BUILT IN THE BUCKEYE STATE

America’s Industrial Revolution was driven by countless innovators willing to take a risk. The state of Ohio was home to many early industrialists whose visionary efforts launched the state’s manufacturing sector and strengthened its ties to agriculture.

In the 1700s, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin comprised the original Northwest Territory. The early “Ohio Country” took its name after the river called O-y-o by the Iroquois, meaning “Great River.” In his book The Pioneers, historian David McCullough described early settlement along the Ohio River by farmers and merchants who migrated from the colonies following the Revolutionary War.

Farmers began clearing the land as they moved north and northwest from the river into more fertile, flat land. As the need for farm equipment grew, Ohio’s iron and steelmaking industries also took root. In 1802, the first blast furnace west of the Alleghenies was erected in northeast Ohio near Youngstown. Deposits of black coal were discovered near Youngstown in 1845. The abundance of coal was a major contributor to growth of the iron industry in the Mahoning