The following are historical photographs of Lowellville, Ohio Double click on each picture below to view a larger version.

Lowellville
by Sarah A. Cart

Community origins
The picturesque Village of Lowellville sits deeply nestled on the banks of the Mahoning River in the foothills of the Alleghenies. Although settlers from the eastern United States arrived here as early as 1800, the village was not platted until the 1830s, when talk of a canal in the Mahoning Valley inspired action. The Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal didn't arrive until the 1840s, but it was modern transportation for its day and Lowellville was in place to make use of it.

Early settlers found here rich limestone deposits, an important ingredient for foundry work. In the 1850s, limestone from Lowellville quarries was being used extensively throughout the Mahoning Valley thanks to the canal, and later to the railroad. The last barge to run on the canal, in 1872, was carrying limestone from Lowellville upstream to Brier Hill.
Coal and iron ore were also abundant in the Lowellville hills and in the 1840s a blast furnace arrived from Pittsburgh, the first stack in the valley to burn bituminous coal as fuel. By 1880, foundry iron was being produced and that became Lowellville's leading economic activity in the late 19th century.
By 1900 the local supplies of coal and iron ore were fairly well depleted, but now Lowellville, which wasn't incorporated until 1890, could import the raw materials necessary for making iron via the railroad. After 1900, the village's population grew markedly due both to the influx of immigrants to man the new Youngstown Sheet & Tube steel-making operation upstream in East Youngstown and to the new interurban electric line from Youngstown, thus connecting the village's industries with those of the rest of the valley's growing industrial district.

How they got where they are
Lowellville serves as a visual gateway to Ohio's portion of the Mahoning River. As the valley gradually opens up and flattens out, the last of the Allegheny foothills serve to create a natural alliance between Lowellville and its next-door neighbors upstream, the communities of Struthers and Campbell. That alliance was further strengthened in the 20th century by the communities' shared experience as the American steel industry rose, and then collapsed.
Yet the steepness of the valley at Lowellville set it apart from its neighbors as well and engendered a measure of self-reliance. Its topography limited what large steel companies could do here and fostered more compact operations locally. In general, the village's residents worked for the steel mills upstream, or for the railroads, or in small local businesses, with a good-sized farming contingent just above the valley.

Near the end of World War I Sharon Steel Hoop (SSH, of Sharon, PA) pushed into the Mahoning Valley, buying two small Lowellville concerns, Youngstown Iron & Steel (YIS) and Ohio Iron & Steel (OIS). YIS owned a three-furnace open-hearth plant and OIS owned a small, old-fashioned blast furnace named "Mary." SSH set out to integrate the whole property. Using iron from Mary, it enlarged the former YIS plant to six furnaces, then shipped steel from Lowellville to Sharon for rolling. The economies of that arrangement were reversed by the mid-1960s, however, and the operation closed.
The late 1970s were a desperately challenging time for those valley communities whose welfare were tied to the metals industries, and Lowellville was not exempted. Somehow some of its smaller firms, like Falcon Foundry, which opened at the east end of the village in 1953, managed to survive but the times were tough for everyone who called the Mahoning Valley home.
Despite many difficult years, however, Lowellville's original small-town character and flavor, self-contained, with everything one might need close by and within walking distance, remain intact today; its residents live in older stable residential neighborhoods with older, decent housing. Successful sustainable development here will take into account what Lowellville once was and enhance it, while maintaining its charm.
The village's unique setting apart from other communities has also fostered a depth of loyalty evidenced in the popularity of long-established local restaurants and the annual Mt. Carmel Society summer festival.

Projects, concepts, & ideas in progress
The floor of the valley limits room for expansion, but that may be a blessing in disguise; those limits minimize the possibility that existing community amenities (the school system, utilities, etc.) will be overtaxed. While its well-defined commercial downtown is probably underutilized and it could accommodate some additional development along the river, the village's physical characteristics dictate that any such project would have to be done with moderation.
Two existing school buildings, a small elementary one south of the river and the high school on the north hill, will become vacant in the near future. Both structures can be re-used, perhaps as community centers; the high school could be transformed into senior citizen housing. And the building that for over 100 years housed the First Presbyterian Church was recently sold; hopefully, its charm will inspire someone to do something wonderful and sustainable with it.

