​Today in Wheeling History: July 1--Filming begins in East Wheeling for "The Gun on Second Street," a major Hollywood production that would bring celebrity actors and over $1 million in economic benefits to the city (2023).
 
"The Gun on Second Street" represents a significant milestone in Wheeling's modern cultural history as the first major Hollywood film production shot almost entirely in the city. Directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Rohit Karn Batra, the drama serves as an allegory for America's gun crisis, following two Pittsburgh police partners whose lives are forever changed by a tragic accident. Production began over the Fourth of July weekend in 2023 with initial flashback scenes shot in East Wheeling using local residents as actors and extras.
 
Batra selected Wheeling over Morgantown and Charleston because of its rich history and diverse architecture. The city's Victorian houses in East Wheeling proved ideal for 1970s flashback scenes, while Independence Hall and the former Agape Baptist Church doubled for modern-day New York City locations. The director praised Wheeling's ability to serve as a "chameleon" for other locations.
 
The production brought significant economic benefits, with the film crew spending over $1 million during their 25-day shoot. Local video producer Chuck Kleine of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, who creates the "Edible Mountain" series featuring Wheeling residents like skilled spoon carver Lynn Kettler, collaborated with Batra to recruit local crew members. Kleine worked closely with Ward 3 Councilwoman Rosemary Ketchum, who represents East Wheeling, Center Wheeling, South Wheeling, and Mozart neighborhoods, to streamline the city's film permitting process. Ketchum, West Virginia's first transgender elected official (2020) who later ran for mayor in 2024, was instrumental in creating protocols for future productions.
 
The film stars Poppy Delevingne, Tom Arnold, and Rumer Willis, with Sean Penn's Projected Picture Works as production partner. Batra praised the local talent and authentic people who made filming possible.
 
To learn more: AOL (https://tinyurl.com/yetphs7m) (https://tinyurl.com/mtzszp2p), The Hollywood Reporter (https://tinyurl.com/4tffcuup), Variety (https://tinyurl.com/mrxeu2w4), The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register (https://tinyurl.com/2uta48vb), IMDb (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10399844/) (https://tinyurl.com/2at4jdvh)
 
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons

​Today in Wheeling History: July 1--"The Gun on Second Street," a drama film directed by Rohit Karn Batra, began filming in Wheeling, WV (2023).
 
"The Gun on Second Street" is an upcoming drama film directed by Rohit Karn Batra. The movie stars Poppy Delevingne, Rumer Willis, and Noah Fearnley. The plot centers on two Pittsburgh police officers whose lives are tragically altered after a routine domestic violence call ends in the accidental death of one officer by his partner. Years later, the surviving officer reconnects with the widow of his former partner, and they confront their shared violent past while developing a romantic relationship. The film was primarily shot in Wheeling, West Virginia, with additional scenes filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Los Angeles, California. Wheeling's historic downtown and Victorian houses provided the perfect backdrop for the film's setting, capturing the small-town feel that Batra wanted to replicate. The production involved local actors and crew members, and the city’s architecture was used to represent various eras and locations, including modern-day New York City. The film aims to explore themes of love, redemption, and the impact of gun violence.
 
To learn more: Wheeling Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/2uta48vb), IMDB (https://tinyurl.com/2at4jdvh), The Cinemaholic  (https://tinyurl.com/bdha53pa)
 
Photo captions and credit: "The Gun on Second Street" movie poster (IMDB)

​Today in Wheeling History: June 30--Harry C. Northwood, renowned glassmaker and founder of Northwood Glass Company, is born in Wordsley, England (1860).
 
Harry C. Northwood (1860–1919) was a pioneering glassmaker whose artistry and entrepreneurial spirit helped define Wheeling’s reputation as a center of American glassmaking. Born on June 30, 1860, in Wordsley, Staffordshire, England, Northwood was the eldest son of famed cameo glass artisan John Northwood. At age 14, he began his apprenticeship in the glass trade. In 1881, he emigrated to the United States and initially worked as a glass etcher at the J.H. Hobbs, Brockunier & Co. plant in Wheeling. He later held leadership roles at glass factories in Martins Ferry, Ohio; Ellwood City, Pennsylvania; and Indiana, Pennsylvania.
 
