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The Ohio River played a dominant role in the development and growth of the City of Wheeling. The Ohio River's attraction began as far back as 7,000 B.C. when Archaic Man, who was preeminently a West Virginian, chose an area on Wheeling Creek to hunt and live. Later, around 1,000 B.C. the Adena People favored the area and left to antiquity their chocolate-drop burial mounds. The most fascinating example is found at Grave Creek Mound Historic Site in Moundsville. It is recorded that the Delaware Indians, descendants of the last occupants of prehistoric times, initiated the name "Wheeling." A word pronounced "Wilunk" or "Willin" by the Delaware was applied to the Wheeling location, meaning "Place of the Head." As morbid as it sounds today, it is recorded that a luckless prisoner was scalped and decapitated by a Delaware warrior, his head impaled on a pole at the mouth of the creek. The "h" crept in around 1772 with correspondence from Col. William Crawford to Washington. By 1773, the Mingo and Shawnee had joined the Delaware. A metal sculpture of a Mingo chief by Henry Beu stands at the top of Wheeling Hill to welcome travelers to the city. The End of the East Prior to 1818, the area which is now the city of Wheeling was regarded as a wilderness outpost -- the most western settlement in the new nation -- where civilized settlement literally ended at the Ohio River. La Belle Riviere was recognized by the French as the link between her colonies of Canada and Louisiana. In 1749, the French buried a lead plate at the mouth of Wheeling Creek, claiming the land for France. Forts were built along the river from what is now present-day Wellsburg to Wheeling Creek. To the English, the Ohio was the Gateway into economic speculation. Lawrence Washington (son of Washington's brother Samuel) organized the Ohio Company for the Indian trade and land acquisition, a company required to settle a hundred families on the Ohio River. Washington commissioned surveyor Christopher Gist to study the lands. Gist, whose relatives still hold land near Wheeling, surveyed the upper Ohio Valley the winter of 1751-52, and in 1753-54 accompanied George Washington to Ft. LeBoeuf on his first confrontation with the French. To entice volunteers to the English cause, Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia early in 1754 proclaimed a promise of 200,000 acres on and near the Ohio River to French and Indian War participants "in proportion and subsequent to their service." Washington set off down the Ohio in 1770 and laid claim to several hundred acres of the Round Bottom below Moundsville. Indian Wars Fort Henry was built in 1774. Known as Fort Fincastle in honor of the Royal Governor of Virginia, it was renamed in 1776 in deference to Governor Patrick Henry. Supposedly, the last battle of the Revolutionary War took place here in 1782. This era of Wheeling area history is painted with the legendary exploits of Lewis Wetzel, a fierce scout and backwoodsman, and Major Samuel McColloch. McColloch endeared himself to Wheeling for all time when he rode to the defense of Fort Henry during the siege of 1777. He charged his white horse into a break in the ranks and galloped full speed up Wheeling Hill. There surrounded, he saved himself by spurring his horse over the cliff. No Indian dared to follow. Major McColloch's invaluable services as a scout, militia field officer, and Ohio County dignitary made his scalp a prized target! Just before the second major siege on Fort Henry in 1782, Indians killed him and actually carried off his heart and scalp. Out of deep respect the Indians divided and ate his heart to absorb some of its boldness! In 1793 Ebenezer Zane plotted what is now the city of Wheeling. A year later a post office was established. Gateway to the West After the American Revolution, the importance of the city as a gateway to the western territories was reinforced through road and river transportation. Early in the 19th century, Wheeling became the regional epicenter of trade and transit of both settlers and commercial activity. The bed of the first toll road and the early town plat provided an imprint for the route of the National Road, the nation's first federal highway used for the westward migration of American settlers. Colonel Moses Shepherd and his wife, Lydia Boggs Shepherd, Wheeling's first socialites, were influential in securing Wheeling's place as the western terminus of the National Road and obtaining the bridge contract. Their "hobnobbing" with Congressmen and Presidents laid the groundwork for the beginnings of Wheeling's national significance. This gateway city became the hub for the exchange of goods. Settlers travelling westward via the National Road purchased all their provisions at the Market Plaza. The advent of the steamboat brought increased cultural activity to the river city and by 1831 the city was named one of the seven national Ports of Entry. All goods imported into Virginia were then channeled through Wheeling. With transportation came industry. Early industrial activity involved the discovery of natural resources, the innovation of the cut nail process and the beginnings of the boat building industry. Wheeling began exporting products made locally to the South and West. The
construction of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge
marked the completion of a national transportation
system that opened the West to settlement and
expanded the boundaries of the United States of
America. Completed
on November 15, 1849, its imposing hand-cut stone
towers, graceful cables and distinctive suspenders
added to its significance -- it was the vital link
in the National Road, the first major east-west
highway for commercial traffic. It was also the
first bridge built across the 981-mile-long Ohio
River and is today considered the oldest long-span
suspension bridge in the world with a length of
more than 1,000 feet. The
Bridge Story The story
of the Wheeling Bridge begins in 1816 when the
Legislatures of Ohio and Virginia incorporated the
Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company to build a
bridge over the Ohio. The National Road reached
Wheeling in 1818, but the bridge had not been built
due to lack of funds. Shortly
after the decision was made for the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad to build its main line to Wheeling,
the legislation was amended for the bridge company
to build a wire suspension toll bridge. The 1847
legislation also stated the bridge had to be high
enough as to not be an obstruction to navigation.
