Ironton is in Upper Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. It's earliest settlers were George Kemp who arrived in 1820 and Joseph Gilland in 1821. Thomas W Kemp settled in 1832 and James Warren arrived in 1843. The town, itself, was built in 1849 by John Campbell and Ohio Iron & Coal Company but it was William D. Kelly who purchased all of the land needed and created the map that laid out the town (William is the grandson of Luke Kelly, one of the pioneer settlers in Lawrence County).
In 1859, the Ohio Iron & Coal Company dissolved and all of the property was sold with the exception of the river wharf....which remained theirs until 2001. Nannie (Honshell) Kelly Wright (1856-1946), was the world’s only female ironmaster. An Ironton resident, Wright came to own some of the 90 local iron ore furnaces in the area.
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