In 1901, Northwood returned to Wheeling and founded H. Northwood & Co., taking over the shuttered Hobbs-Brockunier factory at 36th and McColloch Streets. The company became famous for its innovative pressed glass and especially for its iridescent “carnival glass,” which remains highly collectible today. At its peak, the factory employed 300 workers and produced 1,000 barrels of glass weekly. Northwood’s brother Carl managed sales and decoration. Harry died in 1919, followed by Carl in 1918. Though the company closed in 1925, Northwood’s legacy endures in museums and private collections worldwide.
 
To learn more: Wheeling Hall of Fame: Harry C. Northwood – Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/4psus4f7); Northwood Glass Company – Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/3db2bn4m), Harry Northwood: The Wheeling Years, 1901–1925 – Internet Archive (https://tinyurl.com/4wcawcz3)
 
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress

​Today in Wheeling History: June 29--Joseph Eisele, "The Parkersburg Murderer," brutally killed Aloys Ulrich along the Hempfield Railroad in Wheeling, an act that would later become associated with local ghost stories about Tunnel Green (1867).
 
Joseph Eisele, born around 1834 in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, emigrated to the United States around 1864. He settled in Parkersburg, West Virginia, where he worked as a carpenter and woodworker. Eisele's life took a dark turn in 1867 when he began a series of brutal murders. His first known victim was Joseph Lillenthal, a fellow German immigrant, whom he killed in Parkersburg. Eisele then moved to Wheeling, where he murdered Aloys Ulrich on June 29, 1867. Eisele lured Ulrich to a secluded area along the Hempfield Railroad, where he attacked him with a hatchet, decapitating him and stealing his money and watch. This murder, along with two others, earned Eisele the moniker "The Parkersburg Murderer." Eisele was eventually apprehended and confessed to his crimes. He was executed by hanging on March 6, 1868, in Parkersburg. Eisele's gruesome acts left a lasting impact on the Wheeling community, and his story is often associated with the haunted Tunnel Green, where Ulrich's ghost is said to linger.
 
To learn more: Wikipedia (https://shorturl.at/qpggJ), Weelunk (https://shorturl.at/noNTG), The Trumpet (https://shorturl.at/ILJfs)
 
Photo credits: Wheeling Intelligencer, Wheeling Register, Weelunk, Cincinnati Enquirer, Pittsburgh Commercial, Philadelphia Inquirer, Detroit Free Press

​Today in Wheeling History: June 29—Hal O’Leary, founder of Towngate Theatre and champion of the arts in Wheeling, dies at age 93 (2018).
 
Hal (Harold) O’Leary was born on April 26, 1925, at Wheeling Hospital to Harold E. and Clara Belle (Gear) O’Leary. Raised in the Warwood neighborhood of Wheeling, he graduated from Warwood High School before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he was stationed in Europe. After the war, O’Leary returned to Wheeling and began a transformative career in the arts. In 1965, he joined the staff of Oglebay Institute and founded the Towngate Theatre, which he led as artistic director for 43 years. Under his guidance, Towngate became a cultural cornerstone, producing more than 250 plays and nurturing generations of local talent.
 
O’Leary also brought creative dramatics into local elementary schools and taught communications at Bethany College from 1970 to 1979. In retirement, he became a prolific poet, publishing widely and presenting readings throughout the Ohio Valley. His collection "For What They’re Worth: Poems of Wit and Wisdom" was published in 2016. O’Leary was inducted into the Wheeling Hall of Fame and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from West Liberty University. He died on June 29, 2018, at Wheeling Hospital and was cremated.
 
To learn more: Oglebay Institute tribute (https://tinyurl.com/3ydw27jd), Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/7eejbexf) (https://tinyurl.com/tvjw3fw6); Obituary at Kepner Funeral Home (https://tinyurl.com/ypkw595f), Find a Grave memorial (https://tinyurl.com/fzsuwdzr), Wheeling Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/3r34cvz6)
 
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Oglebay Institute, Kepner Funeral Home

​Today in Wheeling History: June 22—Lefevre James Cranstone, British painter who captured scenes of Wheeling before the Civil War in watercolor, died in Brisbane, Australia (1893).
 
