History of Mingo Junction

History of Mingo Junction and the Ohio Valley

Mingo Junction is a small town located in eastern Ohio. It is situated on the banks of the mighty Ohio River, beautiful river in Native American language. The city was founded in 1770. George Washington, before he had his 15 minutes of fame, came strolling across the Allegheny Mountains and stumbled upon a river's landing known as Mingo. A tribe of Native American's inhabited the land and George was surveying the area. He spent the night in Mingo and continued on his way to fame.

Mingo Junction started to develop as America entered the Industrial age. The riverside location made Mingo Junction a marketable location for heavy metal manufacturing. We're not talking about Led Zeppelin, we're talking about steel. The surrounding mountains contained plenty of coal which is essential in the process of steel. As America grew throughout the 20th century Mingo Junction helped provide the steel to build the country. During World War II Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was renown for looking like "Hell with its' roof off". Mingo Junction and the Ohio Valley looked like Pittsburgh's(Hell's) back porch.

The Steel industry has been vital to the growth of the "Valley". The Ohio Valley begins north in East Liverpool, Ohio and includes the West Virginia panhandle down to Shadyside, Ohio. The two main steel producers are Weirton Steel Corporation, employee-owned, and Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corporation(WHX). They employ most of the Valley's working population. The two steel companies experienced difficulties that nearly closed the doors on both companies during the 1970s and 1980s when the steel industry was contracting. Weirton Steel was set to be closed by its' former parent company National Steel Corporation. The employees pooled together resources to keep the company alive by buying it from National. It was the largest employee-owned company until TWA's employees bought their ailing airline company.

Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1985 and nearly closed its' doors. However, the company emerged from bankruptcy and is the 9th largest steel producer in the United States today. My father has been employed by Wheeling Pittsburgh for 41 years. He operates a crane in the mill. If you have ever had the opportunity to visit a steel mill you can appreciate what these workers must live through. I spent two years working as a computer contractor at ARMCO Steel in Butler, PA. It is an extremely dusty, dirty environment.

Growing up in the Valley during the 1970s and early 1980s was perhaps the best way to learn about the good and the bad in the world. Hanging out at Joe Makara's auto repair shop, or "the Garage" as we called it. We spent days arguing about which cars were the fastest and the best. "The Cuda", "The Torino", "The Monte", "The Caddies - Yellow and Blue", "The Nova", "The LTD", "The James Von T/A eater", "The Bass-o-matic", "The '67 Goat", "The 429 Cobra Jet", "The '69 Satellite", "The '68 XL", "The 'Stang", "The '67 GTX", "The Merc'", "The No-no", and "The Wagon". We spent nights drag racing our cars on the "Strip". We painted a starting line and a checkered flagged finish line on the street in front of the "Garage". We even had a sign that said "Raceway". We would race anything including family station wagons. Cars, cars, and more cars. Innocent fun for the most part.

Most of the Mingo Boys have grown up and left the Valley, but when we get together we can talk for hours about the fun times growing up in our hometown. As we approach the 21st century, I'm sure that there will be another generation of kids drag racing on the "Strip".
One last thought...

's rule!