The Wheeling Baltimore &amp; Ohio Railroad Passenger Station was designed by M. A. Long, who worked for the B&amp;O Office of Engineering. The station originally had a two-story waiting area in the central location of the building. Although the station was completely&nbsp;remodeled in 1976, the outside&nbsp;architecture and style remain the same. Wheeling became a bustling industry town, with its population of 13,986 in 1860, to 30,737 in 1880; this rise in population and industry called for better facilities to accommodate the growing amount of people. In 1906, over 100 passenger trains left and entered Wheeling every day, and it was decided that a new passenger station would be built with an accommodating viaduct.&nbsp; The Wheeling&nbsp;Baltimore &amp; Ohio Railroad Passenger Station opened in September of 1908. The electricity for the station was generated using steam where the current library for WVNCC is&nbsp;located today. The inside of the building was described as very elegant with the two-story lobby having a colored glass dome ceiling, marble floors and wainscot, brass and wrought iron chandeliers and sconces, scarlet colored walls, oak trim, and cast iron stair wells. The train tracks were elevated because the area was prone to flooding. Therefore passengers would purchase their tickets in the first-floor lobby and board the train on the second. The railroad industry hit its peak in Wheeling during the 1920s, and gradually declined in the 1930s and 1940s.&nbsp;In 1962, passenger trains stopped running to and from&nbsp;Wheeling, WV. However, freight trains still use the viaduct today. The building was sold to a private owner who had a bar in the 4th floor, the Blue Caboose until the state bought the building in 1975. In 1976, the building was reopened as West Virginia Northern Community College. The exterior of the station was restored, and the inside of the building now contains offices, an auditorium, classrooms, and a student activities center.&nbsp; The Alumni Association for WVNCC has preserved the Wheeling B&amp;O Passenger Station by&nbsp;maintaining a large collection of B&amp;O memorabilia in their museum. The Alumni's museum belongs to the&nbsp;West Virginia Association of Museums and contains&nbsp;1,000 pieces of Hazel Atlas Glass and a small collection of Viking Glass manufactured in the New Martinsville area.&nbsp;

In 1853, the B&O Railroad arrived in Wheeling with the first passenger station located at the mouth of Big Wheeling Creek on the Ohio River. The rising number of train passengers called for a new passenger station, and construction on the new building began in 1906. However, the major flood of 1907 delayed the project until the doors opened on September 3, 1908. The station was very modern for its time and had an internal telephone system, steam heat, indoor plumbing, and electric elevators. In 1962, passenger trains stopped running to Wheeling, and the building was sold to a private owner who opened a bar on the 4th floor. The state of West Virginia purchased the station in 1975, and in 1976 the building was reopened as West Virginia Northern Community College. 

B&O Railroad Passenger Station

The building was constructed between&nbsp;1853 and 1854 and designed to serve as a&nbsp;warehouse for Crescent Manufacturing Company. This Wheeling-based company produced&nbsp;iron rails and other materials for&nbsp;the neighboring B &amp; O Railroad. The
company utilized&nbsp;the first and second stories of the building. They&nbsp;rented the
top floor out as a theater called&nbsp;the Athenaeum. The theater opened&nbsp;in
January 1855 and was quite&nbsp;popular throughout the&nbsp;Wheeling area, with residents traveling many miles to attend performances of&nbsp;“Uncle
Tom’s Cabin” and other traveling shows. The Athenaeum even included&nbsp;performances by Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth. The Athenaeum's&nbsp;first performance&nbsp;was on Jan. 27, 1855, and was provided by a traveling show company. A heating system was installed for the customers' comfort as they watched the various shows provided by the theatre.&nbsp;According to one of the local Wheeling&nbsp;newspapers, the theater was one of the best between the Allegheny Mountains and Chicago. "In April 1856, the managers tried to attract a better class of audience and provided omnibuses to take the gentry home after the performance. Police were stationed in the theater to discourage the riff-raff, and the admission charge was 50 cents for the parquette and dress circle and 25 cents for the balcony."1&nbsp;

