After surveying the remnants of what had once been the workplace of literally tens of thousands of Americans, I worked my way out of Youngstown, passing through the neighborhoods where they once lived. I saw St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, which alludes to the Eastern European origins of many of the immigrants who once flooded…
Tag: Youngstown
Steel, Long Gone, Youngstown
As I mentioned before, the glow from the furnaces in Youngstown could be seen at night in Akron, around fifty miles away. Perhaps more than anything that fact sums up the giant crucible that was one of the greatest industrial powerhouses in America for one hundred years. And it’s all gone now, except for a…
Oak Hill Cemetery, Youngstown
Located across the Mahoning River from downtown Youngstown, Oak Hill Cemetery takes its name from the neighborhood in which it is located. Founded in 1853 by a group of prominent citizens, the it fits in nicely with the Rural Cemetery Movement that took off in the years before the Civil War. Interestingly, the cemetery does…
Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Columba, Youngstown
While the parish of St. Columba, an Irish saint, dates back to 1847, you don’t have to be a historian to realize this is not the original structure of the Cathedral of St. Columba. In fact, if I counted right, the current cathedral is actually the fourth church. Stridently Modernist, it was completed in 1958;…
Downtown, Youngstown
Downtown Youngstown is really nice! Now, I’m defining it as the area enclosed by Highway 422, which surrounds it to the northeast, effectively cutting it off from the rest of the city; on the southwest, the Mahoning River forms the other border. Youngstown State University clearly breathes much of the life into the area northeast…
Wick Park, Youngstown
My first stop off the interstate in Youngstown was Wick Park, which is a historic district up on a plateau of sorts just north of the downtown area. The outstanding focal point of the neighborhood and sitting at the end of Park Avenue where it t-bones with 5th Avenue is the Stambaugh Auditorium. I think…
The City of Steel: Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown doesn’t need our pity. While perhaps there is no other city in America that has been so poorly treated by capitalism, I couldn’t help but see the glimmers of what had been, and what could be, a great place for hard working people to live and thrive. It’s hard to imagine what it must…