Скачать или смотреть Ships in the Ashtabula Harbor  a Lake Erie port on a cold winter day

Ashtabula Harbor was a sleepy Lake Erie port until 1873, when competing railroads finally connected it to the steel mills of Pittsburgh and Youngstown, Ohio. Within two decades, it had become the greatest iron ore receiving port on the Great Lakes.

In its early days it was one of the busiest (and most dangerous) ports in the world, employing immigrants from many European nations.
The early 20th century saw the installation of the historic “Hulett” ore unloading machines.  The port expanded in the early 1950’s during the postwar era to serve the needs of growing industry.  Today, it is a taconite, stone and bulk materials port serving self-unloading vessels, as well as a recreational port with marinas and fishing charters.  In each era, the port has provided economic opportunity, recreation and entertainment to generations of Ashtabula residents and visitors. With miles of railroad tracks holding hundreds of hopper cars filled with iron ore, and towering bridges still present today, Bridge Street is home to a busy port, the cleanest river on Lake Erie, and the largest private dock on the Great Lakes.