Today in Wheeling History: June 24—Building Committee appointed to oversee construction of Washington Hall, a future civic landmark (1851).
Washington Hall, once located at the northeast corner of Market and 12th Streets in Wheeling, West Virginia, served as a keystone of the city’s cultural and political life. On June 24, 1851, the Washington Hall Association appointed a Building Committee consisting of George W. Sights, Walter Scott, and W.S. Wickham to supervise construction of the proposed public hall. This marked the formal launch of a project intended to provide Wheeling with a central gathering place for performances, meetings, and civic ceremonies.
Construction began soon after, and the hall officially opened in January 1853, just in time to host a banquet honoring the arrival of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. A decade later, Washington Hall became the site of the First Wheeling Convention in May 1861, where Unionist delegates opposed Virginia’s secession and initiated the process that would result in the creation of West Virginia.
Though the original building was lost to fire in 1875, a new hall rose in its place and continued serving the community into the early 20th century. The site’s legacy endures as a birthplace of statehood and symbol of Wheeling’s civic pride.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/n5yjcxud), Historical Marker Database (https://tinyurl.com/yfx5neh3), Historic Wheeling (https://tinyurl.com/47tahwn9)
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons
Washington Hall, once located at the northeast corner of Market and 12th Streets in Wheeling, West Virginia, served as a keystone of the city’s cultural and political life. On June 24, 1851, the Washington Hall Association appointed a Building Committee consisting of George W. Sights, Walter Scott, and W.S. Wickham to supervise construction of the proposed public hall. This marked the formal launch of a project intended to provide Wheeling with a central gathering place for performances, meetings, and civic ceremonies.
Construction began soon after, and the hall officially opened in January 1853, just in time to host a banquet honoring the arrival of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. A decade later, Washington Hall became the site of the First Wheeling Convention in May 1861, where Unionist delegates opposed Virginia’s secession and initiated the process that would result in the creation of West Virginia.
Though the original building was lost to fire in 1875, a new hall rose in its place and continued serving the community into the early 20th century. The site’s legacy endures as a birthplace of statehood and symbol of Wheeling’s civic pride.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/n5yjcxud), Historical Marker Database (https://tinyurl.com/yfx5neh3), Historic Wheeling (https://tinyurl.com/47tahwn9)
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons
RSS Feed