![]() On March 11, 1836, the town of Wheeling was incorporated into the city of Wheeling.īy an act of the Virginia General Assembly on December 27, 1797, Wheeling was named the county seat of Ohio County. The town was incorporated on January 16, 1805. In 1793, Ebenezer Zane divided the town into lots, and Wheeling was officially established as a town in 1795 by legislative enactment. Settlers began to move into new areas along the Ohio. By the Northwest Ordinance that year, it established the Northwest Territory to cover other lands north of the Ohio River and west to the Mississippi River. In 1787, the United States gave Virginia this portion of lands west of the Appalachians, and some to Pennsylvania at its western edge, to settle their claims. Panoramic map of Wheeling from Chapline Hill in 1854 with list of sites Other families joined the settlement, including the Shepherds (see Monument Place), the Wetzels, and the McCollochs (see McColloch's Leap). He returned the following spring with his wife Elizabeth and his younger brothers, Jonathan and Silas they established the first permanent European settlement in the Wheeling area, naming it Zanesburg. Establishment of European settlement ĭuring the fall of 1769, Ebenezer Zane explored the Wheeling area and established claim to the land via " tomahawk rights", the practice of girdling a few trees at a prominent site and marking the bark with the initials or name of the person making the claim. Later, Christopher Gist and George Washington surveyed the land, in 17, respectively. ![]() Originally explored by the French, Wheeling still has a lead plate remnant that the explorer Céloron de Blainville buried in 1749 at the mouth of Wheeling Creek to mark his claim. In the 17th century, the Iroquois from present-day New York state conquered the upper Ohio Valley, pushing out other tribes and maintaining the area as their hunting ground. Native Americans had inhabited the area for thousands of years. Earlier sources say that the head was that of a Native American prisoner, not a settler. His severed head was displayed at the confluence of Wheeling Creek and the Ohio River. One of the more credible explanations is that the word comes from the Lenni-Lenape phrase wih link or wee lunk, which meant "place of the head" or "place of the skull." This name supposedly referred to a white settler who was scalped and decapitated. The origins of the name "Wheeling" are disputed. See also: Timeline of Wheeling, West Virginia Arrival of early Europeans After the closing of factories and substantial population loss following World War II, Wheeling's major industries now include healthcare, education, law and legal services, entertainment and tourism, and energy.įrom the acceptance of the new state of West Virginia into the union on June 20, 1863, until the Restored Government of Virginia's move to Alexandria in August of the same year, Wheeling was the state capital of both West Virginia and Virginia. Due to its location along major transportation routes, including the Ohio River, National Road, and the B&O Railroad, Wheeling became a manufacturing center in the late nineteenth century. During the American Civil War, Wheeling was the host of the Wheeling Conventions that led to the formation of West Virginia, and it was the first capital of the new state. Wheeling was originally a settlement in the British colony of Virginia, and later the second-largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the fifth-largest city in West Virginia, and the largest in the state’s Northern Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 27,062, and the metro area had a population of 139,513. Wheeling is located about 60 miles (96 km) west of Pittsburgh and is the principal city of the Wheeling metropolitan area. ![]() Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending into Marshall County.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |