Steubenville ( STEW-bən-vil) is a city in Jefferson County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The city is located on the eastern border of Ohio along the Ohio River, abutting the northern panhandle of West Virginia and 33 miles (53 km) west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Steubenville had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area has an estimated 113,000 residents. The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a 1786 fort that sat within the city's current limits and was named for Prussian military officer Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben.
Steubenville's nickname is the "City of Murals" after its more than 25 downtown murals. Historically, it was known as the hometown of Edwin Stanton, secretary of war during the American Civil War, as well as popular Rat Pack entertainer Dean Martin. It gains attention annually for the Steubenville Nutcracker Village, an annual Christmastime event. It is home to the campus of Franciscan University of Steubenville.
History
In 1786–87, soldiers of the First American Regiment under Major Jean François Hamtramck built Fort Steuben to protect the government surveyors mapping the land west of the Ohio River. The fort was named in honor of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a Prussian army officer who reformed the Continental Army during the American Revolution. When the surveyors completed their task a few years later, the fort was abandoned. In the meantime, settlers had built homes around the fort; they named their settlement Steubenville. The town was sometimes referred to as La Belle City, a franglais interpretation of "The Beautiful City".
On July 29, 1797, Jefferson County was organized by a proclamation of Governor Arthur St. Clair, and Steubenville was selected as the county seat. It was platted in the same year by Bezaliel Wells and James Ross, the city's co-founders. Wells, a government surveyor born in Baltimore, received about 1,000 acres (4 km2) of land west of the Ohio River; Ross, a lawyer from Pittsburgh, owned the land north of Wells.
On March 1, 1803, Ohio was admitted to the Union as the 17th state. During the first half of the nineteenth century, Steubenville was primarily a port town, and the rest of the county was small villages and farms. Steubenville received a city charter in 1851. In 1856, Frazier, Kilgore and Company erected a rolling mill (the forerunner of steel mills) and the Steubenville Coal and Mining Company sank a coal shaft. The city was a stop along the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, which connected Pittsburgh to Chicago and St. Louis.
The Steubenville Female Seminary, also known as Beatty's Seminary for Young Ladies or Steubenville Seminary, was an early private educational institution for women founded by Presbyterian minister Charles Clinton Beatty in 1829. It was closed in 1898 and the buildings were eventually razed for part of what is now Ohio State Route 7.
In 1946, the College of Steubenville was founded by the Friars of the Third Order of St. Francis. In 1980, its name was changed to University of Steubenville, and finally in 1985 to Franciscan University of Steubenville. In 1966, the Jefferson County Technical Institute was founded. In 1977, its name was changed to Jefferson Technical College. In 1995, it became a community college and was renamed Jefferson Community College. In 2009, the college expanded its service district by three Ohio counties, and was renamed again: Eastern Gateway Community College.
In 1997, the United States Department of Justice accused the city and its police force of subjecting individuals to excessive force, false arrests, and improper stops, searches, and seizures, as well as retaliating against those who witnessed police misconduct or criticized the force. The department's report also noted that officers falsified reports and tampered with police recorders to hide misconduct. This led the city to become the second in the U.S. to sign a consent decree with the federal government, agreeing to improve police training, establish new guidelines, and create an internal affairs unit. The decree ended on March 4, 2005, after reforms were implemented, and in 2020, the city council reviewed and confirmed ongoing improvements in use of force policies, training, and data.
The city's speed camera program, which began in 2005, generated $600,000 in revenue from nearly 7,000 tickets issued. However, in March 2006, the Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas ruled the program's supporting ordinance unconstitutional. Despite this, the city refused to remove the cameras, citing a contract with Traffipax, Inc. and defied the judge's order by reinstating an identical ordinance. Councilman Michael Hernon was the only one to dissent. In mid-2006, an attorney filed a class-action lawsuit, and in December 2007, the city was forced to refund $258,000 for illegally collected fines. Additionally, a referendum in November 2006 led to a 76.2% majority vote to end the program.
The city gained international attention in late 2012 from the events surrounding the Steubenville High School rape case, which occurred in August 2012. The case was first covered by The New York Times that December, followed by the computer hacker group Anonymous later that month, and the subsequent coverage of the trials in late 2013. The case was significant in the extensive use of social media as evidence and in opening a national discussion on the concept of rape culture.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.63 square miles (27.53 km2), of which 10.55 square miles (27.32 km2) is land and 0.08 square miles (0.21 km2) is water. The city lies along the Ohio River, with the city spreading west from the floodplains to the hills that surround the city. It lies within the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau.
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot summers and relatively cold winters and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. As detailed in a March 2022 guide from the Climate Receiver Places Project at the PLACE initiative, Steubenville is a climate resilient geography based on its relatively low climate change risk exposure. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Steubenville has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps.
Demographics
The city's population peaked in 1940 at 37,651. After large declines for many decades, the population decline stabilized some, with the 2010 and 2020 censuses showing the smallest declines in any decade since the peak.
Steubenville is a principal city of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area and is part of the larger Pittsburgh–New Castle–Weirton combined statistical area. From 1980 to 2000, census figures show that the Weirton–Steubenville metro population decreased faster than that of any other urban area in the United States.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Steubenville had a population of 18,161. The median age was 37.9 years. 19.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 88.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 86.8 males age 18 and over.
99.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.1% lived in rural areas.
There were 7,105 households in Steubenville, of which 25.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 33.0% were married-couple households, 23.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 35.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 38.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 8,431 housing units, of which 15.7% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.7%.
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 18,659 people, 7,548 households, and 4,220 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,768.6 inhabitants per square mile (682.9/km2). There were 8,857 housing units at an average density of 839.5 per square mile (324.1/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 79.0% White, 15.9% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population.
There were 7,548 households, of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.8% were married couples living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 44.1% were non-families. 37.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.91.
The median age in the city was 38.8 years. 20.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 16.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.3% were from 25 to 44; 25.9% were from 45 to 64; and 17.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.1% male and 53.9% female.
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 19,015 people, 8,342 households, and 4,880 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,842.2 inhabitants per square mile (711.3/km2). There were 9,449 housing units at an average density of 915.4 per square mile (353.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 79.55% White, 17.25% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.53% from other races, and 1.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.97% of the population.
There were 8,342 households, out of which 23.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder, and 41.5% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.2% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 22.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,516, and the median income for a family was $36,597. Males had a median income of $36,416 versus $21,819 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,830. About 15.3% of families and 20.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.2% of those under the age of 18 and 11.0% of those aged 65 and older.
Religion
Steubenville is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville. Holy Name Church was selected as the diocesan cathedral in 1944 when the southeastern part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus was made into the Diocese of Steubenville. In October 2022, the diocese announced that the Vatican was considering merging it with the Diocese of Columbus. The proposal was placed on hold the following month.
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is a historic Greek Orthodox church building near downtown Steubenville. Built in 1914, it was formerly home to a Methodist congregation and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Steubenville contained approximately 300 Jewish families in the 1950s; the city's last synagogue closed in 2013.
Economy
Steubenville and the communities that surround it, especially Weirton, West Virginia, have experienced sluggish economies since the steel industry waned during the 1980s. Corporations such as Weirton Steel have had to reduce their workforce in order to become more efficient and competitive against other steel producers and lower steel prices worldwide.
Starting in 2014, the Harmonium Project and numerous others partners began a series of street festivals called First Fridays on Fourth to build community and generate interest and economic activity downtown. More recently there have been several new businesses opened Downtown on 4th Street, including Drosselmeyer's Nutcracker Shoppe, Leonardo's Coffeehouse and the Steubenville Popcorn Co.
The new Findlay Connector has been built in western Pennsylvania as a toll-access highway between Pittsburgh International Airport at Interstate 376 and U.S. Route 22 in northwestern Washington County. Travel time between the Pittsburgh International Airport and the city of Steubenville is now approximately 25 minutes.
Steubenville is located near two large shale formations: the Marcellus and Utica formations.
Arts and culture
Steubenville is the birthplace of Ohio Valley-style pizza, a distinctive style of pizza that features cold toppings on a baked crust.