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Portsmouth, Ohio

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The Carl D. Perkins Bridge across the Ohio River at Portsmouth
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The Carl D. Perkins Bridge across the Ohio River at Portsmouth

Portsmouth is a city in Scioto County, Ohio, at the confluence of the Ohio, Scioto and Little Scioto Rivers. The population was 20,909 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Scioto County[Geographic references#6GR6]. From 1930-1933, it was the home of the Portsmouth Spartans, the NFL franchise that became the Detroit Lions in 1934. Shawnee State University is located in Portsmouth.

Contents

Geography

Location of Portsmouth, Ohio

Portsmouth is located at [38°44′35″N, 82°57′56″W] (38.743186, -82.965436)[Geographic references#1GR1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.6 km² (11.1 mi²). 27.9 km² (10.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.8 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (2.62%) is water.

History

Portsmouth's roots began in 1790's when the small town of Alexandria was founded just west where Portsmouth is today. There were numerous times the town was flooded out by the Ohio River and the Scioto River. In 1803, Henry Massie spotted a place to move the town away from the flood plains. He began to plot the city by distributing the land and the drawing the streets with a map. Portsmouth was founded in 1803 and was established as a city in 1815. Alexandria soon disappeared and a dirt track sits where the town once stood. Portsmouth quickly grew around an industrial base with the completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the construction of the N&W railyards and the B&O junction. This greatly benifited Boneyfidle (which is a westend neighborhood in Portsmouth) as grand buildings were constructed showing the wealth of the commerce, but as time passed, much of the commerce began to move towards Chillicothe Street which is the main thoroughfare of Portsmouth. Today, Boneyfidle is a former shadow of itself.

The Floods and The Solution

Even though the city was on higher ground, it was still prone to flooding. The city had great deal of flooding in 1884, 1913, and 1937. After the flood of 1937, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed a floodwall protecting the city which prevented two major floods in 1964 and 1997. In 1993, mural artist, Robert Dafford, began painting murals of Portsmouth's history on the floodwall. Most of the mural project was finished around 2003 with a baseball mural honoring Portsmouth's baseball heroes was completed in 2006.

Decline

By the 1950's, Portsmouth's population climaxed at 50,000. However, higher labor costs, instability of local unions, and foreign influence drove much of the industry which Portsmouth was built on; out of town. The major blow came in 1980 when the steel industry closed for good. With a population of just about 20,000, the City is not that far removed from many small cities along the Ohio River and the Ohio River Valley, sharing many of the same problems facing small towns in an era of outsourcing and population migration to more urban area's.

Political Corrpution

Portsmouth hasn't really been immune to political corrpution. For the last 26 years the citizens have been battling this. They have recalled three city council members in 1980 after the a mall proposal was denied by city council and again in 2004 for both the mayor and two council members over a Marting's(a former local department store) proposal to move city hall to the building which would have cost taxpayers millions of dollars to pay the debt of the company and the renovations. As of 2006, the proposal is dead after citizens voted against an issue in March to move ahead with the plans. The city also went into an uproar in 1981 when they fired a city manager for illegal wrong doing. The city reverted from city manager mode to mayorial duties in 1988.

Industry

Portsmouth was a city focused on industry and manufacturing until the 1970s when a number of companies closed down their factories over labor costs and foreign influence. Since the closure of these factories, Portsmouth has suffered a loss of jobs and revenue. The city is currently trying to promote service businesses with Southern Ohio Medicial Center as the biggest employer in the city of Portsmouth.

In November of 2002, the Portsmouth Uranium Enrichment Plant in nearby Piketon, Ohio was recognized as an ANS Nuclear Historic Landmark by the American Nuclear Society. It had served a military function from 1952 until the mid-1960s when the mission changed from enriching uranium for nuclear weapons to one focused on producing fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. Portsmouth ended enriching operations in 2001 and began to support operational and administrative functions and perform external contract work.

All uranium enrichment in the area was taken over by Portsmouth's sister plant across the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky. Uranium enrichment functions had previously been shared by the two plants. USEC interests in the area remain strong with the American Centrifuge Plant being built in Piketon.

In January of 2004, USEC announced the selection of Piketon as the expected site for its future American Centrifuge Plant. This commercial uranium enrichment facility is expected to employ up to 500 people and reach an initial annual production level of 3.5 million SWU by 2010.

Demographics

As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 20,909 people, 9,120 households, and 5,216 families residing in the city. The population density was 749.6/km² (1,941.4/mi²). There were 10,248 housing units at an average density of 367.4/km² (951.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.50% White, 5.00% African American, 0.63% Native American, 0.61% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.32% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.93% of the population.

There were 9,120 households out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.9% were married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.8% were non-families. 37.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.0% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 83.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,004, and the median income for a family was $31,237. Males had a median income of $31,521 versus $20,896 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,078. About 18.3% of families and 23.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.1% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.

Newspapers

[Portsmouth Daily Times]
[Community Common]
[Scioto Voice]
[University Chronicle]

Notable Residents

See also

External links

 

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