Stock was successfully sold, and engineer Charles
Ellet, Jr., was contracted to design and build the
bridge. Two years later, in 1849, the bridge was
completed. The formal opening was held on November
15 with ladies promenading the bridge while cannons
boomed. In the evening the cables were outlined
with 1,010 lights, one for each foot of the
bridge. The
bridge was the pride of Wheeling. But little did
the citizens of Wheeling know that the controversy
that would soon arise would have a profound
influence on the federal government's role in the
development and regulation of interstate
transportation. The State
of Pennsylvania, acting on behalf of Pittsburgh,
brought suit against the Bridge Company in the
United States Supreme Court claiming the bridge was
an obstruction to navigation. Steamboat chimneys,
they said, could not clear the deck of the bridge
during periods of high water. The high court's
final decree in 1852 stated the bridge had to be
raised or torn down in nine months. The Bridge was
saved by an Act of Congress on August 31, 1852.
Although
saved by man, Mother Nature had different ideas.
High winds toppled the bridge in 1854. It was
rebuilt to its original design in 1860 and painted
red, white and blue. Wheeling continued to grow. Millions of people passed through on their way south or west. In 1859 the Federal government opened one of ten U. S. Custom Houses at Wheeling, reflecting the city's importance as an inland Port of Entry. The Custom House, now designated a National Historic Landmark and known as West Virginia Independence Hall Museum, acquired added significance for its major role in the statehood movement and in the Civil War. It was the site of the pro-Union state convention of Virginia in 1861, the capitol of Union Virginia from 1861 to 1863, and the site of the first constitutional convention for West Virginia in 1861 to 1862. The creation of the 35th state, West Virginia, on June 20, 1863 played a strategic role in the Civil War. Statehood efforts by Unionist leaders of western Virginia allowed U.S. military commanders to justify an invasion of the area in the spring of 1861. That invasion enabled Union forces to secure vital transportation routes of the upper Ohio River and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The routes were indispensable in transporting troops and supplies between the east and west, and in maintaining economic ties throughout the Union. The Golden Age Wheeling remained the capitol of West Virginia until 1869. Then, a shift in political factors forced a move to Charleston. Nevertheless, Wheeling maintained her status as a major industrial center in the State from the turn of the century until after the first World War. This was the time when the city reached its zenith in entrepreneurial expansion, social and cultural prosperity, and statewide recognition. Wheeling, like many river towns, sat squarely in the center of the industrial revolution. Surrounded by bituminous coal resources, high silica clay, iron ore, and locally-quarried, pure white sandstone, she blossomed with companies expanding into mining, the making of iron and steel, and the manufacture of glass. The manufacture of cut iron nails became a major element of Wheeling's economy, and the city became known as the "Nail Capital of the World." Later, tobacco processing gained importance and breweries were active. The active industrial life of the city attracted a large working class population of European immigrants, both craftsmen and laborers, including the Germans, who built the city's major breweries. Wheeling played a notable role in the development of organized labor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The active economy also made Wheeling one of the nation's richest cities of its size during this same time period. Entrepreneurs grew wealthy, and that was reflected in the substantial and fashionable architecture of the period. Oglebay Resort An Ohio Valley native, Earl Oglebay made his fortune in the iron ore industry of the late 19th century in Cleveland. Despite his business success, he longed to return to his Wheeling roots and do something for the people of West Virginia. In 1902, Oglebay purchased a farm near Wheeling and developed it into a beautiful country estate. Waddington Farm was "willed" to the people of Wheeling for public recreational use in 1926 and became Oglebay Park in 1928. Oglebay today is a beautifully landscaped 1,640-acre public resort of unsurpassed facilities and programs. Wheeling Today Since 1928, Oglebay Park's legacy has been shared by thousands of visitors. From world-renowned golf courses to the annual "Festival of Lights" every October, Oglebay Resort is a modern recreation and conference center. In 1933 WWVA radio began airing its WWVA Jamboree, one of the longest continuously-running radio programs in the nation, reaching 18 states and six Canadian provinces. It is the second oldest country music show in the nation. The opening of WWVA and the Capitol Theater laid the groundwork for a new economy, one based on preservation of heritage, entertainment and cultural tourism. After experiencing the loss of many of its traditional industries in the mid-20th century, Wheeling has transformed its civic focus to service and tourism, offering to millions of travelers who visit the city each year the opportunity to explore and relive its cultural heritage. The elements that made Wheeling a prominent city are still here, waiting to be experienced -- from the great expanses of Oglebay Resort to the excitement of Wheeling Downs Racetrack and Gaming Center.
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