History of Conneaut Harbor
R.H. Welsh
FOUND IN THE ALBION PUBLIC LIBRARY VERTICLE FILES, HISTORY ROOM

November 6, 1957, marks the 65th anniverasary of the arrival at Conneaut Harbor of Steamer Kershaw which brought to this port the first cargo of iron ore from the Mesabi range. The arrival of this vessel was announced by the blowing of whitles and ringing of bells, and a large vrowd of local people rusehd to the harbor to witness its entry into the port. Many climbed on board the Kirshaw and obtained chunks of the red ore to carry home as souvenirs of the occasion, a surprising fact since the first iron ore received at Conneaut Harbor arrived almost 60 years earlier.

While much has been written about the progress of ore handling at out harbor since that day, this is an apporopriate time to consider also the earlier days of navigation when Conneaut was young.

Moses Cleaveland and his party of surveyors were the first white men known to have entered this port, when they landed here on July 4, 1796, naming it [Port] Independence. Stow's Castle was quickly erected as headquarters for the band and was the first building erected in this vicinity by white men, with the exception of a rude hut near the state line south of Route 20, used by a hermit named Halstead.

As Conneaut grew into a small village, sailing vessels began to stop at this port. In 1828 the State of Ohio passed an act authorizing Orrin Wilder to construct a pier for public and private use at the lake. On March 3, 1829, an appropriation of $7,500 was granted by Congress for the improvement of the harbor at Salem (Conneaut), the work being done by a corps of engineers supervised by Capt. T.W. Maurine. Piers measuring 360 ft. in length on the east of the harbor and 270 ft. on the west side were completed by the end of the season, and with their construction, Conneaut Harbor became a regular stopping place for lake vessels. By 1833 further improvements had been made and the piers had been extended due north 330 ft. and then 800 ft. in a northwesternly direction, diverging at that point for another 120 ft., leaving a 176 foor opening at the mouth of the channel. The depth varied from 8 to 16 ft.

In the ten year period, 1829 to 1839, Congress had appropriated $43,305 for improvements of our harbor. As early as 1837 Conneaut Harbor had a light house of which W.W. Woodward was the keeper, and in 1846 the harbor was described as an important shipping port "with a pier with a light house on it, two forwarding houses and eleven dwellings."

In 1831 the schooner-scow Olive Branch brought to Conneaut the first cargo of iron ore recieved here. It was consigned to the Ohio Furnace located on Conneaut Creek near Furnace Road. This concern, owned by Mr. A. Dart and M.P. Ormsby and employing about 150 men, had depleted the supply of bog ore in this area and had to look elsewhere to meet its requirements. The Olive Branch, and later Jack Downing, brought cargoes of ore from Lairds, Doolittles and Culbertsons from the east, and finally from Massasgua Point at the extreme tip of Presque Isle. The Olive Branch was listed has having a gross tonnage of 38 tons.

Also handled at this port were lumber, grain, fish, meat, salt, and merchandise needed by early settlers. As the lake commerce expanded, boat building along Conneaut Creek became a lively industry. The first boat constructed here was the Salem Packett, a schooner with capacity of 27 great tons, built in 1818 by Elias Keyes and Capt. Samuel Ward. It was built along the creek at a site under the present viaduct, and was launched accidentally by a spring freshet with no damage being done. Many other boats were built here, the last being the All Talk in 1892.

Activities at the harbor increased rapidly until the construction of the C. P. & A. R.R. (now the New York Central) in 1852 when freight began to be transported overland by trains more speedily than lake vessels could carry it. It is interesting to note the exports from Conneaut Harbor in 1851, the last year in which navigation was free from railroad competition. The following is a list of freight shipped from Conneaut Harbor by water that year:

