James Heaton is credited with founding the village of Niles, originally known as Heaton’s Furnace, and with it the industries that fueled it. In 1806 he selected for himself land near the junction of the Mahoning River and Mosquito Creek. It was on this land that he established the very first industry in Niles, where he built both a saw mill and grist mill. In 1908 he constructed a blooming forge, manufacturing the first bar iron in Ohio. The pig iron that was used to supply the forge was originally obtained from Yellow Creek furnace, but when war broke out in 1812 the men that worked the furnace were drafted and the furnace closed. Needing a new supply for his forge, Heaton decided he would produce his own pig iron and created the Heaton forge. In 1813 he built a charcoal blast furnace capable of supplying the pig iron necessary to continue producing bar iron. He named the furnace the Maria Furnace after his daughter. James Heaton and his son Warren went on to open the Mill Creek furnace in 1826. The Maria furnace eventually closed giving way to more efficient ways to produce iron, but it was the raw iron from the Maria furnace that was a factor in bringing industrialization to Niles in the 1840’s. This industrialization is responsible for bringing a diverse population of immigrants to the Niles area, as men were needed to work in the early iron, and later steel, industries. Heaton died in 1856 and is buried in Union Cemetery in Niles with his family.