Steubenville, Ohio, United States

🇺🇸 Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles from The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a 1786 fort that sat within the city's current limits and was named for Prussian military officer Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. Today, a replica of the fort is open to the public.

Steubenville's nickname is the "City of Murals", after its more than 25 downtown murals. Both the campuses of Franciscan University of Steubenville and Eastern Gateway Community College are in Steubenville. Historically, it was known as the birthplace and home town of the honorable Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, during the Civil War. It is also known as the city where legendary entertainer, Dean Martin of the Rat Pack was born and raised. It is recently gaining notoriety for the Steubenville Nutcracker Village, an annual Christmastime event. Steubenville is a principal city of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History In 1786–87, soldiers of the First American Regiment under Major Jean François Hamtramck built Fort Steuben to protect the government surveyors mapping the land west of the Ohio River, and named the fort in honor of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. When the surveyors completed their task a few years later, the fort was abandoned. In the meantime, settlers had built homes around the fort; they named their settlement Steubenville. The name Steubenville was derived from Fort Steuben to honor Baron von Steuben (the fort was named for the Baron). The town was sometimes referred to as La Belle City, a franglais interpretation of "The Beautiful City".

On July 29, 1797, Jefferson County was organized by a proclamation of Governor Arthur St. Clair, and Steubenville was selected as the county seat. It was platted in the same year by Bezaliel Wells and James Ross, the city's co-founders. Wells, a government surveyor born in Baltimore, received about 1,000 acres (4 km²) of land west of the Ohio River; Ross, a lawyer from Pittsburgh, owned the land north of Wells.

On March 1, 1803, Ohio was admitted to the Union as the 17th state. During the first half of the nineteenth century, Steubenville was primarily a port town, and the rest of the county was small villages and farms. Steubenville received a city charter in 1851. In 1856, Frazier, Kilgore and Company erected a rolling mill (the forerunner of steel mills) and the Steubenville Coal and Mining Company sank a coal shaft. The city was a stop along the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, which connected Pittsburgh to Chicago and St. Louis.

The Steubenville Female Seminary, also known as Beatty's Seminary for Young Ladies or Steubenville Seminary, was an early private educational institution for women founded by Presbyterian minister Charles Clinton Beatty in 1829. It was closed in 1898 and the buildings were eventually razed for part of what is now Ohio State Route 7.

In 1946, the College of Steubenville was founded by the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. In 1980, its name was changed to University of Steubenville, and finally in 1985 to Franciscan University of Steubenville. In 1966, the Jefferson County Technical Institute was founded. In 1977, its name was changed to Jefferson Technical College. In 1995, it became a community college and was renamed Jefferson Community College. In 2009, the college expanded its service district by three Ohio counties, and was renamed again: Eastern Gateway Community College.

The city gained international attention in late 2012 from the events surrounding the Steubenville High School rape case, which occurred in August 2012. The case was first covered by The New York Times that December, followed by the computer hacker group Anonymous later that month, and the subsequent coverage of the trials in late 2013. The case was significant in the extensive use of social media as evidence and in opening a national discussion on the concept of rape culture.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.63 square miles (27.53 km²), of which 10.55 square miles (27.32 km²) is land and 0.08 square miles (0.21 km²) is water. The city lies along the Ohio River, with the city spreading west from the floodplains to the hills that surround the city. It lies within the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau.

Religion Like most cities of comparable age and size, Steubenville has well-established Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant and, until 2013, Jewish communities. Steubenville is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville. Holy Name Church was selected as the diocesan cathedral in 1944 when the south-eastern part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus was made into the Diocese of Steubenville. Recent financial difficulties resulted in a proposal to re-merge the diocese with the Columbus diocese, but the proposal proved very contentious and has been tabled for further study.

Economy Steubenville and the communities that surround it, especially Weirton, West Virginia, have experienced sluggish economies since the steel industry waned during the 1980s. Corporations such as Weirton Steel have had to reduce their workforce in order to become more efficient and competitive against other steel producers and lower steel prices worldwide.

Starting in 2014, the Harmonium Project and numerous others partners began a series of street festivals called First Fridays on Fourth to build community and generate interest and economic activity downtown. More recently there have been several new businesses opened Downtown on 4th Street, including Drosselmeyer’s Nutcracker Shoppe, Leonardo’s Coffeehouse and the Steubenville Popcorn Co.

The new Findlay Connector has been built in western Pennsylvania as a toll-access highway between Pittsburgh International Airport at Interstate 376 and U.S. Route 22 in north-western Washington County. Travel time between the Pittsburgh International Airport and the city of Steubenville is now approximately 25 minutes.

Steubenville is located near two large shale formations: the Marcellus and Utica formations.

