Ashtabula , city (1990 pop. 21,633), Ashtabula co., NE Ohio, on Lake Erie at the mouth of the Ashtabula River; settled c.1801 by New Englanders, inc. as a village 1831, as a city 1891. It is a port of entry on the St. Lawrence Seaway, handling iron ore and coal. Ashtabula manufactures transportation equipment, chemicals, plastics, and fiberglass products. There is tourism, and a campus of Kent State Univ. is in the city.