{"id":2487,"date":"2026-06-23T18:55:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/voinovichacademy.ohio.edu\/?page_id=2487"},"modified":"2026-06-23T18:55:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:55:21","slug":"samuel-cramblit-ironton","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/voinovichacademy.ohio.edu\/index.php\/samuel-cramblit-ironton\/","title":{"rendered":"Samuel Cramblit | Ironton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Samuel Cramblit Leads Ironton\u2019s Revival: From Historic River Town to Tourism Hub<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Sam<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n

Ironton Mayor Samuel Cramblit describes his hometown as a historic, industrial river town with deep roots and some homes that were part of the Underground Railroad because of the municipality\u2019s proximity to the Ohio River and Kentucky.<\/span><\/p>\n

The town also used to be one of the world\u2019s largest producers of pig iron, Cramblit said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our historic days, we were a blooming city. We also were part of the DTI (Detroit, Toledo and Ironton) Railroad system,\u201d he said. \u201cNow in modern days, we are in what I would call a renaissance area where things are starting to come back to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cramblit\u2019s goal for Ironton now is to improve the quality of life for its citizens, giving people more opportunities in the city and creating a place where people can raise their families.<\/p>\n

He also hopes to shift Ironton\u2019s focus toward traveling tourism. The city has a riverfront, land at the edge of the county that could be used for recreational opportunities and trails in the Wayne National Forest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot to offer here, but it\u2019s never been tapped into, so knowing that\u2019s where we\u2019re going, it\u2019s really nice to know,\u201d Cramblit said. \u201cMaybe a family that can\u2019t get a cabin at Hocking Hills one weekend will say, \u201cWell, let\u2019s go to Ironton.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Cramblit took office Dec. 1, 2019. He had about three months of a normal tenure before the coronavirus pandemic hit.<\/p>\n

Despite the pandemic, Cramblit said Ironton has still seen a lot of business growth, in part thanks to federal government assistance programs. And throughout the pandemic, Cramblit said he and his office did not stop working toward pre-pandemic goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we quit now, it was all for nothing. It\u2019s like playing a football game and only playing three quarters or a half and then just saying \u2018we quit\u2019 while we were ahead and lose the rest of the game,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s not my mentality. I like to see things finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hardest part of the pandemic, Cramblit said, has been navigating the community divisions regarding the pandemic, and the biggest challenge leaders face is not knowing how long the pandemic, and pandemic-related divisions, will continue.<\/p>\n

Throughout the pandemic, the Mayors\u2019 Partnership for Progress, which is supported by the Voinovich School of Leadership at Public Service at Ohio University, helped Cramblit and Ironton talk with other mayors who were experiencing the same struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a collective, it’s very helpful to bounce those thoughts, concerns and issues off of each other to work through them together,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for being a part of the Mayors\u2019 Partnership and what it provides for the citizens of Ironton and the citizens of Appalachia Ohio.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

Cramblit is a young mayor. He graduated from Ohio University in 2015 and worked as a campaign consultant and manager, traveling around the country and seeing different cities and governments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I saw something, I thought that would be great in Ironton,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Between campaign seasons, Cramblit would attend council meetings back in his hometown. He said he noticed that Ironton City Council had generally a negative tone when discussing the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard a lot of discouraging narratives,\u201d he said. \u201cYou should have optimistic leaders who are looking to move the community forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cramblit said he felt a calling to run for the position of mayor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I had accomplished a lot of great things for communities running the elections and issues we pushed around the country, and it was like, \u2018I want to do this for the people I know and the people that I loved,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges Cramblit has faced in his position, he said he believes that the future for Ironton is bright.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a dark time, where we\u2019re dealing with a lot of issues through this pandemic, there are a lot of good things happening for our future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2487","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/voinovichacademy.ohio.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/voinovichacademy.ohio.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/voinovichacademy.ohio.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voinovichacademy.ohio.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voinovichacademy.ohio.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/voinovichacademy.ohio.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2489,"href":"https:\/\/voinovichacademy.ohio.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2487\/revisions\/2489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/voinovichacademy.ohio.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}