On the shores of Lake Erie, 18 miles from the Pennsylvania border, Ashtabula (pop. 20,962) is a large and busy pleasure-boating port, first dredged at the mouth of the Ashtabula River in 1826 and later home to some of the biggest shipyards on the Great Lakes. Now primarily recreation-oriented, Ashtabula still has a few signs of its industrial past, including the lakefront coal conveyor that forms an archway over the river, next to a squat lighthouse and a small local history museum housed in the old lighthouse keeper’s quarters. The town’s lakeside location made it a key transit point for escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad, a history recounted inside the Hubbard House Museum, on the corner of Walnut and Lake. Both museums are open Friday–Sunday afternoons in summer only.
A block south of the lakefront, pride of place goes to a burly bascule drawbridge and to the many turn-of-the-20th-century industrial and business premises along Bridge Street that form a three-block parade of gift shops, bars, and restaurants, including the Doxsie Deli and Ice Cream Parlour (440/964-9888) at 1001 Bridge Street, open daily for sandwiches and sundaes.
