Main Street
The first settler to arrive in the area was Ebenezer Zane who established claim to the land in the fall of 1769, returning the following spring with his wife Elizabeth and his younger brothers, Jonathan and Silas, naming their settlement Zanesburg. In 1793, Zane divided the town into lots and by legislative enactment, the town of Wheeling was established in 1795. Two years later, in December 27, 1797, the town was named county seat of Ohio County by the Virginia General Assembly. On January 16, 1805, the town was incorporated; on March 11, 1836, incorporation into the City of Wheeling followed. With the advent of the railroad, a larger industrial and mercantile middle-class developed that relied on free labor rather than slavery. When the Civil War broke out civil groups advocated secession from Virginia and the city served as the provisional capital of the Restored Government of Virginia from 1861 until 1863. In 1863 Wheeling became the first Capital of the new State of West Virginia after it was admitted to the Union. For several years the capital moved between Wheeling and Charleston, until in 1877 the voters elected Charleston as State Capital. Wheeling continued to grow as the industrial center of the state. With the completion of the suspension bridge to Wheeling Island in 1849, the city expanded onto the island, only to learn of the frequent floods. By the 1930s, the population had reached 61,659 but has steadily declined since then, to 28,486 according to the 2010 census, a number reminiscent of the 1870s. The impacts of this decline in population become clear when descending into the city and observing in more detail the unraveling fabric of the city.
Standing at the corner of Main and Ninth streets is the former factory of the M Marsh and Sons Company, makers of the Marsh Wheeling Stogies. Mifflin March was named after the well-respected Quaker Thomas Mifflin, elected Pennsylvania governor in 1790. Mifflin established America’s oldest continuously-operating cigar factory in 1840, first operating from his home and selling his brand of cigars to steamboat crew members on the Ohio River, and to Conestoga drivers along the National Road. Because of the popularity among Conestoga drivers, the cigars were called “stogies” and differed from regular cigars by being considerably longer and thinner, and composed of different blends of cigar leaf, giving the cigar a unique flavor. The first Marsh factory was located on Water St between 12th and 14th streets and later moved to 12th Street between Main and Water streets. The building at the 900-block of Market Street opened in 1908, one year after Mifflin died in 1907. The plant continued to be enlarged and grew to 600 employees in the 1940s.
Marsh Stogies Factory on Main Street and Ninth Street. August 10, 2015.
In 1988, the Marsh Company was acquired by the John Berger & Son Company. At the end of 2001, the Wheeling plant was closed and the Marsh Wheeling brands were sold to the National Cigar Corporation in Frankfort, Indiana. A notice on their website announced that the company closed its doors in October, 2015, with an auction scheduled for December 12, 2015.[1] “We have sold all our cigars and have closed our business. If we are able to sell our trademarks and brands to other companies, then at that time we will announce this transaction on this web site. We wish to thank all the discerning cigar smokers who have enjoyed our cigars for so many years. It has been our pleasure providing all of you with quality natural leaf wrapped cigars at an affordable price.” For comparison, the first stogies were sold by Mr. Marsh four for a penny; in 2015, a 50 count box of 7” Marsh Wheeling Deluxe Dark Box went for $63.75. There is more on Mifflin Marsh and his stogies later when we come to the tobacco industry and manufacturing in Wheeling.
Felber Biscuit Company on Main Street and 16th Street. The photo on the right shows the view looking north from across Wheeling Creek with the Stone Bridge on the right in the photo. August 10, 2015.
Main Street looking north from 12th Street, contrasting the black-and-white postcard view from 1908 with the photograph taken on August 10, 2015.
On the other side of Main Street, at the corner of 16th Street, stands another abandoned factory, the former Felber Biscuit Company, now a storage place with boarded up windows that was for sale in 2015. Flanked by these two empty factories lies a six-block section of Main Street that is but a former host of its glory days: old buildings have been torn down and turned in to surface parking lots, and what buildings remain, such as the Absure or National Bank of West Virginia Building at the corner of Main and 12th streets, are for sale. The latest addition to the National Register of Historic Places, the triangular-shaped Riverside Iron Works Office Building at 1507-1509 Main St, was added to the Register on March 17, 2015, yet remains vacant with no apparent plans for renovation or repurposing. Of course, some buildings are being renovated, like the Robert Hazlett and Robert Woods houses at 921 and 923 Main St; and the Hotel Windsor at 1143 Main St has been turned into apartments. Yet there is an almost destitute feeling of abandonment, with few shops or other businesses left for the casual visitor to patronize.
Main Street looking south from 10th Street. August 10, 2015.
Main Street looking north from 11th Street. August 10, 2015.
