June 27 – July 4, 2026
A look back at the week our county came together to celebrate 250 years of American history, heritage and hometown pride.
From Saturday, June 27 through Saturday, July 4, 2026, communities across Jefferson County marked America’s 250th birthday with concerts, cookouts, street festivals and fireworks. The celebration invited neighbors to gather in honor of freedom, unity and tradition, and it brought people together from Wintersville and Mount Pleasant to Toronto and Steubenville.
The week opened with Thunder in the Ville at the Jefferson County Airpark, a family-friendly evening of patriotic festivities that ended with a fireworks display at 10 PM. The days that followed honored the county’s history and the people who served: a free Veteran’s BBQ at Friendship Park, an open house at the 1814 Quaker Meeting House in Mount Pleasant, and a memorial concert at the Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Toronto remembering local World War I veterans.
As the Fourth drew closer, the festivities moved through the county’s main streets. Wednesdays in Wintersville filled Main Street with shopping, music and food, the Concert Series at The Fort featured a reunion of the Jamboree Staff Band, and First Fridays Downtown Steubenville turned the 100 block of North 4th Street into a patriotic street festival. On July 4, Toronto held its 4th on Fourth street festival, and Steubenville gathered on the Ohio River waterfront at Fort Steuben for a concert followed by fireworks at dusk.
The celebration carried on past the holiday, with the Dillonvale Freedom Fest on July 11 and the Ohio Goes to the Movies series presented by the Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County from July through September. Throughout the week, visitors could also tour local landmarks and enter a raffle by scanning a QR code.
A reconstructed 1786 military outpost on the Ohio River, now a living history museum and park.
A downtown landmark at 227 North 4th Street, dedicated in 1931.
A former naval artillery piece displayed outside the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Painted in 2019 and recently restored, it honors WWII Red Tail pilots and two local men.
In Smithfield, 888 bricks honor local veterans from the War of 1812 to today.
A Carnegie library established in 1902, with branches across the county.