Ashtabula

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Ashtabula
Aerial view of the port of Ashtabula
Aerial view of the port of Ashtabula
Location of Ashtabula in Ohio
OHMap-doton-Ashtabula.png
Basic data
Foundation : 1803 (1891 inc.)
State : United States
State : Ohio
County : Ashtabula County
Coordinates : 41 ° 53 ′  N , 80 ° 48 ′  W Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′  N , 80 ° 48 ′  W
Time zone : Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Residents : 20,962 (as of: 2000)
Population density : 1,069.5 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 20.0 km 2  (approx. 8 mi 2 ) of
which 19.6 km 2  (approx. 8 mi 2 ) are land
Height : 205 m
Postcodes : 44004-44005
Area code : +1 440
FIPS : 39-02638
GNIS ID : 1048468
Website : ci.ashtabula.oh.us
Ashtabulacoalcars e2.jpg
Coal transport

Ashtabula [ æʃtəˈbjuːlə ] is a city in Ashtabula County in the state of Ohio in the United States . The city, founded in 1803, lies at the mouth of the Ashtabula River and is an important coal port on Lake Erie . The river and port are the subject of superfund measures due to past industrial exploitation . In 2000 Ashtabula had 20,962 inhabitants. The population has been declining since the 1960s; According to the calculations of the United States Census Bureau, only 20,177 people lived here in 2006. The name Ashtabula comes from the Iroquois language and means "river of many fish".

geography

Ashtabula is located off Interstate 90 northeast of Cleveland . The total area of ​​the city is 20 km², of which 19.6 km² is land and 0.4 km² (= 2.2%) is water. Part of the urban area belongs to Ashtabula Township , the rest, however, to Saybrook Township .

In the north the city borders on Lake Erie, there is also the mouth of the Ashtabula River and the well-known port with the Ashtabula Harbor Light . There are two public beaches on the lakeshore.

history

Hubbard House

In the city there are several stations of the so-called Underground Railroad , with which African-American slaves escaped to the freedom waiting in Canada in the years before the civil war . The most famous of these stations is the Hubbard House , from which the refugees were able to leave for Ontario directly by boat .

Ashtabula was founded in 1803 and promoted to town in 1891. Ashtabula has been an important port for the loading of coal and iron ore since the late 19th century . During this period, many immigrants from Finland , Sweden and Italy came to the city, which led to ethnic conflicts on a daily basis. Although the descendants of these immigrants are decreasing, they still constitute a significant part of the urban population today.

Railway history

On December 29, 1876, Ashtabula suffered one of the worst rail accidents in United States history. Train number 5 of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway was crossing the bridge over the Ashtabula River when this steel structure collapsed under the load. The second locomotive and eleven passenger cars crashed into the frozen river some fifty meters below. The coal-fired stoves in the cars set the wreckage on fire. In the Ashtabula railway accident ( Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster or Ashtabula Horror ), 64 of the 159 train passengers were injured and 92 were killed.

economy

Railway systems in the port of the city.

The access to Lake Erie made Ashtabula an important port and economic center. In the 1950s, the area experienced a growth with its chemical industry, which increased cargo handling and Ashtabula became one of the most important port cities on the Great Lakes. An operation of Rockwell International in the west of the city on the Ohio State Route 20 produced brakes for the space shuttle program of NASA an enriched uranium and further processed at the 21st Street that is why FEMA , the city in 1990 on its list of potentially by ICBMs set vulnerable targets.

Demographics

At the time of the United States Census 2000, Ashtabula had 20,962 people in the city. The population density was 1072 people per km². There were 9151 housing units at an average of 468 per km². The population of Ashtabula was 84.69% White , 9.79% Black or African American , 0.29% Native American , 0.40% Asian , 0.05% Pacific Islander , 2.51% said other races belong to and 2.26% named two or more races. 5.32% of the population declared to be Hispanic or Latinos of any race.

16.5% of the population have Italian , 14.6% German , 8.1% Irish and 8.1% English ancestors. 93.1% spoke English and 5.4 % spoke Spanish as their first language .

The residents of Ashtabula were distributed to 8435 households out of which 32.6% were living in children under the age of 18. 41.9% of households were married, 17.4% had a female head of the household without a husband and 35.7% were not families. 30.6% of households were made up of individuals and someone lived in 13.3% of all households aged 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.03.

The urban population was divided into 27.6% minors, 8.8% 18–24 year olds, 28.1% 25–44 year olds, 20.5% 45–64 year olds and 15.0% aged 65 and over or more. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 women there were 88.1 men. For every 100 women over the age of 18, there were 83.3 men.

The median household income in Ashtabula was 27,354 US dollars and the median family income reached the amount of 33,454 US dollars. The median income for men was $ 28,436 compared to $ 22,490 for women. The per capita income in Ashtabula was $ 14,034. 21.4% of the population and 17.8% of families had an income below the poverty line , including 31.2% of minors and 13.6% of those aged 65 and over.

Development of the population since 1900
year 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2003
Residents 12,949 18,266 22,082 23,301 21,405 23,696 24,559 24,313 23,449 21,633 20,962 20,355 *
*) Estimate by the US Census Bureau

In the first half of the 20th century, the population of Ashtabula had almost doubled. It reached its highest value in the US Census in 1960 and has been falling since then.

Twin town

Ashtabula has a twin town:

sons and daughters of the town

Web links