McColloch’s Leap Jack Blackwell May 30, 2017 7 In East Wheeling in the mid 1960's there was a 'bar' on almost every corner. But the word 'bar' isn't all they were, they were also community centers. Places that glued the small neighborhoods together. Plac...
When “Big League” Basketball Came to Wheeling Chris Rouhier May 25, 2017 When “Big League” Basketball Came to Town: The Short-Lived West Virginia Wheels In 2009 and 2010, as a then-junior at Wheeling Jesuit University, I compiled quite a bit of research and interviews related to ...
Learning to Drink in Wheeling Mike Quinn May 16, 2017 3 Somehow we all got introduced to the ancient evil of alcohol. In Wheeling most likely it was beer. Way back in the old days, which would have been the late and mid 60's Wheeling had a great system for creating ...
Corpus Christi Announces Hall of Fame Inductees Miranda Shaner May 15, 2017 Corpus Christi School (CCS) invites alumni and friends of CCS to gather in a weekend of celebration on June 9 and 10 in the Corpus Christi Parish Center, 1508 Warwood Avenue, Wheeling. The exciting weekend w...
We Watch Forever Gerry Griffith May 10, 2017 They had a party at our prison last night and they thought we couldn’t see.This rotten stone hell where we walk in darkness forever is not as it was when I faced the hangman in 1932 or as it was when my compa...
Growing Up in Wheeling: Gang Warfare in Woodsdale Mike Quinn May 8, 2017 3 Gang warfare was an important part of Woodsdale culture. What always comes to mind first is the “Mary Wheat Gang”. Mary Wheat must have been a bit of a Tomboy, and she lived right next to my cousin’s house. She...
Baseball in Wheeling – Chapter 2 Steve Novotney April 15, 2017 2 (Editor’s Note: This introduction is the third entry of a series of stories that will focus on the history of the game of baseball in the Wheeling area.) “Belle Isle was Yankee Stadium” There we...
Recording History: Wheeling Water Works Christina Rieth April 7, 2017 2 As the AmeriCorps member for Wheeling National Heritage Area, I have been doing research on the history and architecture of the Warwood neighborhood since September. In February, an employee at the Wh...
Tales of a Trail from Wheeling Pathfinders Steve Novotney March 3, 2017 7 It was a shortcut for kids from both sides of the “The Path,” and it transported us to different worlds depending upon which side you lived. If you were raised along the Walnuts, Poplars, Maples, and up on t...
Babe Bill Hogan March 3, 2017 12 Babe, I believe his last name was Hert, was in Saint Michaels grade school with my oldest sister Kay when the school was located one block up from Edgington Lane. It is an apartment building now. I believe they...
The Griffith Files: A Wheeling Boy’s Curiosity Leads to a Life in Music Gerry Griffith February 4, 2017 2 In the late 1950s, my brother, Terry, often found time on his hands to explore the dusty back rooms and storage closets of long-abandoned but safe South and Center Wheeling storefronts. On one of thos...
The West Liberty Tanneries Earl Nicodemus January 11, 2017 3 When West Liberty was settled, the region had a lot of oak trees. In addition to supplying lumber for the building needs as the community grew, those oaks also provided a plentiful supply of oak bark to the two...
The Enduring Mystery of the Grave Creek Stone Christina Fisanick December 26, 2016 (written with Rebecca Taylor) As a girl growing up in 1980’s Moundsville, West Virginia, my* teachers must have taken me and my classmates on tours of the Mound and its museum more than a half a dozen times ...
Minnesota Woman Aims to Impact Warwood Christina Rieth December 5, 2016 Hello! I’m Christina Rieth, and I’m the PreserveWV AmeriCorps member for the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation (WNHAC). I’m originally from Saint Paul, Minnesota. I developed my background in h...
Zeakes Inc. Tom Rinkes November 13, 2016 The woman stood in line with the rest of the mothers and daughters on the second floor of the Dillonvale, Ohio, American Legion, patiently waiting to pay the fare for her daughter’s dance lessons. Wea...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 11 Steve Novotney November 12, 2016 14 (Editor’s Note: This is the 11th story in this series that has concentrated on the organized-crime scene in and around Wheeling during the past century.) More Than One Mobster There was a silent scatteri...
Eckhart House Offers World Of Wheeling History Steve Novotney October 6, 2016 1 He is most informed of the years important to Wheeling’s history, and she is well versed in the classic traditions such as “High Tea” as well as proper etiquette, and together this couple molds that collective ...
