LUNCH WITH BOOKS: Rockyside - A Forgotten Mining Community

April 17, 2018

Located atop a hillside, outside of and just north of New Cumberland, a forgotten mining community overlooked the many brickyards located along the Ohio River. A hillside without electricity, running water, or indoor facilities, but home to a one-room school and a Catholic Church built in 1904, the little community of Rockyside was home to over 300 men, women, and children from 1870 to 1950. Thomas  Zielinsky’s latest book, "Rockyside: A Forgotten Mining Community," details the clay mining and brickmaking operations both south and north of New Cumberland, an area referred to as Brickyard Bend. From 1830, when clay was first discovered, to 1980, when the last brickyard closed, Zielinsky identifies a number of families who once lived on the hillside and explores the hardships and struggles they endured. With over 250 pictures, both old and new, showing what the area once looked like as well as the type of equipment used to make brick and sewer pipe, "Rockyside" was written to document and preserve an important piece of forgotten Upper Ohio Valley industrial history. Zielinsky will tell the story of this community lost to time April 17 at noon at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library

Born in Steubenville, Ohio and raised in New Cumberland, WV, Thomas Zielinsky now resides in Weirton, WV. He served in the Army for 3 years during the Vietnam era. He has an MBA and degrees in Electronic Engineering and Computers Science from Franciscan University. A retired both as Senior Director of Information Strategy at Weirton Steel and Director of Technology and Communications at the Hancock County Commission, Zielinsky is the author of two books, "The Final Days of Weirton Steel" (2010), and "Rockyside: A Forgotten Mining Community" (2017).

Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Attendees are welcome to bring a bag lunch and complimentary beverages are provided. Call the Ohio County Public Library at 304-232-0244 or visit the library's website at www.ohiocountylibrary.org for more information.