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History · Irondale

Irondale was first counted by the census in 1870, and 72% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1937 on and the census since 1870.

1870first census
0on the National Register
72%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Roseohioresident · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Irondale began

When was Irondale founded?

1870

Irondale first appears in the census in 1870. Another post office, Sunny Side (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 751 in 18702020 census: 326156 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Irondale’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Irondale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Irondale’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Irondale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Irondale’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Irondale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Irondale.

Read it all →

Irondale was originally known as Pottsdale, for Samuel Potts, who started a salt operation at Yellow Creek circa 1806. In 1869 Morgan & Hunter laid out the original plat of what was then called Hunterville which later was changed to Irondale after the discovery of iron ore and other minerals used in the manufacture of tin. Coal mining began at the settlement in 1861. A blast furnace was built later to supply iron to the tin mill which gave the town its new name, Irondale. The first commercially successful tin mill in the United States operated in Irondale in the 1880s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Irondale, 1869 to 1937

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Sunny Side post office opens
  3. 1870Post officeThe Sunny Side post office closes
  4. 1870Post officeThe Irondale post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1937On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Irondale, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Saline Street Bridge2016Saline Street BridgePedestrian bridges2016Pedestrian bridgesIrondale Ohio Post Office2016Irondale Ohio Post Office
On the map

Irondale on the map, 1937 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Irondale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Irondale on the 1937 USGS mapIrondale on the 1944 USGS mapIrondale on the 1960 USGS mapIrondale on the 1971 USGS mapIrondale on the 1985 USGS mapIrondale on the 1994 USGS map1937Wellsville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Irondale.

People over time

Irondale, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 775

Between 326 and 775 people in every census since 1870.

11 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Irondale’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Irondale

Nobody well known was born in Irondale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Robert UrichActor · b. 1946
Ruth Crawford SeegerAmerican composer · b. 1901
Elaine RileyAmerican film and television actress · b. 1917
Henry CrewAmerican physicist and astronomer · b. 1859
C
Connie CulpAmerican face transplant recipient · b. 1963
Burr McIntoshAmerican photographer, actor and publisher · b. 1862
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Irondale’s post office has been open since 1870. Another post office, Sunny Side, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sunny Side
1869–1870
Irondale
1870–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cream City
1cemetery inside Irondale
Irondale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Irondale’s history

What year was Irondale founded?

The Irondale post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.