Wheeling WV History

Twelfth Night Ball Celebrates Past, Looks to Future

Christina Fisanick December 26, 2018

The great City of Wheeling turns 250 years old in 2019. Yes, Wheeling is older than the United States. It...

Eckhart House: Tea, History and Hospitality

Phyllis Sigal December 7, 2018

In the early 1900s, Sarah Kleeh sat in the upstairs window seat watching the wealthy ladies across the street point...

Wheeling’s Generous Philanthropists Provide for Future

Christina Fisanick November 27, 2018

Each time I walk through the Oglebay Mansion Museum, I stop in front of Earl W. Oglebay’s portrait and thank...

America’s First Highway in Spotlight

Erin Rothenbuehler October 25, 2018

The 2018 Ohio Valley History Expo will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the completion of the National Road from...

Steel Heart Still Beats in Weirton: Honoring the Past Through Art

Daniel Dorsch October 12, 2018

When Steel Ruled An often-overlooked part of West Virginia history finally has a festival to celebrate its rightful place in...

Alpha Delta Kappa Iota: Service, Scholarship and Sisterhood

Chana Baker October 10, 2018

Happy birthday, Alpha Delta Kappa Iota Chapter — 60 looks great on you! On Oct. 3, the Iota Chapter of...

Roll Out the History: IPA Master Brewer Once Owned Waddington Farm

Christina Fisanick October 2, 2018

Recent years have witnessed the rise in popularity of India Pale Ale (IPA), a kind of brew known for its...

Lieutenant Benjamin Biggs and the 135th Ohio Infantry

Earl Nicodemus September 16, 2018

By the spring of 1864, the tide of the Civil War favored the north. In March of 1864, Ulysses S....

Walter of Wetzel Street: The Wheeling Foundations of an International Labor Legend

Nick Musgrave September 3, 2018

On Sept. 1, 1907, two German immigrants, Valentine and Anna Reuther, welcomed their second child to the world. A healthy...

Celebrating Wheeling’s Labor Heritage

Christina Fisanick and Sean Duffy August 24, 2018

Heroes come in many forms. Firefighters. Medics. Educators. Mentors. For us, Wheeling labor activist Walter Reuther (1907-1970) and worker-friendly business...

Cottages Have Been Offering Overnight Hospitality to Oglebay Guests for 80 Years

Christina Fisanick August 17, 2018

Although Oglebay Park is widely known for its rolling vistas, hiking trails, and golf courses, sometimes guests like to spend...

What Really Happened That Tragic Night of Aug. 14, 1878?

Ryan Stanton August 14, 2018

Henry Schmulbach: entrepreneur, beer baron, philanthropist and socialite. These are all words that describe one of Wheeling’s most influential and...

Farm to Fork Takes Leap Through History

Stacey Miller Sacco August 7, 2018

A property with nearly 250 years of Wheeling history hosted the Wheeling Symphony Auxiliary’s annual Farm to Fork dinner this...

Oglebay – The Park That Almost Wasn’t

Christina Fisanick July 25, 2018

Imagine Wheeling without Oglebay Park. … At one point that nightmare was nearly reality. As one of the largest self-sustaining...

Program Will Explore the Role of African-American Women in WWII

Provided July 8, 2018

The People’s University, WWII at the Ohio County Public Library, will present a special program on the role of African-American...

Dancing Down Memory Lane (Part 3): Park Dances — the ’80s

Katherine Marsh July 6, 2018

If you’re from the Upper Ohio Valley, you may already be aware that the Wheeling Park Commission held summer dances...

Dancing Down Memory Lane (Part 2): Park Dances — the ’70s

Ellen Brafford McCroskey July 5, 2018

Those were the days — the decade of love, disco, equality, environmental awareness. Those of us who came of age...

Dancing Down Memory Lane (Part 1): Park Dances — the ’60s

Bill Orkoskey July 4, 2018

I just heard that they are having a recreation of the teen dances held at the White Palace at Wheeling...

Free Family Fun at Medieval Family Fun Faire

Darrin Cox July 2, 2018

Donning armor and smiting your enemies with a sword has always made for compelling storytelling. The popularity of Game of...

THE GRIFFITH FILES: ‘Older Gentlemen’ Recall Pennsylvania Station, 1907 Flood, 1948 Freedom Train Visit

Gerry Griffith June 23, 2018

“Dominick,” called out the old man who sat atop the wooden playground structure where children spent warm weather afternoons spinning...

Student Radio Plays Bring History to Life at TMS

Misty Klug June 22, 2018

Everyone loves a good story. Stories transport us to different worlds, enrich our lives, allow us to step out of...

June 21, 1920: Wheeling Steel Created

Jeremy Morris June 21, 2018

Story courtesy of Weelunk partner West Virginia Public Broadcasting One June 21, 1920, the LaBelle Iron Works, Whitaker-Glessner, and Wheeling Steel...

Triadelphia School: 100 Years of Memories

Nora Edinger June 4, 2018

There is a certain sequence of expressions that appears on the face of a grownup who is suddenly returned to...