Lefevre James Cranstone was born on March 6, 1822, in Hemel Hempstead, England. Trained at Henry Sass’s School of Art and the Royal Academy in London, Cranstone became known for his genre-style watercolor landscapes. In 1859, he embarked on a ten-month tour of the United States with his younger brother Alfred, visiting relatives in Virginia and Indiana. During this journey, Cranstone created nearly 300 pen and ink sketches and watercolors documenting antebellum American life. Among his subjects was the Ohio River near Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), which he captured in a vivid watercolor now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
 
Cranstone’s Wheeling work reflects his fascination with steamboat traffic and the industrial vitality of the Ohio River. His American sketches, including scenes from Wheeling, Washington, D.C., and Richmond, provide a rare outsider’s view of pre-Civil War America. He was also a vocal critic of slavery, writing a letter to the *Hemel Hempstead Gazette* in 1860 condemning the practice after witnessing a slave auction in Richmond.
 
After returning to England, Cranstone later emigrated to Australia following the death of his wife. He died in Brisbane on June 22, 1893, and is buried in Toowong Cemetery. His Wheeling sketches remain a valuable visual record of the city’s antebellum landscape.
 
To learn more: Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/4vdwj3er), Metropolitan Museum of Art (https://tinyurl.com/waznch7y), Artvee (https://tinyurl.com/ypkkn8wf)
 
Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Today in Wheeling History: June 28--Cy Morgan, former Major League Baseball pitcher and two-time World Series champion with the Philadelphia Athletics, died at age 83 after residing in Wheeling for the final 15 years of his life (1962).
 
Harry Richard "Cy" Morgan was born November 10, 1878, in Pomeroy, Ohio, to William G. Morgan, a Welsh-born carpenter, and Alwilda Brookes Morgan. Though not born in Wheeling, Morgan became deeply connected to the Upper Ohio Valley region, beginning his baseball career with local teams including Martin's Ferry, Ohio, and the Wheeling Laundry Club in 1900. His professional career spanned from 1903 to 1913, during which he pitched for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, and Cincinnati Reds.
 
Morgan's greatest achievements came with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics, helping the team win World Series championships in 1910 and 1911. His best season was 1910, when he compiled a 20-6 record with a remarkable 1.55 ERA, leading the American League in both walks (117) and hit batsmen (18). Throughout his ten-year major league career, he maintained a 78-78 record with an impressive 2.51 ERA, ranking 42nd on MLB's all-time ERA list.
 
After retiring as a player, Morgan embarked on a 23-year umpiring career in various minor leagues until 1938. Following baseball, he worked at the Patuxent River Naval Air Base in Maryland and as a guard on New York docks during World War II. Morgan spent his final fifteen years as a Wheeling resident, living modestly on Social Security until receiving a $100 monthly pension from the Association of Professional Baseball Players of America in 1959. He died June 28, 1962, in Wheeling at age 83 and was buried in Riverview Cemetery in nearby Martins Ferry, Ohio.
 
To learn more: Baseball-Reference profile (https://tinyurl.com/5f3npyua), Wikipedia entry on Cy Morgan (https://tinyurl.com/bdzjkuke), Society for American Baseball Research biography (https://tinyurl.com/39srur7d), The Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/yc7e5tf8), Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/v2y3xtjd)
 
Photo credits: Library of Congress, Wheeling Intelligencer, Find a Grave, Wikimedia Commons, Baseball Reference, Society for Baseball Research

Today in Wheeling History: June 27--The cornerstone is laid for the new Children's Home of Wheeling on Hamilton Avenue in Woodsdale (1901).
 
On June 27, 1901, the cornerstone was laid for the new Children's Home of Wheeling at Woodsdale with impressive ceremonies attended by community leaders, civic organizations, and supporters. The Children's Home, founded in 1870 by the Young Men's Christian Association under the leadership of Rev. S. B. Barnitz, had been operating from a building at Thirteenth and Jacob Streets since 1872.
 
The ceremony featured speeches by prominent Wheeling figures including Attorney Henry M. Russell, Rev. S. T. Westhafer of Fourth Street M.E. Church, and Prosecuting Attorney F. W. Nesbitt. President W. B. Simpson presided over the event, with music provided by the Opera House band and performances by the children of the home. The cornerstone contained a lead box with historical documents, newspapers, reports from various institutions, and items commemorating the occasion.
 
