Youngstown grew from a richly forested area traveled by Native Americans into an industrial center after John Young surveyed it in 1796, bought the township in 1797, and officials recorded the establishment of Young’s Town in 1802. Local coal, iron ore, and limestone helped create a thriving iron industry, including the area’s first stone stack blast furnace, built by James and Daniel Heaton, which began production in 1803. By the mid-1800s, industry in the Mahoning Valley attracted immigrants from Germany, Ireland, and Wales, and expanding iron plants later drew Eastern European, Greek, and Italian immigrants as manufacturing shifted from iron to steel under large corporations such as Carnegie Steel. In the twentieth century, Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley saw cultural institutions, parks, theaters, and sports flourish while new arrivals came from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, the American South, and later Latin America and Puerto Rico. At the same time, ethnic diversity and labor conflict often contributed to workplace and community strife, especially during violent strikes over wages, safety, and hours. After World War I, the Mahoning Valley ranked second in the nation in steel production, declined during the Great Depression, surged again during World War II, and then suffered a devastating collapse beginning on Black Monday, September 19, 1977, when the Campbell Works shut down without warning and other mills soon followed, costing more than 25,000 jobs and driving a major population decline. Since the mill closures, Youngstown has worked to diversify its economy through museums, parks, Youngstown State University, advanced manufacturing partnerships, the Youngstown Business Incubator, and downtown revitalization, creating a broader economic base with promise for the future.