a direct predecessor to the National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
), and the Youngstown Hardhats
The Youngstown Hardhats were a semi-professional football team that played from 1972 to 1974 and 1976 to 1981. The team was based in Youngstown, Ohio, and competed in the Midwest Football League (1962–1978), Midwest Football League from 1972 to 1 ...
, who competed in the Middle Atlantic Football League in the 1970s and early 1980s. For three seasons, Youngstown was home to the Mahoning Valley Thunder
The Mahoning Valley Thunder was a professional af2 arena football team from 2007 to 2009.
Having entered af2 as an expansion team in 2007, the Thunder played its home games at Cortland Banks Field at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown, O ...
of the now-defunct af2
The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...
, the minor league for the Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
until 2009 when the franchise ceased operations. Local minor league basketball teams included the Youngstown Pride
The Youngstown Pride was a professional basketball team that competed in the World Basketball League during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Based in Youngstown, Ohio, the Pride was established in 1987 by Phar-Mor executive Michael I. Monus and pe ...
of the WBA from 1987 to 1992, the Youngstown Hawks
The Youngstown Hawks were an American International Basketball Association team based in Youngstown, Ohio, from 1999 to 2000. The team was owned by former Cleveland Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien, who moved the team to Youngstown from Mansfield. Th ...
of the IBA in 1999, and the Mahoning Valley Wildcats
{{Unreferenced, date=December 2009
The Mahoning Valley Wildcats (sometimes referred to as the Youngstown Wildcats), were a team in the International Basketball League based in Struthers, Ohio
Struthers is a city in eastern Mahoning County, Ohio ...
of the IBL in 2005. The Youngstown SteelHounds
The Youngstown SteelHounds was a professional ice hockey team which participated in the Central Hockey League (CHL) from the 2005–2006 season through the 2007–2008 season. The team was affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL and t ...
hockey team played in the Central Hockey League
The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...
from 2005 until May 2008. In 2005, the Ohio Red Bulls semi-pro football team of the United States Football Association won their first championship.
Youngstown has produced many prominent athletes with connections to the city, including former world boxing champions Greg Richardson
Greg Richardson (born February 7, 1958) is a former Professional boxing, professional boxer who was World Boxing Council, WBC Bantamweight Champion between February 25, 1991, and September 19, 1991.
Early life, family and education
Richardson ...
, IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
champion Harry Arroyo
Harry Arroyo (born October 25, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title from 1984 to 1985.
Early years
Arroyo, of Puerto Rican descent, was born on the south side of Youngstown, Ohio, a steel-manufa ...
, College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...
end Bob Dove
Robert Leo Patrick "Grandpappy" Dove (February 21, 1921 – April 19, 2006) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame and professionally for nine seasons in the National Football Leagu ...
, Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
umpire Billy Evans
William George Evans (February 10, 1884 – January 23, 1956), nicknamed "The Boy Umpire", was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1906 to 1927. He became, at age 22, the youngest umpire in majo ...
, major league pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
Dave Dravecky, NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Bernie Kosar, NFL Running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
Lynn Bowden Jr., IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
cruiserweight champion Jeff Lampkin, WBA lightweight champion Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, major league manager Jimmy McAleer
James Robert "Loafer" McAleer (July 10, 1864April 29, 1931) was an American center fielder, manager, and stockholder in Major League Baseball who assisted in establishing the American League.
He spent most of his 13-season playing career with t ...
, WBC
WBC may stand for:
Business
*Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS
*Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company
*Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...
and WBO
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...
middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik
Kelly Robert Pavlik (born April 5, 1982) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2012. He won the unified WBC, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine and lineal middleweight titles by defeating Jermain Taylor in 2007, and made three ...
, legendary baseball trainer "Bonesetter" Reese, major league outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
George Shuba
George Thomas "Shotgun" Shuba (December 13, 1924 – September 29, 2014) was a utility outfielder and left-handed pinch hitter in Major League Baseball who played seven seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His seven seasons included three World Ser ...
, and Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
recipient Frank Sinkwich.
Youngstown State Penguins
The community has a lengthy tradition of collegiate sports. The Youngstown State Penguins
The Youngstown State Penguins are the athletic teams of Youngstown State University of Youngstown, Ohio. The university is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, and the Penguins compete in football as membe ...
compete in the Missouri Valley Football Conference
The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...
. The Penguins, noted participants in FCS (I-AA) football, play their games at Stambaugh Stadium
Stambaugh Stadium, officially Arnold D. Stambaugh Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, on the campus of Youngstown State University. The stadium was built in 1982, and is primarily used for American football. It ...
and enjoy one of the more supportive fan bases. All other YSU athletic teams compete in the Horizon League
The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region.