The new building, designed by architects Giesey & Faris and constructed by W. A. Wilson & Sons, cost $42,500 total including the land. The building was completed and occupied on April 28, 1902. For nearly nine decades, the home served both boys and girls until 1989, when it shifted focus exclusively to adolescent males. Today, the Children's Home operates as a licensed behavioral health center providing residential treatment for West Virginia's troubled youth. In 2023, it expanded its mission by opening the Orchard Park Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital, a 30-bed facility addressing the region's critical need for acute psychiatric care for children ages 5-17.
 
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/y5nwf3ht); Children’s Home of Wheeling official website (https://tinyurl.com/4234d8sy), Historic Wheeling: Hamilton Avenue (https://tinyurl.com/yx82ym6h), Wheeling Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/48yyt2jd) (https://tinyurl.com/4ytva2jj) (https://tinyurl.com/5f95dyr6), Wheeling Daily Register (https://tinyurl.com/3vbwd7zv) (https://tinyurl.com/ms52dyca)
 
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV

​Today in Wheeling History: June 26—Otto Jaeger, future glass artist and founder of Fostoria, Seneca, and Bonita Art Glass with strong ties to Wheeling’s glassmaking legacy, is born in St. Goar, Rhine Province, Germany (1853).
 
Otto Jaeger was born on June 26, 1853, in St. Goar, a Rhine province of Germany. He immigrated to the United States at age 13, settling in New York City with his family. His father, Frederick William Jaeger, was a former Prussian army captain and attorney-general at Cologne. Otto studied English, French, and German in school before leaving formal education at 16 to apprentice as a glass engraver. In 1877, he moved to Wheeling, West Virginia, where he became head of engraving at the Hobbs & Brockunier Glass Plant. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found the Fostoria Glass Company in Ohio in 1888 and the Seneca Glass Company in 1891. Returning to Wheeling in 1901, he established the Bonita Art Glass Company on Bow Street, specializing in artistic decoration of glass and china. Jaeger was also a city councilman, a 32nd-degree Mason, and a gifted musician who directed Presbyterian church choirs for over 30 years. He married Ida Frances Ratcliffe in Wheeling in 1879; their two children died young. Otto Jaeger passed away on June 9, 1941, in Huntington, West Virginia, and is buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Cabell County. His artistic and civic legacy remains part of Wheeling’s rich industrial heritage.
 
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling, WV (https://tinyurl.com/36v5nfjy); Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/5aa9ubra), Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/4d4yu765), WVGenWeb Archives (https://tinyurl.com/4j8tm5ep)
 
Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons, Find a Grave

​Today in Wheeling History: June 25--Harry C. Werner, inventor and Wheeling resident, awarded Patent No. 858,045 for his innovative nut-lock device (1907).
 
Harry C. Werner was a Wheeling, West Virginia inventor who received Patent No. 858,045 on June 25, 1907, for his innovative "nut-lock" device. Werner was identified as a citizen and resident of Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia, when he filed his patent application on October 5, 1906. The patent represented a significant contribution to mechanical engineering during an era when Wheeling was emerging as a major industrial center in the upper Ohio Valley.
 
Werner's nut-lock invention was designed to prevent the retraction of nuts on their bolts through an ingenious system involving a bearing-nut with an inwardly-inclined recess containing a tapered key. The device featured innovative engineering that allowed nuts to be secured firmly while still permitting convenient removal when necessary. The key component had a longitudinally beveled inner edge that would cut into the bolt threads when pressure was applied, and a forwardly-beveled outer end that would engage with a jam-nut to create a secure locking mechanism.
 
According to newspaper reports from October 1906, Werner had also been granted a patent for an improved wire stretcher earlier that year, demonstrating his versatility as an inventor. The June 26, 1907 Wheeling Intelligencer also noted that Werner received a patent for "lock for set screws" in addition to his nut lock patent, indicating he was actively developing multiple mechanical innovations.
 
Werner's inventive work occurred during Wheeling's golden age of industry and innovation, when the city was known for its manufacturing prowess and attracted numerous inventors and entrepreneurs. His patents contributed to the broader technological advancement of the early 20th century, particularly in mechanical fastening systems that were crucial for industrial applications. The detailed technical specifications of his nut-lock patent reflect the high level of engineering sophistication that characterized Wheeling's industrial community during this period.
 
To learn more: Google Patents (https://tinyurl.com/yeynhh4e), Wheeling Daily Register (https://tinyurl.com/26bfpx8d), Wheeling Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/mv62wn43)
 
Photo credits: U.S. Patent Office