Home Page

     In January 1937, the Ohio River Valley was hit by a massive flood. Unfortunately for the inhabitants of Ironton, the city lies on a high flood plain which is 5,000 feet wide upstream and 2, 500 feet wide downstream. This led to major flooding throughout the city. Seventy-five percent of Ironton was underwater for ten days. Over this time period, 3,000 dwellings, 295 stores, 12 schools, 1 hospital, and 15 industrial establishments were flooded. Of the approximately 16,621 residents of Ironton, 13,300 were displaced by the flood waters.

     In 1858, eighty-one people volunteered to be firemen in the first two Ironton firehouses. The first firestation was built on Fourth and Buckhorn Street with Frank McCarthy, Frank Ferrie, and Thomas Jeffers as firemen.

     Religion has always played a major role in the daily lives of Lawrence County residents. Many of the prominent men and women of Lawrence County were prominent in the development or establishment of our local churches. John Campbell, the Father of Ironton, designed his new city with a church on every corner. This page is dedicated to their memories.

          Central Christian Church is located on the corner of Fifth and Quincy Streets in Ironton, Ohio. On November 11, 1867, a meeting was called to form a congregation which would become Central Christian. The first members of the church were George M. Keyes, William Wood, James Price, Walter Price, Charles Myers, and John Reece. The first officers of the church included elders and deacons. James Price, Walter Price, James B. Bailey and George W. Keyes were the elders. John Reece and William Richardson were the deacons.

          The First Church of the Nazarene was originally located in a white frame building measuring twenty feet by thirty-six feet. George Erskine of Chillicothe, Ohio was the first pastor of the church. He also chose the future home the church at the corner of Fourth Street and Pleasant Street.
          In 1913, Mrs. Anna Howe obtained permission to use the building for a Sunday school. Hers was the first Sunday school in the church’s history.

          The First Evangelical United Brethren Church is one of the oldest churches in Lawrence County. From 1902 to 1903, Reverend A. A. Chapman met with E. J. Walburn, Isaac Massie, and other Brethren people to discuss building a church. Reverend W. H. Wright was the presiding elder at that time.
          The first church serves were held at the white chapel on the corner of Fourth and Pleasant Street.

     Lawrence County, Ohio has many unique places and place names. We are currently researching different places and will post our research online. If you have any information on cities, towns or places in Lawrence County, you can contact us and we will post the information online.

Burlington

     Coal Grove is located west of Ironton. The village went through a few names before it became Coal Grove. John Peters, Sr. suggested one of the first names the village went by, Petersburg. The name was not popular among the villages inhabitants and a new name was voted in. Coal Grove
     The new name came from the abundant coal in the area and a grove of trees near the coaling station. Since the area was well known for these two features, the name Coal Grove was used.