‘Sister Robin’ – A Cold Case – Part 2 Steve Novotney August 27, 2016 5 (Editor’s Note: This is the final story in a two-part series examining the murder of Roberta Elam in Ohio County on June 13, 1977). He was 54 years old when his wife immaculately conceived and then gave bir...
‘Sister Robin’ – A Cold Case – Part 1 Steve Novotney August 20, 2016 6 (Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series examining the murder of Roberta Elam in Ohio County on June 13, 1977. The second chapter will be published one week from today.) Thirty-nine years, two...
‘Big Bill’s’ Zellers Could Return to Wheeling Steve Novotney April 9, 2016 8 They dressed up when they went for dinner at Zellers' Steak House, and the men likely shined their shoes, too. It was a chance for class in downtown Wheeling that offered much more for the common folks than wha...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 10 Steve Novotney October 3, 2015 21 Photography archived by James Thorton (Writer’s Note: This is the 10th and FINAL story in this series that has concentrated on the organized-crime scene in and around Wheeling during the past century.) ...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 9 Steve Novotney September 19, 2015 8 Photography by Walter Smith Photography; archived by James Thorton (Writer’s Note: This is the ninth in a series of stories that will concentrate on the organized-crime scene in and around Wheeling during th...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 8 Steve Novotney September 5, 2015 9 Note: This article contains explicit language and subject matter that is not suitable for children. It is the equivalent of Rated R. (Writer’s Note: This is the eighth in a series of stories that will concen...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 7 Steve Novotney June 6, 2015 19 WARNING: This article contains explicit language and subject matter that is not suitable for children. It is the equivalent of Rated R. (Writer’s Note: This is the seventh in a series of stories that will co...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 6 Steve Novotney May 23, 2015 10 WARNING: This article contains explicit language and subject matter that is not suitable for children. It is the equivalent of Rated R. (Writer’s Note: This is the sixth in a series of stories that will conc...
“The Stag,” the Myth, the Legend Christina Fisanick May 16, 2015 11 Every time I visit “The Stag” at Oglebay Park, I wonder how many Ohio Valley children have perched themselves on his smooth, verdigris surface. How many families have spread a picnic blanket in his shadow on a ...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 5 Steve Novotney May 9, 2015 7 WARNING: This article contains explicit language and subject matter that is not suitable for children. It is the equivalent of Rated R. (Writer’s Note: This is the fifth in a series of stories that will conc...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 4 Steve Novotney April 25, 2015 19 This article contains explicit language and subject matter that is not suitable for children. It is the equivalent of Rated R. (Writer’s Note: This is the fourth in a series of stories that will concentrate ...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 3 Steve Novotney April 11, 2015 21 WARNING: This article contains explicit language and subject matter that is not suitable for children. This is R-rated. (Writer’s Note: This is the third in a series of stories that will concentra...
Mob Series Generates Interest, Questions, And Answers Steve Novotney April 7, 2015 2 You are curious, it seems, about all of those rumors and tales you have heard through the years about the back-room deals, the hijacked tractor-trailers, the drug distribution, and the green doors. And some ...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 2 Steve Novotney March 28, 2015 20 (Writer’s Note: This is the second in a series of stories that will concentrate on the organized-crime scene in and around Wheeling during the past century.) THE RAT The high-level gangsters scattered, but no...
Independence Hall One Of Wheeling’s ‘Gems’ Steve Novotney March 20, 2015 1 When you take a tour of the West Virginia Independence Hall with site manager Travis Henline as your guide, you come to notice that he places a certain amount of emphasis on the word “west” each and every time ...
The Wheeling Mob: Part 1 Steve Novotney March 14, 2015 33 THE BOSSES, BOOKIES, AND BURGOYNE (Writer’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories that will concentrate on the organized-crime scene in and around Wheeling during the past century.) Bill Lias orde...
The “Mabel Files”: Wheeling’s Underworld and Big Bill Gerry Griffith February 21, 2015 3 By Gerry Griffith Weelunk Contributor Keeping out of Harm’s Way in a Dangerous Time Tom Minns in the 1930s. “Man, don’t you know who Big Bill Lias is?” asked the smarmy little m...
Rescued Wall Hosts A Flood Of Memories Steve Novotney November 8, 2014 6 By Steve Novotney Weelunk.com For decades Wheeling’s residents and visitors have traveled past the history of the Friendly City’s flooding events, and despite the razing of the former Gene Long Community ...
