 An early morning scene of Ironton, Ohio as viewed from the Kentucky town of Russell. Both are settlements along the Ohio River that were the result of a boom in iron ore production. Ironton is the older one, which shows in the range of historic architecture and cemeteries. Russell is across the river and was the result of property divided up and developed by a land company. Ironton is protected by a flood-wall while Russell is not, which makes the riverfront houses and small park at Russell something special along the Ohio. Most of the time, the residents of towns are greeted with earthen or concrete walls to look at. There's a lot of land around here, but it wasn't always easy to find a place to live. That was surprising to me when we found my grandmother's diary from 1936. She wrote a paragraph each day for that year and during the spring, they lost the lease to their home in Catlettsburg, just slightly upriver from here. The diary details a lot of pondering and worry about where to live. 'No houses...' she would write. Finally, they found a place to rent in Ohio, just downriver from the picture above. You would have thought she was being exiled to another country. In these parts, even 70 years later, most people would not even consider going across the river (either way) to find a home. My grandmother was stuck in Ohio for a few years before finally returning to live in Ashland, Kentucky. She was unfortunate to be a woman who loved having roots but was married to a man that couldn't stay in one spot for more than a few years. Over her lifetime, she lived in 8 different houses, but she was able to keep each move down to only a few miles. A couple of years ago, I was in a hospital waiting room and happened across the lady that bought house #5. She recalled loving the exterior of the house, so she just walked up to the front door and inquired about buying it. The negotiation didn't take long and was done with my grandfather standing in the doorway holding the door open. All during the talk, the woman remembers an older lady on crutches shouting 'Don't sell my house!' But my grandfather was a man of his word, no matter what, and the price had already been quoted. The woman recalls that it was a wonderful house that she raised a family in and still enjoys during retirement. House #6 was brand new and the penalty to pay was a houseful of new furniture from the better-store in town. Being decended from these two, I find this poem to be one of my favorites: Don Blanding's 'A Double Life' Comment (5) | Permalink |
4x6photo.com | Ironton, Ohio | 30 August, 2005