The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...
, which does not sponsor football. The Youngstown State men and women's basketball teams hold their games at Youngstown State's Beeghly Center
The Beeghly Physical Education Center, or simply Beeghly Center, is a 6,300-seat multi-purpose arena in Youngstown, Ohio. The arena, built at a cost of $5.5 million and named for local businessman Leon A. Beeghly, opened on December 2, 1972. It ...
. The teams average about 2,500 fans per game, a number that rose with a new style of play under former Head Coach Jerry Slocum
Jerry Slocum is an American historian, collector and author specializing on the field of mechanical puzzles. He worked as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft prior to retiring and dedicating his life to puzzles.
His personal puzzle collection, numb ...
. In addition, the YSU baseball and softball teams have enjoyed local support and success. The baseball team reached the NCAA super-regionals in 2005, and the softball team did so in 2006.
Government and politics
Youngstown is governed by a mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
who is elected every four years and limited to a maximum of two terms. Mayors are traditionally inaugurated on or around January 2. The city has tended to elect Democratic mayors since the late 1920s because of the local unions' support for Democratic candidates for office. Youngstown's mayor is Jamael Tito Brown. Jay Williams was the city's first African-American mayor and its first independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
mayor since 1922. Williams belonged to the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with the stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets". He left his position in Youngstown to become President Barack Obama's auto czar The Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry was an ''ad hoc'' group of United States cabinet-level and other officials that was formed by President Obama to deal with the financial bailout of automakers Chrysler and General Motors.
Based on a ...
, directing the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry The Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry was an ''ad hoc'' group of United States cabinet-level and other officials that was formed by President Obama to deal with the financial bailout of automakers Chrysler and General Motors.
Based on a ...
.
Residents elect an eight-member city council composed of representatives of the city's seven wards and a council president. The council traditionally meets every first and third Wednesday of the month. Meanwhile, the board of control, chaired by the Mayor, oversees contracts for public projects within the municipal limits.
In the Ohio General Assembly
The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...
, Youngstown is located in the 58th State Representative District, represented by Michele Lepore-Hagan
Michele Lepore-Hagan (born April 4, 1955) is the Representative of the 58th district of the Ohio House of Representatives. She defeated three other opponents in the Democratic primary to take the nomination. She is married to Bob Hagan, who served ...
( D), and in the 33rd Senate District, represented by Michael Rulli
Michael A. Rulli (born March 11, 1969) is an American politician serving as an Ohio State Senator from the 33rd District. In 2018, Rulli defeated Democrat John Boccieri, an incumbent member of the Ohio House of Representatives and former Congress ...
( R). Federally, Youngstown is located in Ohio's 13th congressional district and has been represented by Tim Ryan ( D) since 2003. Its federal senators are Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Campbell Brown (; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Ohio, a seat which he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Ohio's ...
( D) and Rob Portman
Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Ohio since 2011. A member of the Republican Party ...
( R). Like many urban areas in the U.S., Youngstown is a Democratic stronghold, although the remainder of Mahoning County has been trending to the right in recent elections. Youngstown has supported Democratic politicians in statewide elections throughout its history, including Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Campbell Brown (; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Ohio, a seat which he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Ohio's ...
, Ted Strickland
Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the 68th governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ...
, and Richard Cordray. Youngstown has become a political backdrop for both Democrats and Republicans who go to the area to campaign on economic development and jobs.
Crime
Crime has been a lingering problem in many of the Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions and ...
's big and small urban communities, hampering economic recovery. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Youngstown was nationally identified with gangland slayings often committed with car bombs. The town gained the nicknames "Murdertown, USA" and "Bomb City, USA," while the phrase "Youngstown tune-up" became a nationally popular slang term for car-bomb assassination. The image of Youngstown's association with crime was reinforced by the construction of prisons inside the metropolitan area. As of 2012, three adult correctional facilities continue to operate within city limits: the Mahoning County Justice Center the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center
Northeast Ohio Correctional Center is a private medium-security prison for men located in Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio, operated by CoreCivic under contract with the United States Marshals Service and the State of Ohio.
As of September 2017 ...
, and the Ohio State Penitentiary
The Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) is a 502-inmate capacity supermax Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction prison in Youngstown, Ohio.
Throughout the last two centuries, there have been two institutions with the name Ohio Penitent ...
.
