The History of Memorial Hall in Ironton, Ohio, Taken From Various Newspaper Clippings
IR — Ironton Register
IR June 12, 1890 – Memorial Hall Defeated. The Memorial Hall project has encountered a serious obstacle, which is likely to prove fatal so far as the city’s association with it is concerned…
IR Oct. 2, 1890 – The Supreme Court is now studying the Memorial Hall case to see whether the Legislature had the right to pass the bill or no[t]. Solicitor Miller and Senator Richards presented the pro and cons of the matter to the Court in fine shape. A decision is not expected for several days.
IR Jan. 22, 1891 – Memorial Hall [Ironton, Ohio] Location. – It seems that the Council is split in two on the location of the Memorial Hall – the three lower wards in favor of the market space, and the three upper opposed.
IR Feb. 12, 1891 – Memorial Hall Location. – The question of the location of the Memorial Hall is coming to a point. The Council has offered the corner where the Mayor’s office and lockup are or the Market space, and the Grand Army post can take its choice.
So, at the meeting on Saturday night, the 21st, the members of the Post will settle the question. – As between those two points, the controversy will not be tumultuous. The city building lot is too small and cramped. And there are buildings already there.
To be sure, the city prison is no account, and never was, but was always a disgrace to the town, and might be removed, but that would require the building of a new engine house somewhere and procuring another Mayor’s office.
The location is well enough, but its space is small. – The Market space is preferable, but the issue will be whether either should be accepted. There is a strong sentiment in the East End of town that a lot in that region should be bought and the hall built there, and on this line, the battle will take place.
IR Feb. 12, 1891 – One man says he’s opposed to building a Memorial Hall on Market Space because he wants the good old fashion Market resumed sometime…
IR Apr. 23, 1891 – Memorial Hall Plans. – The Trustees of the Memorial Hall have had several meetings in the past week to consider and adopt, if possible, a plan for the Soldiers’ Memorial Hall.
Different architects presented four sets of drawings to the Board, and at a meeting held last Wednesday night, the contest was narrowed down to two plans. These were the designs of Crapsy? and Brown of Cincinnati and Mr. Yost, an architect in Columbus. Each of these is a beautiful design that would make the Memorial Hall one of the city’s most attractive points of interest.
The Board voted on adopting one of these plans Saturday night but disagreed, as it takes six of the nine votes in the Board to decide the matter, and then the plans are to be approved by Council. Another meeting was held Monday night when the Board adjourned till Wednesday evening. They hope to have something to present to Council at its meeting Friday night.
IR Apr. 30, 1891 – Memorial Hall – A Description of the Plans Adopted (two pencil sketches – one exterior and one interior)…
IR May 28, 1891 – The excavation has begun for the Memorial Hall.
IR May 28, 1891 – Memorial Hall Bids. – The bids for constructing the Memorial Hall were opened last Monday night. Architect Yost of Columbus was present.
There were 13 bids in all, but one of them, Levi Henry’s, was for the structure complete, and his figures were $37,800. The other bids were for the various parts of the work. Samuel Cook bid on the brickwork. Mr. Noel, of Portsmouth, on the stonework; T. R. Hall on the carpentry; Cricher & Owrey and a Columbus firm on the gas fitting and heating; Fillgrove Bros. and Miller & Markward on the roofing and galvanized ironwork. Miller & Shannan and Mr. Hicks on the painting; J. H. Slater on the glass; Thos. Mulligan on the excavation.
Any combination of the bids for parts of the work made the structure as much or more than Mr. Henry’s lump bid. Most of them were bearly what the architect had figured on, but the bids were far out of the way upon the brick and stonework. — It will be remembered that the architect filed his bond guaranteeing that if the entire edifice exceeded $25,000, he would forfeit the price of the plans. While the big figures seemed startling, Mr. Yost insisted that some of the principal bids were wild and that he held to his proposition that the hall should be built for the $25,000; and yet promises that that shall be the final result.
In the meantime, the trustees accepted the bid of Thos. Mulligan; and ordered him to go right to work, as the law requires the work shall be begun before the first of June. This was the only bid accepted. The trustees meet this Wednesday night again to report on the other bids and provide for such alterations of proposals as their authority will permit.
IR June 4, 1891 – No new feature has turned up in the Memorial Hall business. The excavation for the foundation goes on, and the trustees cling to the architect’s promises that the building’s cost will not exceed $25,000. The architect is now placing the specifications before contractors elsewhere, hoping to get bids below what has been received on the brickwork.
IR June 25, 1891 – Frank Hartman is getting out of stone for the Memorial Hall Foundation.
IR June 25, 1891 – The Memorial Hall contractor was figuring with the lumbermen last Monday for bids on that part of the work.
IR June 25, 1891 – The Council has ordered the Market House vacated by the 15th of July, and the venerable edifice will be removed.
