Fort Fincastle was built on the Ohio River in 1774 and later it was renamed Fort Henry. The town of Wheeling grew around the fort. In 1782 it was the scene of one of the last skirmishes of the American Revolution, in which a party of British and Native American attackers was driven off. Wheeling became the western terminus of the National Road in 1818, a port of entry in 1831 and a railhead in 1852.
During the Civil War it was a center of pro-Unionist activity. The town was the site of the Wheeling Conventions of 1861 and 1862, which provided a means of forming a new state out of the northern and western counties of Virginia. Wheeling became the first capital of West Virginia in 1863. In 1870 the capital was transferred to Charleston, then back to Wheeling in 1875 and finally to Charleston in 1885.
Wheeling is nowadays a manufacturing and commercial center in an area that is rich in coal and natural gas. Its many industrial products include steel, iron, chemicals, ceramics, glass, tobacco, plastics and textiles. The city is the seat of Wheeling College.
Points of interest include the site of Fort Henry, Saint Joseph's Cathedral, the old bridge spanning the Ohio River and Oglebay Park, which includes museums, a nature center and an outdoor theater.
Accommodation and restaurants are available in town. Wheeling is on the Ohio River in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, 210 km northeast from Charleston and 350 km northwest from Washington D.C.
Hours from UTC: -5
Daylight savings time: Late October through late March
City phone code: n/a
Country phone code: 1
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