12th Street
Contents
Street Scenes
Looking E from Main St, circa 1900? Building on left corner was National Exchange Bank (currently United Bank). Chuck Julian postcard collection
12th St as seen from Market, 1904.(from Ohio County Public Library Flickr stream)
Looking W about 1953 based on the cars. Tall yellowish building is National Bank of West Virginia on 12th and Main streets. Chuck Julian postcard collection
Odd Numbers
21 12th St: National Exchange Bank
From Chuck Julian postcard collection, dated 1916 (left). The card on the right appears to be from an earlier time than the one of the left
postmarked in 1916. The left card has two more stories and a monumental Roman entrance with massive columns. This massive entrance
no longer exists, and the normal facade continued across the 112th Street side, with the main entrance shifted to Main Street. Sad.
The structure stands 144 feet and eight inches in height, with a frontage of 47 feet on Twelfth street and 70 feet on Main street. The lower
portion is waterproof to the highest flood line... The building outside of the bank contains 67 office rooms, all well lighted. All doors in the
building open outward, leading to the halls, and everything is of mahogany finish. The building is constructed of re-enforced concrete and is
thoroughly fireproof and waterproof. The outside, fronting on Twelfth and Main streets, is of terra cotta, plain and glazed, while on the west
and south sides it is of faced brick. It sits upon a solid granite foundation.
This description is from a 1915 newspaper article available on the Ohio County Public Library website.
Here is a complete listing of all currency printed by the National Exchange Bank of Wheeling.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Even Numbers
30-12th St
Built 1945. Art deco style.
Former Union Federal Savings and Loan, now used as offices.
Offered for $325,000 in 2012, and now $200,00 in 2014.
32-12th St - Bank of the Ohio Valley
|
|
Built 1890 (or 1906?); previously Peking Restaurant, built as Bank of the Ohio Valley (became part of Wesbanco in 1933). Red and black paint orientalizes former bank facade. Restaurant closed many years ago. In 2015, Interior dry and ready for reuse but significant effort required. |
80 12th St
Board of Trade and Court Theater
|
|
Click on the address for a larger view - and space to add comments about each building.
100 12th St
Paxton House
This Romano-Tuscan house was built c 1852 by James W.Paxton, a slaveholder but also an ardent Union man. He was a member of the
May 1861 convention, which opposed the secession of Virginia, and a member of the June convention, which created the Reorganized
Government of Virginia. According to legend, next door neighbor A. Wilson Kelly, made ammunition for the Confederacy. Subsequent owners
of 100 12th Street included three generations of doctors named Robert Reed. From Friends of Wheeling meeting announcement for Nov 12, 2009.
