History Steubenville, Ohio

market street, 1910



ohio valley clay company, 1910

in 1786–87, soldiers of 1st american regiment built fort steuben protect government surveyors mapping land west of ohio river, , named fort in honor of baron friedrich wilhelm von steuben. when surveyors completed task few years later, fort abandoned. in meantime, settlers had built homes around fort; named settlement steubenville. name steubenville derived fort steuben honor baron von steuben (the fort named baron). town referred la belle city, franglais interpretation of beautiful city .

on july 29, 1797, jefferson county organized proclamation of governor arthur st. clair, , steubenville selected county seat , platted in same year bezaliel (bezaleel) wells , james ross, city s co-founders. wells, government surveyor born in baltimore, received 1,000 acres (4 km) of land west of ohio river; ross, lawyer pittsburgh, owned land north of his.

on march 1, 1803, ohio admitted union 17th state. during first half of nineteenth century, steubenville port town, , rest of county small villages , farms. steubenville received city charter in 1851. in 1856, frazier, kilgore , company erected rolling mill (the forerunner of steel mills) , steubenville coal , mining company sank coal shaft. city stop along pittsburgh, cincinnati, chicago , st. louis railroad, connected pittsburgh chicago , st. louis.

in 1946, college of steubenville founded franciscan friars of third order regular. in 1980, name changed university of steubenville, , in 1985 franciscan university of steubenville.

in 1966, jefferson county technical institute founded. in 1977, name changed jefferson technical college. in 1995, became community college , renamed jefferson community college. in 2009, college expanded service district 3 ohio counties, , renamed again: eastern gateway community college.

in 1992, rza, before starting wu-tang clan, involved in shoot-out in steubenville , faced attempted murder charges shooting adversary in leg. faced 8 years in jail acquitted. when said not guilty , face stuck in smile 3 days, recalled. walking around town, thinking daughter , wife. right said goodbye put me in situation again. on trial on attempted murder charge. motherfucking fool, knowledge in head , ending there.

the city gained international attention in late 2012 events surrounding steubenville high school rape case, occurred in august 2012. case first covered new york times december, followed computer hacker group anonymous later month, , subsequent coverage of trials in late 2013. case significant in extensive use of social media evidence , in opening national discussion on concept of rape culture.