WHEELING         

What makes a city so special? Wheeling, West Virginia, where the National Road meets the Ohio river. Colonel Ebenezer Zane who in late XVIII opened the Western Reserve with his route through southern Ohio, the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and the impressive Suspension Bridge (1849), the world´ largest suspension bridge at this time.

Bethany College, The Victorian District, Oglebay Park, Marx Toys, Marsh tobbaco, Wheeling Steel.

Wheeling was a crossroads city and the hub of a great industrial district (steel, glass, pottery) along the "other side" of Ohio river: Bellaire (Carnegie Steel Works, Imperial Glass), Martins Ferry, Steuvenbille, Weirton, East Liverpool . .

Today Wheeling is a "National Heritage Area" that preserves his historic heritage as capital of West Virginia (1863-1870), industrial and cultural center of Ohio river valley (Oglebay Foundation, Victorian Wheeling Landmarks Foundation)

© TEXT: Juan Vicente Santamaría Gil. 2004