Diocese Blessed With Generosity of Welty Sisters

Jon-Erik Gilot May 31, 2018

West Virginia in general — and the Ohio Valley in particular — has a tremendously generous nature. From weekend steak...

No Need to Keep Quiet About Good Times at the Library

Christina Fisanick May 21, 2018

Saturday, I went to a party at the Ohio County Public Library (OCPL). Most of you are probably thinking (with...

Geo-History: The Gnadenhutten Massacre

Earl Nicodemus March 27, 2018

EARL’S NOTE: One of the darkest days in American history was March 8, 1782. On that date, 96 innocent Christian...

Geo-History: The Squaw Campaign

Earl Nicodemus February 13, 2018

Earl’s Note: This is the first in a planned series of short installments about the events that shaped our history....

The Patsy … (Or a Full House on the Train to Notre Dame)

Bill Hogan February 7, 2018

Back in the late ’40s and early ’50s, we would either hitchhike home from Notre Dame, or four or five...

Harry Hamm’s Plate and His Plan

Steve Novotney January 30, 2018

No one has ever found it, but there were a few moments when Wheeling resident Chris Hamm thought he may...

Renew Wheeling

Weelunk Staff January 24, 2018

Against market odds, two divorced individuals come together to create a life and family through opportunities of their own creation...

Tunnel Stories

Mike Quinn January 11, 2018

This is the old B&O railroad tunnel along Wheeling Creek. As kids one of our adventures was going through the...

The Griffith Files: Nick’s Music

Gerry Griffith January 8, 2018

Nick’s Music was a Cradle of the Folk Music Revival of the 1960s and it Vanished – or did it?...

December 4, 1876: West Virginia’s Third Capitol Building Dedicated in Wheeling

Jeremy Morris December 4, 2017

Story courtesy of Weelunk partner West Virginia Public Broadcasting and the West Virginia Humanities Council https://cpa.ds.npr.org/wvpn/audio/2017/12/TWWVH_Dec4_2015.mp3 On December 4, 1876, West Virginia’s...

WVPB: Should West Virginia Rejoin Virginia?

Rochambeau October 25, 2017

West Virginia Public Broadcasting show The Front Porch recently did a segment discussing whether our state would be better off...

The Writing on the Wall

Christina Fisanick October 15, 2017

Wheeling natives have made their mark all over the nation and the world. They are actors, like Joyce DeWitt and...

Own a Piece of Wheeling History: 737 Market Street

Scott Connors October 11, 2017

We are at a crossroads. The construction fencing and towering cranes tell the story of new buildings and a bright...

My Town: Kid Catholic

Bill Hogan September 3, 2017

May Devotions were held at 7:30 in the evening and were charming.  The grade school kids would bring flowers they...

Greenwood Cemetery Tour 2017

Judi Hendrickson August 26, 2017

Sunday, September 10, 2017 is the date of the next Friends of Wheeling historic tour of Wheeling’s Greenwood Cemetery. Costumed characters...

My Town: Charley Trades in his Dice for the Stock Market

Bill Hogan August 24, 2017

It was in the late ‘forties when I first met Charley. He had one of a large number of Italian...

Hamburger Man

Mike Quinn August 15, 2017

I have got to remember, it is a fine memory, that soft naked lady God meant her to be. That...

The Griffith Files: A Wheeling Delivery Boy in the 1960s

Gerry Griffith August 11, 2017

Dodging Snippy Dogs and Dealing with Cranky Doltish Husbands: a Wheeling Delivery Boy in the 1960s   Even with my...

Mineral Springs and the Stratford Hotel

Kate Quinn July 14, 2017

My interest in the Stratford Hotel began as a young girl. It was there I played hooky from piano lessons,...

Leo the Barber

Jack Blackwell July 10, 2017

Leo was the McColloch Street barber. His was a single chair shop. Nothing remarkable, but perhaps it’s worth a few...

Brother Jim

Bill Hogan July 8, 2017

Brother Jim, 1931 –  2003 Sometime ago someone asked what Jim did. I thought about it for a minute then told...

A Story Behind a Linsly Statue: West Virginia’s First Flying Ace

Bill Hogan July 7, 2017

When I was a small boy in the 1930s, my dad would take me to the Armistice Day ceremony at...

The Griffith Files: A Gift of Music From an Ohio River Barge

Gerry Griffith July 1, 2017

An Old Ohio River Barge Boat Cook Brings a Musical Gift of a Lifetime to a Fledging Wheeling Musician named...

This Day in WV History: Earl Oglebay Dies

Jeremy Morris June 22, 2017

Story courtesy of Weelunk partner West Virginia Public Broadcasting Earl Oglebay died on June 22, 1926, at age 77. The son...

The Early History and First Court of Ohio County

Earl Nicodemus June 13, 2017

  Earl’s Note: This is a written version of the Fort Henry Speaker Series program presented on April 27, 2017....

Euchre: Poker’s Poor Cousin

Brian Thomas June 8, 2017

Twenty or thirty years or so ago, a wearied traveler venturing through the coal-infused hills of Appalachia steps off his...

Pete Jefferson

Bill Hogan May 31, 2017

Pete was not a regular in our crowd but was around enough to the extent that he should have been....