Lowellville's steep slopes and elevation differences are striking features that enchant visitors. From a setting on the south side of the river just southwest of the village center is a striking view to the east as the river winds through the steep valley toward Pennsylvania; with minimal effort, this ideal vista spot could blossom as a destination. Lowellville has tremendous potential for additional bike trails and greenways, and the village would also benefit from improved means for visitors to get in and out of downtown.
An abandoned railroad right-of-way on the south side of the Village could be transformed fairly easily into a bike/hiking trail that could originate at U.S. Rt. 224 in Poland Township and link, via First Street, with the seven-mile-long Stavich Bike Trail.

That trail follows the river's edge from New Castle, PA, west through Lowellville and Struthers and provides an attractive means for a visual tour of the valley. Were the Stavich Trail to extend even further west, through Campbell and Youngstown to Mill Creek Park and up the Mahoning River and Niles, it could eventually evolve into the Mahoning River Scenic Byway and link with the Great Ohio Lake-to-River Greenway.
Two important regional district designations, Ohio Scenic Byway and National Heritage Corridor, would be beneficial to the pursuit of such a possibility. At the eastern end, such a hike-and-bike trail could hook into similar byways that already extend from New Castle down the Beaver Valley to the Ohio River, from which one route then extends farther east from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., and another extends west through East Liverpool where it ties into the Ohio River Scenic By-way all the way to Cincinnati.
Other recreational possibilities for the community include scenic Lowellville Road, which travels along the south bank of the river, as the axis for a nature trail; the natural setting of Gray's Run, a tributary of the Mahoning River that flows from north to south on the north side of the Village; and on the river itself, which would be accessed from a point along Water Street.
Several locations in Lowellville hold tremendous potential as areas that can be recycled into economically viable and sustainable locations for industry.
One such possibility is the SSH brownfield on Lowellville's western edge. Environmental analysis and probable environmental clean-up would be necessary, but then the terraced lower level could be home to light industries; a well-considered plan for development would be required.
Another possibility is the abandoned Pennsylvania & Lake Erie Railroad right-of-way that runs on the north side of the river roughly from the northwest uphill to the southeastern-most corner of the village. The potential exists, were utilities and a service road extended here, for various one-acre lots to be made available for small industries.

Several smaller industries that blend well into their surroundings sit at the village's east end, including Rex Machine, Falcon Foundry, and Aluminum Color Industries. Additional sites for light industry sit east of Falcon.

Moving forward
The SSH site on Lowellville's western edge would be a logical extension of the Mahoning River Corridor of Opportunity (MRCO), a pro-active public/private partnership formed in 1995 to facilitate the reclamation, redevelopment and promotion of 1,470 acres of industrial brownfield along the river in Struthers, Campbell and Youngstown.
The MRCO's integrated model for redevelopment relies on a variety of enterprises along the way; industries that are smaller, more sustainable and less hazardous to the surrounding residents and natural habitat; as well as businesses that blend their missions responsibly with the Mahoning River's recreational attributes.

Another undertaking from which Lowellville can benefit is a U.S. EPA Sustainable Development Challenge Grant entitled "A Revitalization Strategy for the Mahoning River." Through this effort, energies throughout the Mahoning Valley are being focused on the responsible reuse of brownfield property, establishing sustainable business ventures, and the creation of an integrated system of riparian zones, recreational areas and green space.
And currently, the Mahoning River Education Project (MREP) is being introduced in several schools in the valley; within a few years, it is hoped the program will be a part of the curricula in every school district in the river's watershed. A partnership between various public and private entities, MREP extends the classroom to the banks of the river, feeding into science, history, language arts, social studies, arts and math curricula, educating area youth about this resource in their midst and linking them with community leaders. Through enabling young people to understand what a healthy river can mean for their future, MREP hopes to ensure that within a generation the Mahoning will be restored and its watershed communities, revitalized.
Because Lowellville's downtown sits right along the Mahoning, this education program and the ecological restoration of the river, will benefit this community in ways other communities can only dream about.

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