Historic sites Fort Steuben, located downtown on South Third Street, is a reconstructed 18th century fort on its original location overlooking the Ohio River. Built in 1787 to protect the government surveyors of the Seven Ranges of the Northwest Territory, Fort Steuben housed 150 men of the 1st American Regiment. The non-profit organization that worked to rebuild the fort also developed the surrounding block into Fort Steuben Park that includes the Veterans Memorial Fountain and the Berkman Amphitheater. The Fort Steuben Visitors centre is home to the Museum Shop and the Steubenville Convention & Visitors Bureau and is an official site on the Ohio River Scenic Byway.

Adjacent to the fort is the First Federal Land Office with its original logs from 1801. After the Ohio country was surveyed, it could be sold or given away as land grants; the settlers brought their deeds to be registered at the Land Office to David Hoge, the Registrar of Lands and Titles for the Northwest Territory.

"Ohio Valley Steelworker" Statue was created by artist Dimitri Akis as a tribute to the Ohio Valley Steelworkers. The life-size figure carries a long-handled dipping ladle and is wearing the hooded fire-proof suit worn in the steel mills. The statue was located at the junction of Hwy 22 (University Blvd) and Hwy 7 (Dean Martin Blvd). In the fall of 2014, the statue was moved to its new home, displayed on South Fourth Street at the site of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County.

There is a statue downtown commemorating Edwin Stanton, President Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war. Stanton was born and raised in Steubenville.

Actor, singer and comedian Dean Martin was born and raised in Steubenville, and in addition to an annual Dean Martin Festival and a Dean Martin Room at the Jefferson County Historical Museum and Library.

Libraries Steubenville has two public lending libraries, the Carnegie Library of Steubenville and Schiappa Branch Library.

Murals Steubenville's nickname is the "City of Murals", because there are more than 25 downtown murals. There are numerous murals, markers and a walking tour in Steubenville, many paying homage to Dean Martin. There is also a mural Washington Street dedicated to two Tuskegee Airmen who were brothers, John Ellis Edwards and Jerome Edwards.

Steubenville Nutcracker Village In 2015, two local businessmen started a Christmas-themed festival, the Steubenville Nutcracker Village and Advent Market. The event is centered around a large collection life-size nutcracker sculptures spread throughout Fort Steuben Park in downtown Steubenville. The Nutcracker Village is free and open to the public 24 hours a day and generally runs from the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to Epiphany Sunday in early January.

The event began in 2015 with 37 locally produced, hand-painted nutcrackers. They are made of fiberglass and foam at a local business. Design and production takes about 40 hours each. In the second year, there were a total of 75 nutcrackers; by 2023, there were 209 around town. Each of the nutcrackers, which range in height from 5 to 9 feet (1.5 to 2.7 m) tall is unique, and the designs include fictional characters from books, movies, comic strips, and songs, holiday characters like Mrs. Claus, and professions, such as a steel welder.

Live entertainment and a German-style Advent Market featuring local artisans and craftsmen, as well as hot food and drink vendors, runs each weekend through the month of December in Fort Steuben Park to coincide with the Nutcracker Village event. The popularity of the Nutcracker Village since its inception has inspired other nutcracker-themed ventures in the City of Steubenville, including Drosselmeyer's Nutcracker Shoppe, a year-round Christmas shop in downtown Steubenville, and Wooden Hearts Follies, a locally-written and performed musical centered around characters from the event. The Nutcracker Village attracted over 40,000 visitors in 2017 and is credited with bringing new life to Steubenville's downtown area.

Sport Between 1887 and 1913, a team known as the Steubenville Stubs sparsely played minor league baseball at various times in the Ohio State League, Interstate League, Ohio–Pennsylvania League and Pennsylvania–Ohio–Maryland League. The Steubenville Stampede was a member of the Continental Indoor Football League from 2006–2007.

Cuisine Steubenville is the birthplace of Ohio Valley-style pizza, a distinctive style of pizza that features cold toppings on a baked crust.

Education Steubenville is home to two institutions of higher education. The Franciscan University of Steubenville is a private, four-year university affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church founded in 1946. Eastern Gateway Community College is a public, two-year college that opened its doors in 1968; it operates an additional campus in Youngstown as well as online.

On July 24, 2012, after being threatened with a lawsuit from the atheist Freedom from Religion Foundation, the Steubenville city council decided to remove the image of Franciscan University from its town logo rather than pay for a lawsuit. The city later proposed a logo that included a chapel and cross.

Primary and secondary Public schools in Steubenville are operated by the Steubenville City School District. There are a total of five schools in the district: Wells Academy, West Pugliese, Garfield, Harding Middle, and Steubenville High School. A portion of far western Steubenville is served by the Indian Creek Local School District. Several private schools are located in Steubenville. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville operates Bishop John King Mussio Central Elementary School, Bishop John King Mussio Central Junior High School and Steubenville Catholic Central High School.

Media Steubenville shares a media market with nearby Wheeling, West Virginia. The city is home to the market's NBC and FOX affiliate, WTOV-TV. In print, it is home to the daily Herald-Star newspaper, which traces its history to 1806.

The radio station WIXZ 950 AM has broadcast Oldies music from the city since 1974. Previously, Steubenville also has radio stations WSSS-LP and WSTV (AM).