For decades, Youngstown was a haven for organized crime, and related corruption was ingrained into the fabric of its society. A 2000 publication in ''The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'' listed a "chief of police, the outgoing prosecutor, the sheriff, the county engineer, members of the local police force, a city law director, several defense attorneys, politicians, judges, and a former assistant U.S. attorney" as controlled by the Mob
Mob or MOB may refer to:
Behavioral phenomena
* Crowd
* Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication
Crime and law enforcement
* American Mafia, also known as the Mob
* Irish Mob, a US crimin ...
. The city accelerated measures to limit the influence of organized crime upon all sectors of municipal life. In 2006 Youngstown was ranked by Morgan Quitno Press
Morgan Quitno Press is a research and publishing company founded in 1989 and based in Lawrence, Kansas. The company compiled annual reference books of US state and city statistics. Its primary volumes included State Rankings, Health Care State Ran ...
, a Kansas-based publishing and research company, as the 9th most dangerous city in the United States. After The Saturday Evening Post framed Youngstown as "Crimetown U.S.A.", there was an interest by many to create documentaries or podcasts to get in-depth information about the corruption unfolding in the city. Released in July 2022, Marc Smerling released a podcast titled "Crooked City" to share some of those stories.
Education
Youngstown is served by the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County
The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County has 15 branches that serve 10 communities in Mahoning County, Ohio.
In 2005, the library loaned more than 1.8 million items to its 122,000 cardholders. Total holdings are over 686,000 volumes w ...
system, with libraries located in the Downtown (Main), Brownlee Woods, East High, Newport, and Schenley (Michael Kusalaba) neighborhoods.
Primary and secondary
The Youngstown City School District
Youngstown City School District is the public school system for Youngstown, Ohio.
Schools High schools
* Chaney High School
*Choffin Career and Technical Center
* East High School
*Youngstown Rayen Early College
Intermediate school
*Rayen Earl ...
manages all public education within the city. Since 2015, the state government has overseen the district's operation due to district mismanagement. The district's high school graduation rate has improved since the takeover, from 65% in 2015 to 88% in 2020. YCSD currently operates six elementary schools
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
, three middle schools
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
, and three high schools
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, as well as one alternative school and one technical school
In the United States, a technical school is a type of two-year college that covers specialized fields such as business, finance, hospitality, tourism, construction, engineering, visual arts, information technology and community work.
Associa ...
. The district extensively built new schools throughout the late 2000s, and sold many of its older buildings to local private schools.
At one time, the city had eight dedicated public high schools ( Chaney, East, North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
, Rayen, South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
, Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
, Youngstown Early College, and Choffin Career and Technical Center), but since the 1990s, neighborhood schools have been merged to result in just Chaney High School
Chaney High School is a public high school in Youngstown, Ohio, Youngstown, Ohio, United States. It is one of four secondary schools in the Youngstown City School District. Athletic teams compete as the Chaney Cowboys and Cowgirls in the Ohio High ...
on the city's West Side and East High School on the East Side, with Youngstown Rayen Early College and Choffin Career and Technical Center as district alternatives. The Early College
The Early College High School Initiative in the United States allows students to receive a high school diploma and an associate degree, or up to two years of college credit, by taking a mixture of high school and college classes. This differs fr ...
program, in cooperation with Youngstown State University, enables middle and high school students to attend classes both on campus and at YCSD schools and earn college credit.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown once oversaw more than 20 schools within the city. As a result of dwindling enrollment, only four Catholic school
Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
s now operate within Youngstown proper. These include two primary schools – St. Christine's School an
St. Joseph the Provider School
– and two secondary schools, Cardinal Mooney High School on the South Side and Ursuline High School on the North Side. Several additional Catholic schools operate in the region which accept Youngstown students.
Youngstown hosts a small number of private schools. These include Valley Christian School, a nondenominational K-12 school; Akiva Academy, a progressive K–8 school in the Jewish Community Center; and the Montessori
The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...
School of the Mahoning Valley, which offers alternative learning environments for students ranging from preschool to eighth grade. There are also various smaller, K-8 charter academies in the city, such as the Stambaugh Charter Academy and South Side Academy.
Higher education
Youngstown State University, the primary institution of higher learning in the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, traces its origins to a local YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
program that began offering college-level courses in 1908. YSU joined the Ohio system of higher education in 1967. The university has an enrollment of about 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students within seven colleges; the Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Science & Education; College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM
Stem or STEM may refer to:
Plant structures
* Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang
* Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure
* Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
); Willamson College of Business; Bitonte College of Health and Human Services; Cliffe College of Creative Arts; College of Graduate Studies; and the Sokolov Honors College. The campus is just north of the city's downtown and south of Youngstown's historic Fifth Avenue district, a neighborhood of Tudor-, Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
-, and Spanish Colonial Revival-style homes.
