Wheeling, West Virginia

City in WV - mostly in Ohio County, with a small part in Marshall County. County seat of Ohio County. Wheeling considered part of Pittsburgh PA Tri-State area and is principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Area. 2000 census population was 31,419 - estimated at 29,639 in 2005.

The city was first claimed by Europeans in 1769 and settled the next year. It was named Zanesburg after Ebenezer Zane, the first settler. The legislature established the town in 1795 as Wheeling. It was incorporated as a town in 1805, and as a city in 1836. When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, Wheeling was made the site of a pro-Union provisional government of Virginia. In 1863 the Wheeling Convention met here and declared West Virginia's secession from Virginia as a Union state. Wheeling served as the state capital from 1863 to 1870 and then from 1875 to 1885.

Wheeling was an important point on the Old National Road (US 40) which carried traffic east and west across the US. The historic suspension bridge over the Ohio River to Wheeling Island (part of the City) was on the National Road and still carries local traffic.

City Website: www.cityofwheelingwv.org/
Visitors Bureau: www.wheelingcvb.com/
Also part of Wheeling Heritage Area: www.wheelingheritage.org/