During the war, the Union used the building as a prison, referred to many as the&nbsp;Athenaeum&nbsp;prison or "Lincoln's Bastile."&nbsp;In the fall of 1861, 50 secessionist prisoners from Camp
Carlile, the Union training camp on Wheeling Island, took over the second floor
of the building. These first prisoners only stayed a few days until they were moved
to Camp Chase near Columbus, Ohio. By December of 1861, prisoners would number close
to a hundred some days, and this presence effectively closed the theater. It
was at this time that the name “Lincoln’s Bastille” began being used by rebel
prisoners. While the first prisoners housed here were mainly Confederates, by
1863 as more Union prisoners arrived, the United States military took over the
entire building for more space to keep the prisoners separated. The government
worked to make the prison self-sufficient, adding kitchens, barracks, and a
hospital to the property. The prison held captured Confederate prisoners, rebel
spies, court-martialed Union soldiers, civilians who refused to pledge their oath
of allegiance, and bushwhackers. Numbers of prisoners held at The Athenaeum would
range from 50-60 to well over a hundred at times.

Sick and wounded soldiers would be taken care of at the
prison by visiting Sisters of St. Joseph from nearby Wheeling Hospital. These
sisters played a large part in the history of nursing in West Virginia as they
performed the first nursing duties in the state in Wheeling. The sisters would
care for soldiers from both the North and the South at The Athenaeum. As the
war went on, the small hospital at the prison became overcrowded, and so on
March 31, 1864, 45 patients were moved to Wheeling Hospital, which had by this
time been taken over by the military as well. 

The Athenaeum prison closed in 1865. After the war, a malt
storage was housed in the basement and Mr. Fairfax, the architect of the city
of Wheeling, had a small office in an adjoining building. In October of 1868
The Athenaeum caught fire and burned to the ground. It was the largest fire in
Wheeling’s history at the time. &nbsp;The
inadequacy of the Wheeling fire department to save the building prompted them
to make improvements and purchase steam fire engines. While only surviving
fourteen short years, this building played a large part in the Civil War
history of West Virginia. It is now largely forgotten and a private park now
stands in its place today. &nbsp;

This site was home to a building that housed both a warehouse and theater known as the Athenaeum. During the Civil War, the Union converted the building into a prison that held Confederate prisoners as well as a few Union deserters. Known as “Lincoln’s Bastille” among local residents, the history of this building offers a window towards understanding the nature of the war in this divided but mostly pro-Union section of West Virginia. The building was used as a warehouse for three years after the war. When it was destroyed by fire in 1868, it was the largest fire in the city's history to that time. 

The Athenaeum - "Lincoln's Bastille"

