Rich farm land brought settlers to the Mahoning Valley, but farmers need mills to grind their corn and wheat into flour.  Phineas Hill hired Abram Powers and his son Isaac to build a combination sawmill/gristmill at the falls of Mill Creek in 1798.  Settlers in Warren had to grind their grain by hand or haul it to Hill’s mill until 1802 when Warren’s first mill was built by Henry Lane, Jr. and Charles Dally.  

Because there was iron ore, limestone, and timber to make charcoal, ironmasters built several furnaces in the Mahoning Valley.  The first iron furnace west of the Alleghenies was operating on Yellow Creek in Struthers by 1803. 

There were also woolen mills for processing sheep’s wool into cloth, and other supporting industries, like coopers who made barrels and tanners who turned animal skins into useable leather.  Women contributed to the economy by making clothing for their families, helping with farm work, raising, preparing, and preserving food. 

How would good roads or waterways encourage settlement?  What factors of production were necessary to make iron?  How would you learn to be a miller?  Visit the Arms Family Museum or www.mahoninghistory.org to learn more about the many industries in the Mahoning Valley two hundred years ago. 

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