On November 7, 2014, Steve Novotney assessed the demise of downtown Wheeling in an article for the online blog Weelunk.org.[2]
G C Murphy. L S Good. Sears. Stone & Thomas. Becker’s Hardware. Elby’s Family Restaurant. Imperial Display. Peking Gardens. Louis’ Hot Dog. Boury Inc. The 12th Street Grill. Crone’s. The Club Tower. Lanos & Krauss. National Record Mart. Kelly-Mike’s. Banov’s. Doc Williams. Dawson’s Meat Market.
The list of businesses that once operated in the downtown district of Wheeling is long, quite distinguished, and remembered well. Social media internet pages are dedicated to those memories, and the Friendly City is often criticized for the lack of retail businesses in downtown.
When downtown Wheeling was a retail hub, inner city shopping and living were considered normal. The development of malls and retail areas followed the invention of suburban living, and the convenience factor led the consumer away from Main and Market streets. Downtown Wheeling has taken its hits. No longer do 450 employees fill the downtown’s tallest building while working for Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel; the 1100 block has been cleared of seven decaying buildings; and McDonald’s closed down on the corner of 12th and Market streets back in the late 1990s. Can there be a blacker eye?
“With the Ohio Valley Mall complex and The Highlands both well established, there is very little chance of downtown Wheeling ever being a major retail hub again,” said Glenn Elliott, owner of the Professional Building on Market Street. “But that doesn’t mean it cannot thrive. There is a hunger for a vibrant, hip, urban lifestyle in the Ohio Valley, and we have all the ingredients for building that right in downtown Wheeling.”
Many of the district’s assets remain and change is taking place. The Capitol Theatre, purchased by the Wheeling Convention and Visitor’s Bureau on April 3, 2009, has received more than $1 million worth of renovations. “When you see a private non-profit destination marketing organization working with a federally funded preservation agency, and then the two agencies join forces with the city’s Sports and Entertainment Commission, amazing results can occur,” said Frank O’Brien, the CVB’s executive director. “I see similar partnerships being formed in the city involving government, private enterprise and the creative class.”
West Virginia Northern Community College transformed the corner of 16th and Market streets with the opening of its Applied Technology Center and; a Barnes & Noble Bookstore and Student Union. A reconstruction of the Market Street Plaza started in early October and is expected to be completed by the beginning of December.
“I really feel like downtown Wheeling is at a very important juncture in its history,” Elliott said. “With several decades of economic decline behind us, we are starting to see signs of life sprouting up here and there. We’re not out of the woods yet by any stretch, and we’re still searching for a downtown identity, but we really are overcoming our biggest obstacle: Perception. “For the first time in a long while, there are a lot of people in this city who are thinking and talking about downtown in present and future tenses instead of reminiscing about how great it used to be,” he continued. “And that’s big. Nobody wants to live or invest in a downtown that used to be nice; people want to be a part of something that’s alive and growing.”
Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron is encouraged that organizations like Re-Invent Wheeling have initiated a plethora of conversations concerning the needs and the hopes. Walkability, beautification, reuse of vacant buildings, more residential areas, and new businesses are all imperative discussions now taking place. “I see groups like that one as an absolute positive for the city,” Herron said. “There is a younger group of people who are really interested in downtown Wheeling and moving downtown Wheeling forward, so we’re going to do anything we can to encourage their efforts.
Today, Stone & Thomas is now the Stones Center, home of Williams Lea and Wheeling Jesuit University’s doctorate physical therapy program. Boury Inc. is now DiCarlo’s Pizza. The Court Theatre is an attorney’s office and parking garage inside the Board of Trade Building. King’s Jewelry is a church. The Victoria Theater no longer shows movies, but features an Elvis impersonator once per month. Wesbanco Arena, soon to undergo extensive interior and exterior renovations, continues to be the home of the Wheeling Nailers hockey club while hosting the annual Toughman Contest, the Home & Garden Show, several concerts and shows, and a circus twice per year. Heritage Port replaced the Wharf Garage in 2001 and now hosts more than 70 events each year, including the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival, the Heritage Wheeling Blues Fest, and the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta.
Main Street looking north from 14th Street (left) and north from 16th Street (right). August 10, 2015.
Three historic homes in various stages of renovation on the west side of Main Street, south of Ninth Street. The house on the right is the Robert Hazlett House (921 Main St); the house in the middle is the Robert C Woods House. Notice the empty lot between the third house and the Knights Inn. Similarly, the lot across the street has been converted to a parking lot. August 10, 2015.
The colorful Downtowner Motor Inn at the corner of Main Street and 10th Street is now the Knights Inn (Wheeling Inn). August 10, 2015.
