Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor

Rich in resources, Ohio has long been a center of manufacturing in the United States. The state’s access to the Great Lakes, network of navigable rivers and deposits of coal and iron help to build a nation.  The history of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley region is inextricably linked to the iron and steel industry; and in turn, its history has affected the development of the entire state.  The valley’s first blast furnace was built in 1803, the same year that Ohio became a state. From this small beginning, the Mahoning Valley became one of the leading steel producing regions in the U.S. In the post-World War II era, however, Youngstown’s steel industry declined steadily until most of the area’s mills closed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.