YSU offers tuition rates that are lower than the average of other public universities in the University System of Ohio. The university's assets include the Dana School of Music, an All-Steinway school. The Dana School of Music is one of the six oldest continuously operating schools of music in the United States. The Williamson College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, also known as AACSB International, is an American professional organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to ...
(AACSB). YSU also offers doctoral degrees in educational leadership and physical therapy as well as a doctorate in mathematics in cooperation with Rhodes University, and is a sponsor of the Northeast Ohio Medical University BS-MD program with the University of Akron
The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...
, Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923. ...
, and Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...
. YSU engineering students may also pursue doctoral studies in cooperation with the University of Akron and Cleveland State University.
Eastern Gateway Community College operates one of its two campuses in Downtown Youngstown. It offers 60 majors in the areas of business technologies, information technologies, engineering technologies, health and public services. The degrees offered are Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Applied Business, Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Technical Studies, and Associate of Individualized Studies.
Media
Print
'' The Vindicator'' is the sole daily newspaper in the city, currently published as a zoned edition of Warren's ''Tribune Chronicle
The ''Tribune Chronicle'' is a daily morning newspaper serving Warren, Ohio and the Mahoning Valley area of the United States. The newspaper claims to be the second oldest in the U.S. state of Ohio. '' in broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
. It formerly competed with the Warren-based paper, and the Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
-based ''Morning Journal'', although they primarily covered their respective counties, with limited coverage of Mahoning County and Youngstown, until in June 2019 it was announced that ''The Vindicator'' would cease publication by mid-August of the same year. Although this newspaper carries the name of the old ''Vindicator'', its scope is comparatively limited, with the majority of previous ''Vindicator'' journalists not being carried over to the new edition. Other newspapers that print in Youngstown include bi-monthly ''The Business Journal'', ''The Metro Monthly'', and the bi-weekly ''The Jambar'', published by the students of Youngstown State University on Tuesdays and Thursdays while classes are in session.
Television
Youngstown is served by 10 television stations, three of which are repeaters of TV stations in other cities, and a fourth coming in the near future from Pittsburgh NBC affiliate WPXI in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania, that would easily penetrate Youngstown pending FCC approval. This is unusual for a mid-sized city near large metro areas such as Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Nearby Akron, with a larger population than Youngstown and Warren combined, has no local television stations and relies on Cleveland for its local news. The community's 273,480 television households make the Youngstown market the nation's 106th largest, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The market is served by stations affiliated with major American networks including: WFMJ-TV
WFMJ-TV (channel 21) is a television station in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. The station is locally owned by the Maag family. WFMJ-TV's studios are located on West Boardman Street in downtown Youngstown, and ...
(channel 21, NBC), WYTV (channel 33, ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
), WYFX-LD (channel 32/62 & 27.2 on WKBN-DT2, Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
), WKBN-TV
WKBN-TV (channel 27) is a television station in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside low-power Fox affiliate WYFX-LD (channel 62); Nexstar also provides certain services to ABC affili ...
(channel 27, CBS), MY-YTV (channel 33.2, MNTV), and WBCB (channel 21.2, The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
). WFMJ-TV and its digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
WBCB are both locally owned & operated by the Maag family, owners of ''The Vindicator''. The rest of Youngstown's commercial television stations are either owned and operated by Nexstar Media Group
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
or operated by Nexstar through a shared services
Shared services is the provision of a service by one part of an organization or group, where that service had previously been found, in more than one part of the organization or group. Thus the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and th ...
agreement. Western Reserve Public Media
WNEO (channel 45) is a non-commercial educational television station licensed to Alliance, Ohio, United States. It is simulcast full-time over satellite station WEAO (channel 49) in Akron, Ohio. Both are member stations of PBS and jointly br ...
airs on channel 45 (WNEO) from Alliance, Ohio
Alliance is a city in eastern Stark County, Ohio, United States. With a small district lying in adjacent Mahoning County, the city is approximately northeast of Canton, southwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 21 ...
, and channel 49 (WEAO) from Akron is a member of PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
.
Radio
Youngstown is served by 37 different radio stations in the metropolitan area making it the 119th largest radio market in the United States. Stations include 17 on the AM band
Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...
and 20 on the FM band. The majority of the most powerful and popular radio stations in the Youngstown-Warren market are divided between two national media companies: iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
and Cumulus Media.