The Wheeling Custom House opened in 1859, and is one of the oldest structures still standing with large rolled wrought iron sections in it's framing. The developers used an wrought iron frame as opposed to wood, because of the many devastating fires that had previously happened in larger cities. Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury from 1852 to 1865, Ammi B. Young, designed the Wheeling Custom House under Captain Alexander H. Bowman from the U.S. Department of Treasury. Young's design was so solid, that there have been no major changes, except for the roof, since 1861.  Wheeling was named as a port of entry in 1831, and became a bustling industry town. This resulted in the B&amp;O Railroad laying track through Wheeling in 1852 . The city became a critical transportation center with the National Road, and had the first bridge across the Ohio River, the Wheeling Suspension Bridge. These industries called for the need of federal buildings in the city of Wheeling, and the custom house doubled as a post office. However, the Wheeling Custom House became nationally significant during the Civil War era when it housed the the pro-Union state conventions of Virginia in the spring and summer of 1861, the capitol of loyal Virginia from June 1861 until June 1863, and the site of the first constitutional convention for West Virginia from November 1861 to February 1862, and the recalled session of the convention in February 1863. <blockquote>"Its completion, coinciding with the beginning of the Civil War, provided a facility for heated political discussions and constitutional conventions that led to eventual statehood for West Virginia in 1863. Here, issues dividing many Virginians - slavery being one of many - were debated, compromised and shaped into the skeleton of statehood."1</blockquote> Sectionalism between the eastern and western parts of Virginia started long before the Civil War era, and calls for secession started in the late 1820s at the constitutional convention of 1829-1830 in Richmond, VA due to white male suffrage and misrepresentation in the General Assembly. This issue of slavery became a prominent issue following Nat Turner's rebellion in 1831. Some abolitionists wanted to end slavery because of moral issues, but the majority of western Virginia abolitionists wanted to capitalize and profit by turning slaves' work into paying jobs for white males. During the constitutional convention of 1850 to 1851, held in Richmond, all white males over the age of twenty-one were given the right to vote regardless of whether they owned property, and approved the election of the governor and judges by the people. Delegates during this convention also agreed to a provision that allowed property to be taxed at its total value, except for slaves, who were to be valued at rates well below their actual worth. Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election of 1860 without support from the South, which kick-started the southern states seceding from the Union.  <blockquote>"It is our duty on an occasion like this to elevate ourselves into an atmosphere, in which party passion and prejudice cannot exist - to conduct all our deliberations with calmness and wisdom, and to maintain, with inflexible firmness, whatever position we may find it necessary to assume." - John Janney of Loudoun County at the Virginia General Assembly of 1861.2</blockquote>The majority of delegates representing the state of Virginia opposed secession until President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion of Confederates following the surrender of Fort Sumter in 1861. In a vote of 88 to 55, Virginia left the Union with their Ordinance of Secession. Representative from the western part of Virginia immediately started their plan to seceded from Virginia.  On May 13, 1861, delegates representing twenty-seven western Virginia counties assembled here to plan their secession from Confederate Virginia at the First Wheeling Convention. <blockquote>"Let us act, let us repudiate these monstrous usurpations; let us show our loyalty to Virginia and the Union; and let us maintain ourselves in the Union at every hazard. It is useless to cry peace when there is no peace; and I for one will repeat what was said by one of Virginia's noblest sons and greatest statesmen, 'Give me liberty or give me death!'" - John Carlile at the First Wheeling Convention.3</blockquote>The delegates from the First Wheeling Convention successfully completed an Ordinance of Secession from Virginia in two days, and were ready to present to the public. This led to the Second Wheeling Convention, which began on June 11th, 1861. <blockquote>"In this Convention we have no ordinary political gathering. We have no ordinary task before us. We come here to carry out and execute, and it may be, to institute a government for ourselves. We are determined to live under a State Government in the United States of America and under the Constitution of the United States. It requires stout hearts to execute this purpose; it requires men of courage - of unfaltering determination; and I believe, in the gentlemen who compose this Convention, we have the stout hearts and the men who are determined in this purpose." - Arthur Boreman, President of the Second Wheeling Convention.4</blockquote>On June 20, the delegates selected officials to fill the offices of the Restored Government of Virginia. The first session of the Second Wheeling Convention ended on June 25th, and was to be adjourned on August 6th. However, the newly appointed governor, Francis Pierpont called for a meeting of the General Assembly of the Reorganized Government of Virginia on July 1st where he explained that President Lincoln pledged "full protection" to the people of western Virginia, and opposed any tax increases and requested that the Board of Public Works be abolished. The Reorganized Government of Virginia's legislature proposed, opposed, and approved various new legislatures and bills during this convention.  The second session of the Second Wheeling Convention began on August 6th, where legislatures finalized details of their Ordinance of Secession. The new state was to be named Kanawha, and would consist of 39 counties. On October 24, 1861, voters from the 39 counties of the proposed state of Kanawha voted to to determine the fate of the new state. This crucial event only churned out 34% of voters, with the results being 18,408 in favor of the new state, and 781 opposed. The West Virginia Constitutional Convention met on November 26, 1861 to determine a name for the proposed state, boundaries, the issue of being a free state, and the issue of a township system. The new constitution was approved in a unanimous vote by the delegates on February 18, 1862, and the citizens approved the constitution 18,862 to 514. Even though they had the votes, West Virginia statehood leaders had to obtain permission from Virginia in order to satisfy the constitutional restriction. The creation of the Reorganized Government of Virginia allowed them to seek consent from this pro-Union body instead of the Confederate Virginia government in Richmond, and was granted permission.  With the permission to continue the journey to statehood, Senator Waitman T. Willey presented a formal petition to the United States Senate for the admission of West Virginia to the Union on May 29, 1862. The issue of slavery was the only thing separating West Virginia from officially becoming a state. A compromise was made with the Willey Amendment, which called for the gradual emancipation of slavery. On July 14, 1862, both the Willey Amendment and the West Virginia statehood bill passed by a vote of 23 to 17. There were heated debates in the House of Representatives, but on December 10, 1862, the House passed the statehood bill by a vote of 96 to 55. Now the only missing link was the approval from President Lincoln. After much debate between Lincoln and his advisers, he approved the new state of West Virginia because he could not afford to lose the Union support.  <blockquote>"Doubtless those in remaining Virginia would return to the Union, so to speak, less reluctantly without the division of the old state than with it; but I think we could not save as much in this quarter by rejecting the new state, as we should lose by it in West Virginia. We can scarcely dispense with the aid of West Virginia in this struggle; much less can we afford to have her against us, in Congress and in the field. Her brave and good men regard her admission into the Union as a matter of life and death. They have been true to the Union under very severe trials. We have so acted as to justify their hopes; and we can not fully retain their confidence, and co-operation, if we seem to break faith with them." - Abraham Lincoln.5</blockquote> On June 20, 1863, West Virginia became the thirty-fifth state in the Union with Arthur Boreman as it's first governor.

