- 1st Iron Furnace (1860)
- 1st Sanitary Sewer (1892); it pumps sewage directly to the Black River, resulting in an increase of typhoid cases
- Johnstown Steel relocates to Lorain (1894-1895)
- Johnstown Steel becomes Lorain Steel (1898)
- 1st Blast Furnaces, Lorain Steel (1899)
- Lorain Steel becomes part of US Steel (1901)
- First pipe made at National Tube Company (1905)
- Limited environmental regulation of discharges
- Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formed
- Clean Water Act passes and leads to regulation of discharges
- Steel mill faces air pollution enforcement action
- Brown bullhead catfish liver studies conducted
- Ohio EPA conducts intensive survey of the Black River
- Ohio Department of Health issues contact advisory for the lower Black River
- Ohio Department of Health issues a Do No Eat Fish advisory for the lower Black River; later revisions of advisory follow
- Steel mill coking plant closes
- Brown bullhead catfish liver studies conducted
- Black River is identified as a Great Lake Area of Concern by the International Joint Commission
- Remedial dredging of contaminated sediments begins
- Black River Remedial Action Plan (RAP) formed
- Ohio EPA conducts intensive survey of the Black River
- Brown bullhead catfish liver studies conducted
- Ohio EPA conducts intensive survey of the Black River
- Brown bullhead catfish liver studies conducted
- Black River RAP and Ohio EPA request risk assessment of the Black River contact advisory
- ODH lifts contact advisory for the lower Black River
- The Black River RAP applies for and receives a re-designation of the Fish Tumors and Other Deformities Beneficial Use Impairment from "Impaired" to “In Recovery."
- Black River delists benthos impairment in the East Branch; it is the first RAP area in the U.S. to completely remove any impairment