Ashes 66 casks Hops 2 barrels
Ale 1 barrel Hardware 1 box
Beef 1,092 barrels Iron 57 pigs
Bee's wax 2 barrels Leather 177 rolls
4 boxes
Bacon and hams 1 box
30 barrels
Lumber
(sawed pine, white wood, etc.)
5,697,614 feet
Brooms 13 dozen Merchandise 4 boxes
5 packages
Butter 671 kegs
32 firkins
31 barrels
4 casks
Nuts 3 barrels
Cheese 18,648 boxes
207 casks
Oats 18,406 bushels
Cigars 42 cases Piano 1 only
Corn 12,121 bushels Peas and beans 68 barrels
Deer skins 26 packs Pork 266 barrels
Eggs 170 barrels Potatoes 503 bushels
Feathers 1 sack Rags 8 sacks
Fruit (green) 63 barrels Rye 2,500 bushels
Fruit (dried) 88 barrels
2 boxes
Sheep skins 101 bundles
Furniture 2 boxes Seeds 12 barrels
Glue 14 barrels Tallow 3 barrels
High wines 10 barrels Tobacco 1 hogshead
39 boxes
1 barrel
Wool 74 bales    

It is interesting to note other items of freight shipped from various ports other than Conneaut, which were not shipped from this harbor. Among them were bark, broom corn, bristle, buffalo robes, candles, flax, ginseng, grindstones and saleratus.
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Regular shipments of merchandise declined abruptly with the coming of the railroad and for the 28 years from 1852 to 1880, Congress appropriated only $45,323 but the depth of the channel was increased to 16 feet by 1879.

During the eleven month period from July 1, 1879, to May 31, 1880, the total amount of revenue collected at Conneaut Harbor was $4.50. Imports were valued at $7,200 and exports at $5,075. Seven vessels with a tonnage of 345 tons had entered port and ten vessels with a tonnage of 854 tons had cleared during the season. A sand bar at one time blocked the mouth of Conneaut Creek to such an extent that even fishing vessels were unable to use the harbor. Conneaut at that time had a population of 1,500 inhabitants.

With the coming of the Str. Kershaw, Conneaut once more more became an active port. The Pittsburg, Shenango, and Lake Erie R.R., "The Peasley," originally called Erie, Shenango and Pittsburg R.R., built a branch line from Conneaut to connect with the main line at Albion, PA to carry ore to the mills in the "Smoky City" area. The name of the rail road was r changed to Pittsburg, Bessemer and Lake Erie R.R. and finally to its present name Bessemer and Lake Erie R.R. (at the time it was known as the P.B. & L. R.R., the wise crackers of that day said the initials stood for Poor Brakeman & Lazy Engineers.)

The P. & C. Dock Co. had been organized and six Brown hoists with one-ton buckets were installed on Dock. No. 1. Rather than wait for government appropriation of $40,000 for the year, the expense of harbor improvements was paid entirely by the company. A 16 ft. channel was dredged along the west pier and two whirley-type unloaders were added. Capt. Erastus Day had charge of the construction work.

On Sept. 30, 1892, the schooner barge Marine City entered port to deliver a cargo, being the first in almost 35 years. Her cargo was a shipment of pine consigned to the Record Mfg. Co.

Five weeks later the Kershaw, arriving with the first iron ore to be recieved in nearly six decades, started the port on a new era of activity. Eighteen shovelers, working for ten cents an hour, were employed to unload the Kershaw's cargo (Ashtabula shovelers were revceiving only 9 1/2 cents an hour). During the unloading of the ore, a fire broke out in a nearby dwelling and the shovelers quit their work to assist in saving the building. The Kershaw was unloaded in two nights and three days.

In 1893 three more Brown hoists, 2 King hoists and more whirlies were added; dredging the channel and work of constructing more docks was continued.

The spring flood of 1893 brought disaster to the harbor. The freshet on the morning of May 15th cause the dredge Contintental to snap here mooring lines. She was carried out into the rough waters of Lake Erie and soon sank. Her crew of four men and one woman were all drowned.

June 3, 1893, saw the barge Wayne receiving a load of coal (34 car loads) for shipment to Duluth. This was the first coal to be shipped from the port of Conneaut. Four days later the iron ore season was opened when the Str. Queen of the West arrived from Minnesota with a cargo of 1,300 tons.

On July 30, 1893, several hundred people went to the harbor to view a fleet of six whalebacks and their barges which arrived that day. Because of their appearance, the whalebacks were dubbed "pigs" and since they were so frequently seen here, Conneaut Harbor was humorously referred to as "the pig pen port."