West Virginia Independence Hall is the building where the majority of the legislature took place in West Virginia's journey to statehood, housing the first and second Wheeling Conventions. These conventions dealt with rallying support for secession from the communities, then placing political seats once the Virginia Ordinance of Secession was ratified, and also setting boundaries for the new state. The West Virginia Constitutional Convention was held here as well, and dealt with the formation and naming of the new state. Today the West Virginia Independence Hall is a museum and holds numerous events year round. 

Wheeling Custom House/West Virginia Independence Hall

After a rivalry between Pittsburgh and Wheeling to become the city to bridge the Ohio River, a charter was granted to the Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company in 1816. This charter was to construct a bridge to extend the Cumberland Pike, which was to be completed in 1818, to Ohio. After some delays and opposition, a new bridge charter was obtained in 1847. Charles Ellet and John A. Roebling were invited to submit designs and estimates for a bridge over the east channel of the river to Wheeling Island. In doing so, the design was set as a suspension bridge, as Ellet and Roebling were the foremost authorities on the topic. Ellet received the contract award in 1847 and began the same year. The bridge was completed in 1849.<blockquote>"The firing of cannon continued for a great portion of the day, and the crowds along the Bridge sensibly increased until 3 o'clock, when the ladies assembled, and with their escorts passed over to the Island and returned. With them the hour seemed given up to enjoyment, friend met friend, and gaiety and good feeling reigned supreme. We had there the pleasure of meeting more lovely and happy faces than we have seen before for months. A continuous train of human beings moved along the work from 3 o'clock until dark.</blockquote><blockquote>At 6 o'clock, the thousand lamps, hung up on the wires, were lighted almost simultaneously and presented an elegant and graceful curve of fire, high above the river, that was never excelled in beauty. It forcibly reminded one of Mr. Clay's remarks, a few days since, when looking at the work from a distance, while his face glowed with pride and exultation — "Take that down! you might as well try to take down the rainbow."2 - The Daily Wheeling Gazette, Nov. 17, 1849</blockquote>The span of the bridge is 1010 feet, measured from the center of the two supporting towers – the longest clear-span bridge in the world at the time. All materials for the bridge, including the drawn iron wire used to create the cables, were produced locally. The main cables rest upon iron rollers at the summits of each tower. The rollers relieve the strain on the cables caused by expansion and contraction with changes in temperature. In 1854, high winds set up an oscillation in the deck structure that resulted in severe damage to the bridge. Once again, Pittsburgh rivaled Wheeling for the reconstruction of the bridge. The Wheeling Bridge Case went to the Supreme Court and lasted from 1854 to 1856 with a judgment in favor of Wheeling.  Under the supervision of Ellet, reconstruction work began almost immediately and the bridge was reopened in just three months. In 1867, the Citizen Railway Company was granted permission to lay tracks on the bridge to accommodate horse-drawn streetcars; a possibility indicated earlier by Ellet. In 1872, Washington Roebling, son of John Roebling, was commissioned to provide upgrades to the bridge which included the installation of the diagonal cable stays. The bridge remained essentially unchanged until 1956 when a new steel deck system was installed. The most recent work on the bridge was completed in 1999 with repairs to the stiffening truss and wire rope stays, complete inspection and re-wrapping of the cables, and the installation of new illumination. Today, the bridge stands as one of the finest examples of pre-Civil War engineering and is considered as one of the world’s most significant and historic bridges. Wheeling and the Suspension Bridge is home to one of the greatest engineering achievements in American History. The nearly 170-year-old Wheeling Suspension Bridge is the oldest operating suspension bridge in the world. The bridge was the first to span a main channel of the Ohio River. In 1836, a two-span covered bridge opened over the back channel of the Ohio in Wheeling. This bridge crossed at the site of an 1893 truss and modern day bridge that carries Route 40 over the back channel to this day.

