Ashtabula, Ohio

The site of Ashtabula was settled by such European Americans beginning in 1803.

While Ohio was a free state, many refugee slaves still felt at risk of slavecatchers here, particularly after the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was passed.

On December 29, 1876, one of the nation's most notorious rail accidents occurred, known as the Ashtabula River railroad disaster, Ashtabula Horror, or Ashtabula bridge disaster.

However, in July 1890, the city council dispossessed him of the street railroad and associated franchises via a disputable court decision.

The city was incorporated in 1891.

The ferry was launched in 1906 and operated successfully for many decades.

This was an addition to the council-manager charter, originally passed in 1914, and served as a model for the National Municipal League.

In 1915, Ashtabula became the first city in the United States to adopt a form of voting called proportional representation.

Voters repealed the system in 1929, using it for the last time in 1931.

USS Ashtabula (AO-51) was commissioned in 1943 and served until 1982.

By 1950, this event was held as a public ceremony under the auspices of Mother of Sorrows parish.

On August 10, 1958, a natural gas leak was ignited by electrical equipment or lighting in neighboring Andover, Ohio.

It collided with the steamer SS Ben Morell in September 1959, causing the ferry to sink.

The population in the City of Ashtabula grew steadily until 1970 but has declined in recent years due to industrial restructuring and loss of jobs.

In 1974, the Blessing of the Fleet became a community affair, with all of Ashtabula's religious and harbor community participating.

The city is also referenced in Bob Dylan's 1975 album Blood on the Tracks, in the song "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go".

Partially scrapped in 1995, Ashtabula was expended as a target in fleet exercises on October 15, 2000.

=== 2000 census === At the 2000 census, there were 20,962 people in 8,435 households, including 5,423 families, in the city.

The city was the site of the FinnFestUSA in 2007, a celebration of Finnish Americans.

In December 2008, ACMC added the first Cardiac Catheterization Lab (commonly known as the Cath Lab) in Ashtabula County.

=== 2010 census === At the 2010 census there were 19,124 people in 7,746 households, including 4,724 families, in the city.

A multi-year process of environmental cleanup of toxic wastes and soils was needed; cleanup concluded with river dredging in 2012–2014.

The coal pier became idled in 2016 due to declining demand for coal.

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The city had 17,975 people at the 2020 census.