Transportation
On June 23, 2016, Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
launched services in Youngstown, covering all of Mahoning County and most of Trumbull County.
Public transit
The Youngstown area is served by the Western Reserve Transit Authority
The Western Reserve Transit Authority is the operator of mass transportation in Mahoning County, Ohio. Service is provided throughout metropolitan Youngstown
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat ...
(WRTA) bus system, which is supported through Mahoning County property and sales taxes. WRTA, whose main terminal is in the downtown area, provides service throughout the city and into surrounding Mahoning and Trumbull counties. The downtown terminal serves as the Youngstown area's Greyhound terminal.
Regional airport
The Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport was served by three airlines ( Allegiant Air, Sun Country Airlines
Sun Country Airlines is an American ultra-low-cost passenger and cargo airline, and the eleventh largest in the US by passengers carried. Based at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport with headquarters on airport property, Sun Coun ...
and Via Air
Via Airlines was a US domestic regional airline offering scheduled service across the United States. The airline originally focused on scheduled Essential Air Service from Raleigh County Memorial Airport in Beckley, West Virginia, Parkersburg/Ma ...
, in order of market share), five rental car agencies Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Ant ...
, National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
, Enterprise
Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to:
Business and economics
Brands and enterprises
* Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company
* Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company
* Enterprise ...
, Budget
A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...
, Avis
Avis is Latin for bird and may refer to:
Aviation
*Auster Avis, a 1940s four-seat light aircraft developed from the Auster Autocrat (abandoned project)
*Avro Avis, a two-seat biplane
*Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate Avis, an early aircraft built by ...
. Currently no airlines serve the Youngstown Regional Airport, Allegiant Air was the last airline to service the airport ending on January 4, 2018. The nearest airport with commercial air flights as of November 2020 is Akron-Canton Airport, 59 miles to the west. Also within 70 minutes drive are the Pittsburgh International Airport and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Rail
In the vicinity of the WRTA terminal is a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
station. The historic terminal building served B&O trains until 1971. Since converted into a banquet hall, it served Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's '' Three Rivers'' (Chicago-New York) as a train station from 1995 to 2005. The nearest Amtrak service is the '' Capitol Limited'' at Alliance station
Alliance station is an Amtrak train station in Alliance, Ohio, United States. Located at 820 East Main Street, the station consists of an uncovered platform on the south side of the east-west tracks, with a shelter and a small parking lot nearby.
...
42 miles to the southwest. The local railroads in Akron now serve freight trains exclusively.
Sister cities
* Spišská Nová Ves
Spišská Nová Ves (; hu, Igló; german: (Zipser) Neu(en)dorf) is a town in the Košice Region of Slovakia. The town is located southeast of the High Tatras in the Spiš region, and lies on both banks of the Hornád River. It is the biggest tow ...
, Slovakia, since 1991
See also
* List of people from Youngstown, Ohio
The following are notable or famous people who were all born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Youngstown, Ohio. Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County. The municipality is situat ...
* "Youngstown" (Bruce Springsteen song)
References
Bibliography
* Aley, Howard C. (1975). ''A Heritage to Share: The Bicentennial History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley''. Youngstown, OH: The Bicentennial Commission of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio.
* Blue, Frederick J.; Jenkins, William D.; Lawson, William H.; Reedy, Joan M. (1995). ''Mahoning Memories: A History of Youngstown and Mahoning County''. Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company. .
* Brody, David (1960). ''Steelworkers in America''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
.
* Bruno, Robert (1999). ''Steelworker Alley: How Class Works in Youngstown''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press
The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in th ...
. .
* Fuechtmann, Thomas G. (1989). ''Steeples and Stacks: Religion and Steel Crisis in Youngstown''. New York: Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
. .
* Jenkins, William D. (1990). ''Steel Valley Klan: The Ku Klux Klan in Ohio's Mahoning Valley''. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. .
* Knepper, George W. (1989). ''Ohio and Its People''. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. .
* Lemann, Nicholas (1991). ''The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America.'' New York: Vintage Books. .
* Linkon, Sherry Lee; Russo, John (2002). ''Steeltown U.S.A.: Work & Memory in Youngstown''. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. .
* Warner, Jack L. (1964). ''My First Hundred Years in Hollywood''. New York: Random House.
External links
*
{{Authority control
Cities in Ohio
Cities in Mahoning County, Ohio
Cities in Trumbull County, Ohio
1796 establishments in the Northwest Territory
County seats in Ohio
Populated places established in 1796
Western Reserve, Ohio