Today in Wheeling History: January 27--The Mingo statue atop Wheeling Hill was cut at the ankles with a pickax and carried away by three men from Columbus, Ohio (1982).
The iconic Mingo statue atop Wheeling Hill at the intersection of National Road and Stone Boulevard was stolen in the early morning hours of January 27, 1982, when three Columbus, Ohio men severed the bronze figure at the ankles with a pickax and loaded it into their pickup truck. Robin McCoy, Antionelle E. McCoy, and George N. White had driven just a half-dozen blocks down Chapline Street extension when an anonymous caller alerted Wheeling police. Officers spotted the outstretched arm of friendship protruding from the truck bed and intercepted the thieves around 4:30 a.m. Police found the Indian and the pickax in the back of the pickup. All three men were jailed with bond set at $10,000 each and later convicted of grand larceny. The statue itself was recovered and held as evidence in the old city lockup. Interestingly, police had foiled an earlier attempted theft the previous summer when two men were found near the monument's base with mattresses and a tarp in their truck. Investigation revealed holes had been bored in the base during that attempt. The 1928 statue, created by German immigrant Henry Beu and presented to Wheeling by the Kiwanis Club and George W. Lutz, had stood as a welcoming symbol to visitors traveling the National Road. George Macek of Mull Foundry ultimately repaired the statue, which was rededicated on April 21, 1983.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/37tc8hsp); Historic Wheeling (https://tinyurl.com/44uwaft5), Weelunk (https://tinyurl.com/yc6ppjz9), The Clio (https://tinyurl.com/5vkfr83j), Wheeling Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/588wbpx2) (https://tinyurl.com/3h6tr3zx) (https://tinyurl.com/wmh97p7w), Wheeling News-Register (https://tinyurl.com/4dyju3ab) (https://tinyurl.com/ms49hcju), Smithsonian American Art Museum (https://tinyurl.com/5n96fkkb), The Historical Marker Database (https://tinyurl.com/ybzd4e98)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wheeling News-Register, Wheeling Intelligencer, Weelunk, Wikimedia Commons, Historic Wheeling, The Clio, The Historical Marker Database
The iconic Mingo statue atop Wheeling Hill at the intersection of National Road and Stone Boulevard was stolen in the early morning hours of January 27, 1982, when three Columbus, Ohio men severed the bronze figure at the ankles with a pickax and loaded it into their pickup truck. Robin McCoy, Antionelle E. McCoy, and George N. White had driven just a half-dozen blocks down Chapline Street extension when an anonymous caller alerted Wheeling police. Officers spotted the outstretched arm of friendship protruding from the truck bed and intercepted the thieves around 4:30 a.m. Police found the Indian and the pickax in the back of the pickup. All three men were jailed with bond set at $10,000 each and later convicted of grand larceny. The statue itself was recovered and held as evidence in the old city lockup. Interestingly, police had foiled an earlier attempted theft the previous summer when two men were found near the monument's base with mattresses and a tarp in their truck. Investigation revealed holes had been bored in the base during that attempt. The 1928 statue, created by German immigrant Henry Beu and presented to Wheeling by the Kiwanis Club and George W. Lutz, had stood as a welcoming symbol to visitors traveling the National Road. George Macek of Mull Foundry ultimately repaired the statue, which was rededicated on April 21, 1983.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/37tc8hsp); Historic Wheeling (https://tinyurl.com/44uwaft5), Weelunk (https://tinyurl.com/yc6ppjz9), The Clio (https://tinyurl.com/5vkfr83j), Wheeling Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/588wbpx2) (https://tinyurl.com/3h6tr3zx) (https://tinyurl.com/wmh97p7w), Wheeling News-Register (https://tinyurl.com/4dyju3ab) (https://tinyurl.com/ms49hcju), Smithsonian American Art Museum (https://tinyurl.com/5n96fkkb), The Historical Marker Database (https://tinyurl.com/ybzd4e98)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wheeling News-Register, Wheeling Intelligencer, Weelunk, Wikimedia Commons, Historic Wheeling, The Clio, The Historical Marker Database
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