Austinburg is where Ashtabula County meets the interstate. I-90 crosses Route 45 here at exit 223, and that single intersection does a lot of work for a township this rural — it is the off-ramp for anyone coming to the wine country, the covered bridges, the lake or D-Day Conneaut, and it is where the county’s hotels ended up.

Away from the interchange it is farm ground and back roads, the same as the townships either side of it. The difference is that a few thousand cars a day pass through, and a handful of businesses have built themselves around that fact.

Grand River Academy

The oldest thing in Austinburg by some distance is the school on College Street. Grand River Academy was founded in 1831 by leaders of the Austinburg Congregational Church as the Ashtabula County Institute of Science and Industry — a place to prepare young men for the ministry. It took its current ground in 1836 after Joab Austin pledged an endowment, and the local telling is that the original building was dragged up from the banks of the Grand River by oxen.

It started admitting women in 1840, and from 1843 to 1848 the Women’s Department was run by Betsy Mix Cowles, who went on to become one of the more significant abolitionists and women’s rights organizers in Ohio. Today it is an independent college-preparatory boarding and day school for boys in grades eight through twelve, plus a postgraduate year, on roughly 200 acres. Students come from outside the county and well outside the country, which quietly makes Austinburg one of the more internationally connected addresses in Ashtabula County.

The Interchange Economy

Exit 223 is the practical front door to this part of the county. The Fairfield Inn & Suites on Sidley Court and the Hampton Inn on GH Drive both sit within sight of it, and between them they absorb most of the overnight demand for wine country weekends, SPIRE tournaments and the August crush around D-Day Conneaut. The Ashtabula County Visitors Bureau keeps its office on Route 45 here, which is the right place for it — this is where visitors actually arrive.

Add the fuel stops, the Save-A-Lot, the Andover Bank branch and the service businesses along 45, and you have a small commercial cluster that serves both the township and everyone passing through it.

Austinburg Days

The township’s own weekend is Austinburg Days, with a parade down through the middle of it. It is the kind of event that runs on volunteers, fire department pancake breakfasts and businesses that sponsor a banner every year without being asked twice. If you have ever wondered whether a township of this size can still put on a parade, the answer is yes, and the turnout is better than you would guess.

Getting Around

Route 45 runs north to Ashtabula and south toward Rock Creek, Jefferson and eventually the Amish farms around Orwell. Route 307 crosses east and west through the wineries. I-90 gets you to Cleveland in about fifty minutes and to Erie in about forty-five. For a township with no stoplight to speak of, that is unusually good access.

Find an Austinburg Business

The listings above cover Austinburg Township and the 44010 ZIP code. This is one of the thinner pages on the site so far, and that is a gap in the directory rather than a verdict on the township. If you run a business in Austinburg and you are not on this page, you can add your listing free.

More to See Around Austinburg

Rosabella Winery is here on Route 307, with the rest of the Grand River Valley wineries a few minutes west. The covered bridges and the county’s museums are all within a short drive of exit 223.