IR July 9, 1891 – Work on the Memorial Hall foundation is progressing rapidly. A brother of Mr. McLain, the contractor, is in charge. The stonework will be up to the ground level in a few days.
IR July 16, 1891 – S. A. Winston is employed to oversee the construction of Memorial Hall for the Trustees.
IR July 16, 1891 – H. E. Kennedy, the assistant of Architect Yost, was here Monday to inspect the work on Memorial Hall.
IR July 30, 1891 – Two carloads of brick for the Memorial hall building arrived here last Monday. A sample is on exhibition at Winters’ drug store.
IR July 30, 1891 – The architect of the Memorial Hall is the architect of the Epileptic asylum at Gallipolis, for which bids are to be opened today.
IR July 30, 1891 – Mr. Bixby has adopted a design for an Ironton souvenir spoon. In the spoon bowl is an exquisitely engraved picture of Memorial Hall.
IR July 30, 1891 – In The Box. – The box in the cornerstone of Memorial Hall is pretty full. Here is a list of the contents:
- President and Cabinet,
- Governor and state officers,
- County and City officials,
- Trustees of Memorial Hall,
- Original members of the Committee,
- Building Committee,
- Library Trustees,
- Copies of city papers;
- The roster of Dick Lambert Post;
- Ed. Owens Post;
- Wm. Shafer Post,
- Baker Waller Post,
- John Bell Post,
- Geo. Booth Post,
- Tom Lambert Post,
- Campbell Post,
- G. A. R.:
- The roster of Dick Lambert Woman’s Relief Corps,
- Julia B. Foraker D. of V.,
- Will Winters Camp,
- Frank X. Boll Camp,
- Robt. Lincoln Camp,
- L. D. Marcum Camp,
- S. of V.:
- The roster of Co. K 2nd W. Va. Cal.,
- Ironton Zouaves of 1861,
- Co. H. 6th Ohio Cal.,
- Co. A. 18th Ohio Inf.:
- address of Geo. N. Gray and Leo Ebert:
- original poem by Jas. L. Todd,
- “Memorial Hall, oh yes!” “Market Square”;
- Memorial Hall ordinances of the City of Ironton;
- Act of Legislature and Brief of Supreme Court in mandamus;
- names of members of the 69th General Assembly, John K. Richards, Geo. H. Holliday, and W. W. Wiseman;
- names of Architect J. W. Yost,
- Contractor W. J. McClain,
- Foreman George McClain,
- Sup’t of Construction S. A. Winston;
- business cards of city banks;
- business card on the copperplate of E. Bixby;
- photograph of the business house and card of A. Winters;
- photograph of J. B Strobel’s baby;
- coins, 50c.,
- copper cent 1829;
- directory of the city of Ironton;
- copy of city ordinances;
- history of Memorial Hall from records of Post written by Col. E. Nigh;
- silk flag with G. A. R. badge woven in, contributed by S. L. Taylor;
- silk banner by Fred Moser;
- German coin by Geo. O’Berg;
- badges of G. A. R., W. R. C., D. of V., and S. of V.;
- copper coins of 1849 and 1856 by Dr. O. Ellison;
- photograph of Phillips Buggy Works and other articles.
IR Jan. 21, 1892 – The word “Memorial” covers a big slab in the front of Memorial Hall.
IR Feb. 4, 1892 – Workmen are putting the slate roof on Memorial Hall.
IR Mar. 3, 1892 – Mr. Anderson, the marble cutter, is making two beautiful slabs for Memorial Hall, one to contain the names of the G. A. R. committee; the other, the names of the trustees. The slabs are of Vermont marble and highly polished.
IR March 3, 1892 – small clippings. – Memorial Hall is now enclosed except for the glass, and the windows are ready for this. The plasterers are nailing on the lath, and the carpenters are getting ready to put down the floor. The building is beautiful, and since the old market house was removed, it stands as grandly as St. Pauls in London.
IR Mar. 24, 1892 – Plastering Memorial Hall began Monday and will be pushed rapidly to completion.
IR Mar. 31, 1892 – With Memorial Hall, the Odd Fellows’ temple, the new Spencer church, and St. Lawrence church all in short distance of each other, it may be remarked that architecture blooms in the center of the city.
IR Mar. 31, 1892 – Chairs have been purchased for the Memorial hall auditorium. There are 684, which shows that the room is to be quite commodious. It will be allowed for lectures, concerts, &c. Of the 684 chairs, 508 are for the main floor and 176 for the gallery.
IR Apr. 28, 1892 – Memorial Hall will probably not be ready for dedication on May 30th.
IR July 23, 1892 – Memorial Hall. – Cornerstone to be Laid. – …At the ceremonies of the cornerstone, a box will be sealed up in stone which will contain various articles, among them a copy of this issue of the Register and a recent issue describing the Hall, other local papers, specimens of currency, a roster of Dick Lambert Post and a roster of all the G. A. R. organizations of the county, which have been requested for this purpose.
