CITIES, AMERICAN. (!BONTON, JACKSON). 



101 





house, 9 churches, fine public-school buildings, 1 

 daily and U weekly newspapers, 1 national and 

 2 Stall; banks, 2 building associations, a court- 

 IHMIM-, and a handsome Federal building. The 

 -nt ton t rudo has reached over 60,000 bales. There 

 are 2 cotton compresses, 2 cotton-seed-oil mills, 

 1 large shingle and 3 large saw mills, a foundry, 

 and a box factory. The city has a chamber of 

 commerce. 



1 ron ton, a city of Ohio, the county seat of 

 Law mire County, 10 miles from the most south- 

 ern part of the State and from the mouth of Big 

 Sandy river, on the northeastern bank of the 

 Ohio, 325 miles from Pittsburg and 141 from 

 Cincinnati. The site occupies a gently rolling 

 plat extending nearly a mile from the river to 

 the hills. It has an altitude of 544 feet above 

 sea level. Through the center of the city runs a 

 little creek, which provides good drainage. Iron- 

 ton was first laid out under the auspices of the 

 Ohio Iron and Coal Company in 1849, and by 

 1860 it had a population of 3,700. In 1870 there 

 were 5,888 inhabitants; in 1880, 8,857; and in 

 1890, 10,939. In 1892 the city claimed over 12,- 

 000. An important provision in the deeds of the 

 Ohio Iron and Coal. Company to the town lots 

 was that in case ardent spirits should be sold on 

 any of the premises, there should be a forfeiture 

 of the property to the company on payment to 

 the owner of half the appraised value. Trans- 

 portation facilities, in addition to the river, are 

 afforded by Norfolk and Western, the Dayton 

 and Ironton, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Kail- 

 roads. The Iron Railroad, 13 miles long, run- 

 ning into the furnace region, was constructed in 

 1851. Within 3 miles of the city are the New- 

 port News and Mississippi Valley and the Ohio 

 and Big Sandy Railroads. About one fourth of 

 the shipments of Ironton are by the river. In 

 1891 the total inbound and outbound freight 

 aggregated 471,609 tons. Gas was introduced in 

 1867, and the city has also an electric-light plant. 

 In 1892 one of the streets was paved with fire 

 brick, and the contract was given for another. 

 It is proposed to extend the system until the city 

 is paved throughout, and in connection a system 

 of sewerage is being established. The water 

 works, which are owned by the city, are of the 

 Holly system and have 12 miles of mains. The 

 pressure is 120 pounds to the square inch, and 

 there are fire plugs at all the corners, from which 

 several streams 100 feet high can be thrown in a 

 few minutes. The fire department consists of 6 

 companies. The river bank for a long distance 

 is well graded and paved, making the receipt and 

 delivery of freight easy ; and just below the water 

 works the Government has erected 2 substantial 

 ice piers, which provide protection for craft 

 moored at the wharves. There is a street rail- 

 road over 7 miles in length, to Petersburg. Two 

 daily and 4 weekly newspapers are published. 

 Three national banks have an aggregate capital 

 of $650,000, and there are 2 private banks and 

 10 building associations. Forty-eight teachers 

 are employed in the 5 commodious public-school 

 buildings, one of which cost $65,000. The total 

 public-school enrollment is 2,200. There are also 

 2 Catholic parochial schools, a Catholic academy, 

 and a County Children's Home. In 1892 there 

 were 15 churches, and 3 in course of construction. 

 Of these, 5 are Methodist, 1 African Methodist, 1 



VOL. XXXIII. 11 A 



Lutheran, 1 Episcopal, 1 German Reformed, 2 

 Congregational (one of them Welsh), 1 Welsh 

 Calvinistiu Methodist, 2 Baptist (1 colored), 

 and 2 Catholic. In the Masonic Temple is an 

 opera house which seats 900, and there are also 

 an Odd Fellows' Temple, a county courthouse 

 and jail, and a Soldiers Memorial Hall, erected 

 at a cost of $28,000. In the hills north and east 

 of Ironton lie the vast resources of coal and iron 

 which are the mainstay of its industries. There 

 are 7 veins of coal in Lawrence County, and it is 

 estimated that 1,000,000,000 tons are in sight, 

 while 100,000 tons are used yearly in the mills 

 and shops of the city. The iron ore of this re- 

 gion is easily and cheaply mined, and the product 

 of the furnaces in the county which are tributary 

 to Ironton is 140,000 tons yearly, one fifth of 

 which is charcoal metal. Within 25 miles of the 

 city, in Kentucky and Ohio, are 22 furnaces. The 

 city has 5 iron furnaces, 3 foundries, 3 rolling 

 mills, and 2 nail factories. In the iron mills and 

 furnaces 1,300 men are employed, and 160 in the 

 foundries ; 250 more are engaged in the 8 lumber 

 mills, and as many more in the 3 fire-brick fac- 

 tories. Ten million fire brick are turned out 

 yearly, and between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 build- 

 ing brick, as the clay deposits of the county are 

 among its most valuable resources. There are 

 also 3 carriage shops, 1 machine shop, 1 large 

 flouring mill, a tannery, 1 soap factory, 1 ice fac- 

 tory, 1 shoe factory, 2 marble works, 1 brewery, 

 3 planing mills, and 2 cigar factories. 



Jackson, a city of Tennessee, the county seat 

 of Madison County, in the southwestern part of 

 the State, on the north side of Forked Deer river, 

 150 miles from Nashville, and 90 from Memphis. 

 In 1880 it had a population of 5,377, which in- 

 creased to 10,039 in 1890, making it the fifth 

 city of the State. It has an altitude of 372 to 

 427 feet, the ground on which it is built being 

 gently rolling, giving fine natural drainage, 

 which is supplemented by sewerage of the War- 

 ing system, 14 miles of sewer pipes having been 

 laid to 1892. The corporation limits, which 

 have been recently extended, embrace a little 

 over 4 square miles. The city is the relay 

 point for both the northern and the southern 

 division of both the Illinois Central and Mobile 

 and Ohio Railroads and the eastern and western 

 division of the Tennessee Midland. The Mobile 

 and Ohio Railroad has its offices here, as well as 

 large shops in which most of the car and engine 

 work on the road from St. Louis to Mobile is 

 done. The Illinois Central also has shops, and 

 the two roads pay out nearly a million dollars 

 here yearly. Jackson was founded in 1821 by 

 Dr. William E. Butler, the land being a grant 

 from the State. The streets, which are graveled, 

 have been extended and widened, and the old 

 wooden structures in the business portion have 

 been replaced by handsome brick buildings. In 

 1892 there were but two business houses twenty 

 years old. The water supply is exceptionally 

 pure, being drawn from 22 artesian wells, sunk 

 close together, and connected with the pumps 

 by one Targe main. The pressure is direct, as 

 there is no standpipe. In 1892 there were 18 

 miles of pipe, and the maximum supply was 

 3,500,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. A lake, 

 kept up by the overflow from the pumps, is in 

 reserve for any unusual demand. The cost of 



