Coal Grove

How Coal Grove began

Coal Grove sits on the Ohio River immediately upstream of Ironton, within Upper Township, and was originally known as Petersburg (also spelled Petersburgh), a fire-brick-making river hamlet, before the Chicago Lumber Company's 1888 mill on Ice Creek gave rise to the modern village. Two bridges connect it to Ashland, Kentucky, and its Dawson-Bryant Local School District is named for two Coal Grove men who died in the First World War, one of them the first Lawrence County soldier killed in that war. The village's population peaked at nearly 2,961 in 1960 and has declined by about a third since.

Where the name comes from

Originally known as Petersburg (also spelled Petersburgh), a river hamlet still carrying that name when an Ironton-Petersburg horse streetcar line opened on July 4, 1888. That same year the Chicago Lumber Company (soon reorganized as the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company) built a large sawmill on Ice Creek at the site, which an Ironton centennial history credits directly with creating the modern village: "the Chicago Lumber Co., built a large plant on Ice Creek, which resulted in the village of Coal Grove." No source found states in so many words why the new village took the name "Coal Grove" rather than keeping Petersburg, but the timing ties the name change to this lumber-mill founding rather than to coal mining as such.

Before the town

No source found records a Native village, mound, trail, or treaty event specific to Coal Grove. The village lies within the Ohio River lands ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville; the county's broader Native history is covered at the county level.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee.

Timeline

1. 1871 — As Petersburg, the site is already a fire-brick manufacturing point on the Ohio River opposite Ashland, one of the largest such producers in the Hanging Rock Iron Region.
2. 1888-07-04 — The Ironton-Petersburg horse-drawn street car line opens, with an inaugural parade of cars crossing by ferry to Ashland, Kentucky.
3. 1888 — The Chicago Lumber Company builds a large sawmill on Ice Creek at Petersburg; an Ironton centennial history states this "resulted in the village of Coal Grove."
4. 1890 — The earliest census figures available for the community as Coal Grove begin.
5. 1892 — Fire destroys the Chicago Lumber Company's plant and lumber yards, and 30 homes in the village of Coal Grove.
6. 1895-1905 — Rebuilt as the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company, the Coal Grove mill becomes, for a decade, the largest lumber company in the world, with offices in Chicago, New York, and London.
7. 1896-11-01 — Electric street cars replace the horse-drawn line between Ironton and Coal Grove.
8. 1918-03-05 — Homer Dawson of Coal Grove, a member of the Rainbow Division, becomes the first Lawrence County soldier killed in action in the First World War.
9. 1925 — The Carlyle Labold Company takes over the Peters Brick plant in Coal Grove, which becomes the Carlyle Tile Company, later one of the larger ceramic plants in southern Ohio.
10. 1931-08-07 — The Coal Grove-Ashland bridge across the Ohio River is dedicated and opened.
11. 1960 — The village's population peaks at approximately 2,961 residents.
12. 2019 — In June, a water system malfunction introduces sodium permanganate into the village's supply, turning tap water pink; officials declare it safe to drink but advise against using it to wash clothes.
13. 2020 — The village's population is recorded at 1,889 in the decennial census.

Stories

The mill that made the village

Before 1888 the riverbank across from Ashland was still Petersburg, a hamlet already known for the fire brick made there since at least 1871. That year the Chicago Lumber Company put up a large sawmill on Ice Creek, and, in the words of an Ironton centennial history, the mill itself "resulted in the village of Coal Grove." The new mill town was tied to Ironton by a horse-drawn street car line opened on the Fourth of July, 1888, its cars crossing the river by ferry to Ashland on opening day. Disaster struck in 1892, when fire destroyed the lumber plant, its yards, and thirty homes in the young village. Rebuilt as the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company, the mill did not merely recover: from 1895 to 1905 it was, by the centennial history's account, the largest lumber company in the world, with offices in Chicago, New York, and London. Electric cars replaced the old horse line to Coal Grove in November 1896, and by the First World War the village had grown enough to furnish Lawrence County's first soldier killed in action, Homer Dawson, in March 1918. The lumber industry's old works later passed to brick and tile making, and in 1925 the Carlyle Labold Company took over the former Peters Brick plant, running it as the Carlyle Tile Company.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org

Ohio River surface water, treated at the Ironton Water Treatment Plant (built 1993, approved capacity 4 million gallons per day, about 1.3 MGD produced). The foot-of-Vernon-Street siting describes the original 1872 waterworks, not the current intake location. The water here

• Ironton64% of residentsOhio River
• Hecla Water Association21% of residentsOhio River
• Coal Grove15% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Scioto Water Inc.-sugar Camp1% of residentsGroundwater wells (6 wells)

Community health centers (2)

Nursing homes (1)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Public schools (2)

Police stations (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (3)

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Financial Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2026-03-05

Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.

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