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Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Martins Ferry, Ohio

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1902 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Pease Township. It lies in ZIP code area 43935. It stands on Buckeye Run. The Survey maps it on the Wheeling quadrangle. 6,260 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 709 feet above sea level.

Martins Ferry within Belmont County

Population over time

2 figures

Martins Ferry fell from 6,915 to 6,260 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20106,915
20206,260-655 (-9%)

Then and now

1902 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 92 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Martins Ferry, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Martins Ferry, surveyed 1902

Compare 1902 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

27 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the 1903 county history

11,634 words on this township

The county history of 1903 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for the smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Pease Township covers township organization, increase in population and wealth, the first, settlements, the old mills and meeting houses, coal mining, fruit.

Read the chapter on Pease Township - 11,634 words.

Fires nearby

19 since 1994

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Martins Ferry between 1994 and 2020, burning about 86 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning12
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Arson/incendiarism2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 April 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresOhio Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 April 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined25 acresOhio Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
18 April 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acreWest Virginia Division of ForestryWV RT. 2
17 April 2019Debris and open burning1.1 acresOhio Department of Natural Resources15159
13 April 2018Arson/incendiarism11 acresWest Virginia Division of ForestryNORTH PARK
24 March 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreOhio Department of Natural Resources7949
20 March 2010Debris and open burningunder an acreOhio Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
25 February 2001Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreWest Virginia Division of ForestryWARWOOD AVE.

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Belmont County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,231 shown

Museums hold 1,231 specimens collected within 10 miles of Martins Ferry between 1800 and 1975: 1,037 Plantae, 117 Fungi, 75 Animalia, 2 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. D. Selby, A. D. Selby & E. L. Moseley, A. D. Selby & J. F. Hicks and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Racodium E.M.Fries, 1829Racodium E.M.Fries, 18291829J.R. Paddock
Specimen of Usnea Dill. ex Adans., 1763Usnea Dill. ex Adans., 17631839J.R. Paddock
Specimen of Dysodia oculatana Clemens, 1860Dysodia oculatana Clemens, 18601975not recorded
A photograph of the species Houstonia caerulea, not of this specimenHoustonia caerulea L.1800Guttenberg, G.near Wheeling
A photograph of the species Robinia L., not of this specimenRobinia L.1829Guttenberg, G.Wheeling
A photograph of the species Persicaria virginiana, not of this specimenPersicaria virginiana (L.) Gaertn.1835E. WilkinsonOhio
A photograph of the species Carex sparganioides, not of this specimenCarex sparganioides Muhl. ex Willd.1837B. FrankOhio
A photograph of the species Carex sullivantii, not of this specimenCarex × sullivantii Boott1842W. S. SullivantOhio
A photograph of the species Homalothecium subcapillatum, not of this specimenHomalothecium subcapillatum (Hedw.) Sull.1843D. Sullivan
A photograph of the species Euphorbia maculata, not of this specimenEuphorbia maculata L.1844S. B. MeadOhio
A photograph of the species Jungermannia sullivantii, not of this specimenJungermannia sullivantii Austin1844W. S. Sullivant
A photograph of the species Carex gracilescens, not of this specimenCarex gracilescens Steud.1847G. B. AshcroftOhio

All 1,231 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

4 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Martins Ferry: 2 past producers, 1 unknown, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Limestone, General, Iron, Bituminous, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Ayers Limestone Quarry,Inc.Bituminous, Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Wheeling-Pgh/ Martins Ferry, OhioIronUnknown
Ayers Limestone QuarryLimestone, GeneralPast ProducerSedimentary
Benwood PlantLimestone, GeneralPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Belmont County

Storms nearby

18 since 1994

The National Weather Service names Martins Ferry in 18 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 3 flood, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2011FloodMartins Ferry$50,000Emergency management reported basement and street flooding.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindMartins Ferry$50,000Emergency management reported trees and power lines down in Martins Ferry.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindMartins Ferry$50,000Emergency management reported trees down in Martins Ferry.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindMartins Ferry$50,000Trees were downed, some on power lines. The strong winds damaged some boats and boat docks on the Ohio River.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindMartins Ferry$15,000Trees blown down in Martins Ferry. Other trees and power lines down near Piedmont Lake. 245 customers lost electric power.
November 2005Thunderstorm WindMartins Ferry$15,000Many trees and power lines blown down in Martins Ferry. Trees down in St Clairsville. [CORRECTED TIME]
June 2025Flash FloodMartins Ferry$5,000Report from mPING: Street/road flooding; Street/road closed; Vehicles stranded.
September 2011FloodMartins Ferry$5,000Emergency management reported small creeks out of banks and covering State Route 7 and County Road 4.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindMartins Ferry$5,000Several trees down.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindMartins Ferry$5,000Trees and power lines blown down by wind.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindMartins Ferry$2,000Many trees down.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindMartins Ferry-A local 911 Call Center reported trees and power lines down in the area.
August 2018FloodMartins Ferry-County 911 officials reported flooded docks at the United Dairy Plant.
August 1997Flash FloodMartins Ferry-Heavy thunderstorm rains caused extensive street flooding in Martins Ferry.
August 2017HailMartins Ferry-no account filed
April 2001HailMartins Ferry-no account filed
June 1998HailMartins Ferry-no account filed
August 1998HailMartins Ferry-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Belmont County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Aetnaville1.1 miles27
Terminal Junction1.2 miles27
Florence1.7 miles27
Lombardy Heights1.8 miles27
Bridgeport2.0 miles27
West Wheeling2.6 miles27
Brookside2.6 miles18
Glenndale (historical)2.7 miles27

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Martins FerryAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1018313The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1061478. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.