Little Iron Railroad Was Going Nowhere
By Connie Jo Justice
I.T. December 3, 1967
Submitted by Lorna Marks
In March of 1849, the Ohio Legislature enacted a law that would eventually connect the northernmost tracts of Lawrence County and the booming furnaces of Washington Township to the Ohio River.
The legislature enacted a law that provided for the company which sponsored the construction of the Iron Railroad from the Jackson County southern line to the Ohio River.
But in the year 1850, the little Iron Railroad went nowhere. It extended a meager 13 miles into Lawrence County from a point on the river, serving as a transportation source for a booming local iron industry.
It was not until 1881 that the railroad from Ironton became linked anywhere. The Scioto Valley came first, then a narrow-gauge extension of the Iron Railroad, owned by local businessmen under the name of the Iron Railroad Co., followed in 1883 by the Chesapeake and Ohio and the Norfolk and Western in 1892.
By this time in the latter part of the 19th century, the three furnaces of Washington Township, Olive, Pioneer, and Washington, were thriving and would grow even more due to the new access to Ohio River transportation. The three furnaces were built by John CAMPBELL, John PETERS, “and others.”
But in 1850, Olive Furnace, which still stands in the township today, was the only furnace established. John PETERS, listed in the 1850 census as 36 years of age and owning property valued at $40,000, was the iron master of Olive Furnace.
Also tabulated in the census, microfilm, which is available for study in Briggs-Lawrence County Public Library, were 646 residents. The breakdown included 113 families living in 112 dwellings, totaling 334 males and 312 females. There were 306 white males, 289 white females, 28 colored males, and 23 colored females residing in the township. Of that number, 99 persons over 20 could not read or write, and 34 had attended school within the year. In that order of frequency, a large percentage of the Washington Township population was born in the states of Ohio, Virginia, and Kentucky.
The 1960 Washington Township census reported 970 residents.
The township’s first settlers were James BURT, who built a cabin in 1828 in the area of Washington Furnace, and David WOLF, W. S. FERRELL, John WORTHINGTON, Charles WORTHINGTON, and John BRUCE.
Lyman DANIELS taught the first school in the township, composed of 25 pupils, in a log cabin in the year 1840.
The 1850 census noted that most of the employable residents were engaged in furnace work, general labor, and farming, and there were several clerks, wagon-makers, and ministers.
Predominant township names noted on the ledger were ROLLINS, ANDREWS, TURNER, McCLEARY, JENKINS, JONES, EDWARDS, EVANS, WILLIAMS, ALLEN, and PHILIPS.
Unusual name spellings included HUGHY, COWEN, RUPE, PHILIPS, DELANY, TAM, MOLER, DOCHERTY, THAILER, RAULINS, ACKERS, FARREL, FARLY, WHIT, and RANDAL.
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