How Did Youngstown, Ohio, Get Its Nicknames?

Youngstown, Ohio, was established in 1797 by New Yorker John Young, for whom it was named. It was incorporated as a village in 1848, then a city in 1867.

The story of the naming of Youngstown is pretty straightforward: Young’s Town. It is the many nicknames the city has received over the years that make for an interesting story.

[Related: Find more news about Youngstown.]

The nicknames “Steel City” and “Steeltown, USA” describe Youngstown’s key role in America’s steel industry. Key players in the steel industry were Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube and Republic Steel, among others.

Strikes at these mills, such as the “Little Steel Strike of 1939,” garnered national attention. During what was known as “Woman’s Day” on the picket line outside Republic Steel, the women took offense to Youngstown Police Captain Charley Richmond, who told them to go home where they belonged.

Richmond stated the women began cursing him and approaching, at which time a gas canister was deployed to disperse the crowd. The women’s husbands, members of the heavily Communist Committee of Industrial Organizations (CIO) labor union, then attacked the police. A melee occurred, including a firefight that left six dead.

Martial law was declared by Democratic Ohio Gov. Martin L. Davey, with the approval of President Roosevelt, and the National Guard was sent in to bring order.

Another strike in 1952 gained national significance when Democratic President Harry S. Truman seized control of Youngstown Sheet and Tube in order to avoid a strike during the Korean War. Out of this decision came the Supreme Court decision Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company et al. v. Charles Sawyer, Secretary of Commerce, 343 U.S. 579 (1952), which reaffirmed the limits on presidential power as established by the U.S. Constitution.

The eventual closing of the steel mills in the 1970s and ’80s led to the nickname “Rust City,” and the area became known as the “Rust Belt.”

[Related: Ohio Officials Debate Stricter Fracking Rules.]

Other dubious monikers given to Youngstown include “Mobtown,” ” Little Chicago,” “Crimetown, USA,” and “Bomb City” due to its extensive Cleveland and Pittsburgh mafia connections. The term “Youngstown tune-up” described the all-too-common method of assassinating mafioso, the car bomb. Check out AmericanMafia.com for more information.

A mafia-owned night club on Youngstown’s east side is said to have been frequented by Frank Sinatra. The bar is no longer there. Comedian Richard Pryor also stated in his concert performance “Live on the Sunset Strip” that he worked as an emcee at a mafia-owned night club in Youngstown, presumably the same one frequented by Sinatra.

Youngstown also became known as “Murdertown, USA” and “Yompton” (a play on words referencing Compton, California) due to the heavy presence of street gangs, with the 51/50 Bloodz being the dominant national gang set.

Youngstown also topped the list of dangerous cities as released by Quitno Press in 2001 and 2002.

But all of this takes away from the rich history of the city.

Youngstown is the birthplace of the Good Humor ice cream bar and inventor Harry Burt; Cream of Wheat icon model William H. Calbreath; and musical groups The Edsels, Glass Harp, The Human Beinz, and Billy Beck of the Ohio Players.

Also from Youngstown are the Warner Bros., who opened the Warner Theater downtown in 1931; the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Jim Cummings; Joe Flynn of “McHale’s Navy;” and “Married With Children’s” Ed O’Neill.

Sports figures include IBF lightweight champion Harry Arroyo, lightweight champion of the world Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, and former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik; and the NFL’s Jerry Olsavsky, Sherman Smith, and Brad Smith.

This list can go on ad nauseum, but we’ll stop here.


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