One of the last construction projects associated with the National Road, Wheeling Suspension Bridge opened on November 15th, 1849. At that time, this was the only bridge across the Ohio River and the largest suspension bridge in the world. The bridge was designed by Charles Ellet Jr. and covers 1,010 feet from tower to tower. The east tower rests on the Wheeling shore, while the west tower is on Wheeling Island. The bridge provided a link between two sections of the National Road before the Civil War and while it only retained the title of the world's largest suspension bridge for two years, today it is the oldest suspension bridge approved for vehicular traffic. Given its importance to transportation, and its significance as a mid-19th-century engineering marvel, the bridge was designated a National Historic Landmark on May 15, 1975.

View from the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, 1977. Photo taken from City of Wheeling side, looking West toward Wheeling Island.

Wheeling Suspension Bridge

Dedicated to Union soldiers who died in service of their
country, the Soldiers Aid Society of Wheeling erected the Soldiers and Sailors
Monument in 1880. Originally, the monument was located on the corner of 16th
and Chapline Streets upon the grounds of the old county courthouse that is no
longer there today. When the courthouse was demolished in April of 1926, it was
moved to Leatherwood Cloverleaf. However, the monument was never assembled at
this location because of controversy associated with the location itself. For
30 years, the monument was left unassembled while it remained at the
Leatherwood Cloverleaf. In June of 1956, the monument was moved to Linly
Military Institute, which was located at Thebdah Place. Just over two years
later, the monument was again moved and this time reassembled at Wheeling Park
on October 30, 1958. Over the years, the monument became quite worn and
vandalized with graffiti. Thanks to the efforts of Courtney Micker, a senior at
the Linsly School, the monument was refurbished beginning in 2002 with the
permission of Ken Morgan of the Wheeling Park Commission.

At the top of the monument, Liberty in female form stands
poised. She wears a crown that circles her head along with a Roman Toga, cloth
garment, and metal breastplate. On her left arm, she carries a shield, and in
her right hand, she bears a sword. Directly beneath her in the center of the
monument, the image from the West Virginia State Seal and its accompanying
phrase of “Montani Semper Liberi” lie proudly. To Liberty’s proper right and
beside the West Virginia State Seal, an infantryman sits in his military attire.
Oppositely, a sailor sits on Liberty’s proper left in his full attire.
Inscribed on the back of the monument is the dedication, which includes a quote
that reads, “To the defenders of the Union 1861 – 1865. They counted their
lives not dear unto them.”

Dedicated to Union soldiers who died in service of their country, the Soldiers Aid Society of Wheeling erected the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in 1880. Currently, the monument resides in Wheeling Park in Wheeling, West Virginia.

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