The City of Wheeling partnered five years ago with the CVB to implement the “First Fridays” event the first Friday of every month, and now more than 30 businesses located in downtown and Centre Wheeling participate by offering special pricing on featured items. ReInvent Wheeling has hosted “Show of Hands,” an event which promotes new business development and is sponsored by international law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
But future business growth, most agree, hinges on residential statistics. An example, Herron said, involves the possibility of a grocery store opening within the downtown district. “There are the demographics in the downtown right now that give us a little bit of a head start on attracting a grocery store, but we do need more people. It wouldn’t take a whole lot more people to where it would make sense to do it. More people would make it a home run, and that involves not the only the downtown but also North Wheeling and East Wheeling.”
Preservationists along with capitalists recently have purchased properties to the north, south, and east of the downtown district. But not all structures have been salvaged. “We do have abandoned structures in every neighborhood in the city, but it is something we’ve acted on,” Herron said. “We’re looking at all the options, and that includes using revenues other than the federal (Community Development Block Grant) funding.”
Elliott admits he, too, is considering loft apartments for a few floors inside the Professional Building, a structure that has housed the Wheeling Stock Exchange, a bank, and various medical offices since opening in 1891. Currently, only the first floor of the building is occupied because of building and fire codes, but the owner has initiated a three-year plan which will result in total access.
“I think the biggest need we have in downtown right now is mid-to-upper-tier housing options for people who want to live in an urban environment. This is particularly important to the so-called millennial generation, but it’s also something that I think a lot of Baby Boomers who are tired of taking care of their lawns will consider as well,” he said. “We don’t have that downtown housing stock yet, but I am aware of at least two housing projects under serious consideration today. And I’m even considering residential options for the Professional Building. “Simply put, more people living downtown will create a ready-made demand for more things to do downtown – more restaurants, more bars, more live entertainment, and so on.”
O’Brien peers into the downtown district’s future realistically, but he readily acknowledges more development has taken place in this section of the Friendly City in the past two years than since he first began working at a Wheeling radio station in 1986. “Downtown Wheeling faces many challenges including empty lots, vacant buildings, a decreasing tax base and a lack of private investment. These challenges are insurmountable if the community looks to just one group for answers as has been done in the past,” he said. “Today, I see both young and older people with can-do attitudes and fresh ideas stepping up to form creative partnerships to improve the downtown area. While much of what I just said might sound like fantasy or wishful thinking, there were naysayers who claimed saving the Capitol Theatre was an impossible dream.”
Di Carlo’s Pizza, at 1311 Main Street, is one of the few places in downtown Wheeling where one can get something to eat after 6 pm and on the weekends. Located at the corner of Main Street and 14th Street, Mountain Mamas left the Friendly City on September 1, 2013, after three years in the downtown area. This Bike and Kayak Rental place, also serving as an independent Greyhound Bus Agent, closed to allow the owner to be closer to his family in the Pittsburg area. The building has remained empty since the closing. August 10, 2015.
The ornamental entrance and façade of the Hotel Windsor is actually on Water Street. Over time the entrance has been simpliefied as shown in the middle photo in the top row. The two pictures in the second row show views from Main Street. August 10, 2015.
The building was under renovation in August 2015. Windsor Manor is home to not more than 124 persons occupying a total of 109 units. Windsor Manor provides rental subsidies to 87 of the units through Project Based Section 8. Of these 87 units, 12 are Studio and 75 One Bedroom apartments. The rental subsidy allows the renter to pay 30% of his or her income for rent while the subsidy pays the difference. To qualify, a renter must earn 50% or less of the Area Median Income. There is a minimum rent payment of not less than $25 and as much as $50 for all subsidy recipients at this property. That means that even if a renter has zero income, they will still be required to pay rent.
The National Bank of West Virginia at 1201 Main Street on postcards dating from 1910 and 1918, and for sale on August 10, 2015.
Photograph of the United Bank Building at the northeast corner of Main Street and 12th Street. Postcard of the Central Union Trust Company building at Main Street and 14th Street. Photograph of the south side of 14th Street looking east from Main Street. August 10, 2015.
The Hawley Building is at 1025 Main Street, next to the Capitol Music Hall.
The Stone Bridge on Main Street, across Wheeling Creek.
The Stone Bridge. August 10, 2015.
Abandoned railroad bridges across Wheeling Creek, west of the Stone Bridge on Main Street. August 10, 2015.
Perhaps downtown Wheeling has a great future ahead. Notice, however, how the revitalization plans are geared towards the “new urbanites” – the affluent section of the population that can afford living in an upscale city center. During my visit in the Summer of 2015, the downtown was rather desolate, especially at night, even though the Wheeling Heritage Fest was going on at the River front.
Anyway, let’s continue exploring the city.
[1] http://www.broadleafcigars.com/
[2] http://weelunk.com/neighborhoods-downtown/