IR May 5, 1892 – The big stone steps to Memorial Hall are about laid. There will also be a short history prepared by Col. Nigh of the work of the Memorial Hall committee from the beginning of the project at a meeting of Dick Lambert Post on April 5th, 1884. This sketch contains the names of all the soliciting and other committees that have served in furtherance of the effort at its various stages. …
IR May 26, 1892 – Isn’t Memorial Hall a beauty on the first page of the Industrial?
IR May 26, 1892 – The interior of Memorial Hall will be as handsome as the exterior. It is fast getting into a nice shape. …It can be made the means of much good to the community.
IR May 26, 1892 – The interior of Memorial Hall will be as handsome as the exterior. It is fast getting into a nice shape. The relic room and library apartments will be elegant. Let us hope that whatever difference of opinion there may have been concerning the preliminaries of the building will now subside and all take an interest in this noble structure and its purposes. It can be made the means of much good to the community.
IR May 26, 1892 – Memorial. – There will be no parade as usual on Decoration Day because the civic demonstration is expected early on the occasion of Memorial Hall’s dedication. It was not desirable to ask the societies to come out on occasions so close together. There will be the usual music and address in the afternoon, except the speeches will be briefed by ten or a dozen men.
IR July 28, 1892 – Top of Memorial Hall. Views from Scaffolding About the Tower’s Summit. – The topmost stone has been placed on the tower of Memorial Hall. It is a pyramidal block which completes its stone roof, and at the apex thereof, an iron flag floats free with the course of the wind. …. [do not have end]
IR Sept. 22, 1892 – Gen. W. H. Gibson promises to be at the dedication of Memorial Hall.
IR Sept. 22, 1892 – The exact days for the dedication of Memorial hall are not fixed. It may be the 13th or 14th of October.
IR Sept. 22, 1892 – Public Library. – Now, the library rooms in the Memorial Hall are ready for occupancy. There are three rooms – a library, a secretary’s, and a reading room. The thing now is to equip them and put them in the books. It will cost some $500 to put in the shelving and carpet, gas fixtures and tables. ….
IR Oct. 6, 1892 – Memorial Hall Dedication to be Oct. 12, 13, and 14… [names the reception committee, etc.]
IR Feb. 14, 1895 – Tonight. – This Wednesday night, the great pianist Edward Baxter Perry appears at the Memorial Hall. The entertainment was to have taken place on Tuesday evening, but interrupted transportation delayed the arrival of Mr. Perry. But don’t miss the treat tonight.
1914 [souvenir book] has pictures of The Boys of ‘61. Dick Lambert Post No. 165 Grand Army of the Republic, on the steps of the Memorial Hall where their Post Room is located. Colonel Robert J. Walker, Post Commander.
IR Oct. 8, 1949? – Memorial Hall Gutted in the Year 1905 – photo of ruins – Late on December 18, 1905, Ironton’s unearthly fire siren awoke the citizenry. To sleep under its fearful wailing was impossible. Soon a general alarm was sounded that told residents something unusual was in the making.
With its golden glare, a glance at the sky brought hurried dressing and a trip to the city’s central section. – For Memorial Hall was afire. And the building burned and burned throughout the night and was completely gutted. Finally, the fire burned out, and only the sorrowful-looking picture at the side remained. However, the stone tower, the first-floor walls, and the foundations were undamaged, and within a few years, the building had been rebuilt into the present City Hall.
IR Jan. 22, 1891 -Upon this point, some in favor of the market space location have figured that the lower wards pay 60 percent of the taxes. The third ward alone paid 42 percent, and the majority given for the Memorial Hall was three times greater in the three lower wards than in the three upper wards. —
The ordinance says that the location and construction of the Memorial Hall shall be under the charge of the board of trustees. To this, it is answered: 1st, that the location relates solely to the location on Lincoln park; and 2nd, that a resolution has modified the ordinance adopted Dec. 20, 1889, granting the Post the right to erect on some other suitable real estate, &c.
In reply to this, we assert that the resolution of Dec. 20 is of no force because an ordinance cannot be repealed. An ordinance can only be modified or repealed by another, and so the January 22, 1889 ordinance stands. —
Again it is claimed that the city cannot give, lease or sell the market space, except by a three-fifths vote of the Council, and that three-fifths vote in Council means eight votes. To this, it is answered that the Council does not give, lease or sell the market space but permits its use. One thing seems certain, if the Memorial Hall is not placed in Lincoln park, it can be placed nowhere else except by the approval of the G. A. R. post.
NOTE: In 2014, Memorial Hall was torn down due to the deterioration of the structure and lack of funds to upgrade or repair it. You can read the story from the Ironton Tribune newspaper here.
You know it was also a jail to at one point cause I remember before they tore it down in 2014 we would drive through their on our way to my sisters house and I could look and still see the jail cells in the basement it’s sad that it was tore down tho I wish the fine city of Ironton would’ve took up funds or something to fix it back up to it’s former glory