Excitment and suspense filled the city early in July, 1894. Dock workers at Ashtabula Harbor went on strike and tried to get workers at other ports to join them. On July 12th they marched to Conneaut to try to influence strike. Capt. Day asked Mayor Parker for protection for his men. Parker called the sheriff who in turn appealed to Gov. McKinley for aid. To special trains brought the Geneva Rifles who were housed in the G.A.R. Hall.

A large number of deputies were sworn in who went to the harbor about 4 p.m., taking positions along the Shenango R.R. tracks. It was about 5:30 p.m. when the Ashtabula men, carrying flags and banners, marched into Conneaut, followed by a cornet band which also included some violins and accordions.

Anticipating trouble, Capt. Day had dismissed the local dock men and sent them home early. Several strikers boarded the Str. Grecian and demanded that the bucket be liften from the hold of the vessel. When this was refused, the strikers left the boat with no violence having been done.

The large crowd of curious spectators who had gone to the harbor expecting to see some excitement left about 8 p.m. and the night was passed in quite. This was due in part to the harbor saloons having closed at 3 o'clock and the uptown saloons closing at 7:30 p.m.

The following day the militia marched from the G.A.R. Hall to the harbor to disperse the Ashtabula strikers. About 600 spectators were on hand to watch. The Conneaut dock workers stayed home. About 350 Ashtabula men invaded the docks. Some invaded the tug Erastus Day and were immediately arrested.

The only blood shed occurred when two policemen entered a residence of a Conneaut man in search of a suspect. During the fracus which followed, he was beaten somewhat before he could be taken to jail. No further disturbance occured and the Conneaut dock men resumed work on the Grecian again on Saturday, July 14th, thus ending the strike trouble of 1894.

It was also in 1894 that the United States and Ontario Navigation Co. was incorperated and the following year two car ferries were built to run between Conneaut and Port Dover, Ontario.

The car ferry Shenango was frozen in the ince at Conneaut on Jan. 8, 1904, and on March 11 was destroyed by fired while still held fast in that place. One man lost his life at that time.

The Marquette and Bessemer No. 2. left Conneaut Decemeber 7, 1909, and was never seen again, one of Lake Erie's most baffling mysteries. Thirty-two lives were lost; none of the crew escaped.

It was in 1896 that Andrew Carnegie obtained the controlling interest in the Bessemer R.R. and the P. & C. Dock Co. A new dock was built and the channel dredged southward 1,300 feet. Twelve McMlyer "fast plants" were constructed on the west side of the slip.

Three years later (1899) the Hulett unloader was installed, an invention of George H. Hullet of the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Co. By 1900 three of these steam-driven hydraulic Huletts were in use and the following year a fourth was added. Each had a capacity of ten tons.

It was in 1899 that the first coal dumper was installed at Conneaut. Erected on the east side of the slip, it was capable of handling 25 cars an hours. In 1914 a new car dumper was built at the same location.

The electrically operated Huletts were installed from 1911 to 1934 and the ore stocking bridge, with a bucket capacity of 12 tons, was built in 1918.

In 1909 the old light house was replaced by a 75 foot wooden tower and a stone and wooden breakwall was built into the lake a distance of a quarter of a mile.

The wooden tower at the entrance to the harbor was razed in 1920 and an $85,000 lighthouse erected. In 1934 the present light house was constructed and at the same time the breakwall was moved farther west. In 1936 the main channel was widened and the bend in the river was also widened to permit the turning of the 640 foot vessels.

Conneaut Harbor today had five electric Huletts, a McMyler coal dumper, two Brown hoists for handling structural steel, and on Dock No. 1 is located the Michigan Lime Stone Co. plant.

The year 1957 sees the old ore stocking bridge being replaced by a new one installed by the American Bridge Co.

Conneaut Harbor has made great progress in the 65 years since the exciting day when the Kershaw arrived here with the first cargo of ore. With the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway only a few years away we cannot help but wonder what the record of our port will be 65 years hence.

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(Sorry, but I just discovered that I ommitted one but which you may be able squeeze in somewhere. Here it is. RHW)

Storage of iron ore at Perry Bluff was begun June 2, 1955 when 4,059 tons (60 cars) were hauled over the newly-laid Bessemer tracks to the storage site in Pennsylvania.

[Handwritten note by the author] During the men's strike of 1956, a helicopter was used to fly in men and supplies, landing them on board a vessel lying in Conneaut Harbor--August 13, 1956.

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