Hanging Rock

How Hanging Rock began

Hanging Rock, on the Ohio River in Hamilton Township, takes its name from a cliff overlooking the water and was among the earliest European-American settlements in what became Lawrence County: Andrew Yingling settled nearby in 1798, and by 1846 the village had a church, four stores, a forge, a rolling mill, a foundry, and about 150 residents -- a predecessor, in effect, to Ironton itself, which was founded three years later a short distance downriver. A blast furnace built here in 1820 anchored the community through its 1890 population peak of 846; industrial decline through the 20th century left it at 204 residents by 2020.

Settled 1796-1798 (Luke Kelly's family and May Keyser, 1796, per the county-level Wikipedia account; Andrew Yingling, 1798, per the Hamilton Township historical society), by early settlers including Luke Kelly's family, May Keyser, and Andrew Yingling.

Where the name comes from

Named for a nearby overhanging cliff along the Ohio River.

Before the town

No source found records a Native village, mound, trail, or treaty event specific to Hanging Rock. 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. 1796 — Luke Kelly's family and May Keyser, migrating from the east, become among the first European-American settlers in what is now Lawrence County, settling at Hanging Rock.
2. 1798 — Andrew Yingling establishes a settlement near Hanging Rock.
3. 1820 — European Americans build a blast furnace at the site, giving the growing settlement its industrial base.
4. 1846 — Hanging Rock, by now the largest village in the future Hamilton Township, has a church, four stores, a forge, a rolling mill, a foundry, and about 150 inhabitants.
5. 1850 — The Church of Hanging Rock and Pine Grove is dedicated November 23, later described by the local historical society as the oldest occupied public building in the county.
6. 1890 — The village's population peaks at 846 residents.
7. 2020 — The village's population is recorded at 204 residents.

Stories

The village Ironton grew past

Before there was an Ironton, there was Hanging Rock. Andrew Yingling settled near the cliff that gave the place its name in 1798, and by 1846 the little riverside settlement had grown into a real industrial village -- a church, four stores, a forge, a rolling mill, a foundry, and roughly 150 residents, anchored by a blast furnace built in 1820. Three years later, in 1849, John Campbell founded Ironton just downriver, better sited for the region's growing iron trade, and the balance of growth shifted decisively away from Hanging Rock. The older village never disappeared -- it kept its own furnace, its own church (dedicated in 1850 and, by local tradition, still the oldest occupied public building in the county), and its own identity -- but it settled into the role of Ironton's quieter, older neighbor, peaking at 846 residents in 1890 and shrinking steadily as the 20th century's industrial changes reduced the need for furnace labor altogether.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · lawcoht.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.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)

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 2026-06-16

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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