Timeline
Table of Contents
[#x-1700s 1700s]
[#x-1800s 1800s]
[#x-1900s 1900s]
[#x-2000s 2000s]
1700s
1749: [/Celeron%20de%20Bienville Celeron de Bienville] visit, lead plate buried near Wheeling Creek claiming land for France
1752, March 7: Christopher Gist camped at Wheeling Creek, while exploring Ohio River
1769: Zanesburg - first white settlement at Wheeling location
1770, Oct 23: George Washington passes Wheeling location on Ohio River
1774, Jun: Fort Fincastle (later Fort Henry) built by Major William Crawford; demolished in 1784
1777, Sept 1-3: First Battle of Ft. Henry and [/McColloch%27s%20leap McColloch's leap]
1781:[/Triadelphia Jonathan Link] and two companions killed by Indians
1782: New York cedes large territory (Michigan thru Kentucky, including WV northern panhandle) to the federal government.
1782, Sept 11-13: Second [/WesBanco%20Arena Battle of Ft Henry]; Betty Zane's run. Overview, History
1788: Fort Randolph at Wheeling Creek mouth built by this date - its wood probably used to build steamship Washington in 1815
1794, Jun 7: First post office established at Wheeling with mail brought from Pittsburgh by Post Riders and transferred to boats for downstream deliveries.
1795, Dec 25: Virginia General Assembly established Wheeling as a town
1796: French military officer Victor Collot mapped Wheeling as part of his study (spying?) of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
1800s
1802: Schooner Dorcas and Sally built
1803, Sept 7 -9: Meriwether Lewis [/Oddities provisioned] at Wheeling including buying two red pirogues (large canoes)
1806, Jan 16: Wheeling incorporated
1812-3: Wooden bridge across Wheeling Creek near mouth
1815: Two keelboat building yards opened by James Pemberton and Adkins.
1816, May 12: Washington, the first steamboat built in Wheeling launched
1819: Ohio River virtually dries up
1832: A.M. Phillips steam engine business opens
1834, Aug 16: City water works founded
1834, Oct 14: Four people charged with illegally teaching African-Americans to read
1840: Marsh Stogie Company founded
1848, Apr 3: Wheeling Atheneum founded to promote science and literature, built 1854, used as a prison during Civil War; burned down 1868.
1849: Construction of [/Wheeling%20Suspension%20Bridge Wheeling Suspension Bridge]
1852: Great flood that covered Wheeling Island
1852, Aug 24: Wheeling Intelligencer newspaper founded
1852, Dec 24: Last spike driven to complete B&O track at Roseby's Rock, 18 miles east of Wheeling
1853, Jan 1: first B&O train from Atlantic Ocean reaches Wheeling
1853, Feb 1: US Supreme Court orders that Wheeling Bridge be modified to not interfere with Ohio River boat traffic (but Congress reverses this ruling).
1853: Anti-Catholic mob threatened Bishop Whelan and visiting archbishop; armed Irish men surrounded the Cathedral and prevented violence. [/References Pyne, 2000]
1861: [/WesBanco%20Arena Wheeling Convention], votes to break from the state of Virginia
1863: Streetcar service started in Wheeling
1863, June 20: West Virginia becomes the 35th state with Wheeling as its capital
1865, Mar 2: Free schools authorized by governor for Wheeling
1865, Sept 1: St. Joseph's Academy opened
1866: 12 oil companies founded in Wheeling
1866: Major flood in Wheeling.
1880, May 15: First telephone exchange (one of earliest in US) - Subscribers. History. 1881 directory
1884, Feb 7: Major flood destroyed 100s of houses in Wheeling
1885: Wheeling Roller Rink Association and Alhambra Palace Rink Company incorporated to build roller rinks
1888, July 19: Disastrous flood in Wheeling, about 25 people killed.
1891, Feb 19: Flood
1896, winter: Very thick river ice. Boats routinely crushed by ice in 1890s - pre-global warming!
1900s
1901, April 20: flood
1907: [/1907%20Flood Flood]
1907, Sep 1: Walter Reuther born
1908, October: Lowest stage of Ohio River - 7 inches.
1913: Flood, again
1924, April 28: Benwood Mine disaster - 119 men killed in explosion. Funeral
1925, Apr 19: Wheeling tornado
1936, Mar 19: [/Flood%20House Flood House] Flood
1950, Feb 9: Sen. Joseph McCarthy gave speech at McClure Hotel denouncing communists in the US government, beginning his witch hunt.
1953, Oct 24: WTRF went on the air, the first TV station in Wheeling
1954, Nov 21: Cornerstone laid for Wheeling College (later Wheeling Jesuit University)
1961, Dec 14: Wheeling first target of Federal anti-racketeering legislation
1978, Jan 20: Snowstorm - 18" in Wheeling
1999, Aug: Regional drought
2000s
Sources: [/References Carney and Carney (2003)], [/References Bowman (2009)], West Virginia Timeline. and others.
The WV Division of Culture and History maintains a timeline for all of WV, here are the Wheeling entries.
This page has been edited 15 times. The last modification was made by - tychocrater tychocrater on May 13, 2015 1:42 pm
