Today in Wheeling History: March 12—Wheeling Hospital, the “Mother Hospital of West Virginia,” is chartered in Wheeling (1850).
Wheeling Hospital, chartered on March 12, 1850, stands as one of the oldest continuously operating hospitals in the United States and the oldest in West Virginia. Its origins trace to informal charitable care in Wheeling, where Mrs. Barnes’s home served as a makeshift infirmary for patients referred by local physicians. Recognizing the need for a permanent institution, Bishop Richard Whelan partnered with pioneering surgeon Dr. Simon Hullihen—later joined by Dr. John Frissell and Dr. Matthew Houston—to establish a formal hospital serving the rapidly growing industrial city. In 1853, six Sisters of St. Joseph arrived from Missouri to staff the facility, and the hospital soon moved into the Metcalf property on 15th Street. Continued expansion led to its relocation in 1856 to the Michael Sweeney mansion in North Wheeling, where it remained for more than a century.
During the Civil War, the U.S. Army commandeered the hospital in 1864, converting it into a military facility that treated both Union and Confederate wounded. The hospital continued to grow in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, opening a nursing school in 1900 and replacing its aging structure with a new building in 1933. In 1975, Wheeling Hospital moved to its modern campus in the Clator neighborhood. In recent years, the institution entered a new chapter when it became part of WVU Medicine, strengthening its clinical resources, specialty services, and regional healthcare network while maintaining its historic mission of service to the Ohio Valley.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/4ttfnjtx) (https://tinyurl.com/2dm5xa47) (https://tinyurl.com/2s3h6pdw) (https://tinyurl.com/39kk2vd6) (https://tinyurl.com/39z8hmjm); West Virginia Encyclopedia – “Wheeling Hospital” (https://tinyurl.com/hvsdtuc6), WVU Medicine (https://tinyurl.com/y9fmefk5), Wikimedia (https://tinyurl.com/2s4kvd3u), West Virginia Public Broadcasting (https://tinyurl.com/2s4kvd3u)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons, WV Encyclopedia
Wheeling Hospital, chartered on March 12, 1850, stands as one of the oldest continuously operating hospitals in the United States and the oldest in West Virginia. Its origins trace to informal charitable care in Wheeling, where Mrs. Barnes’s home served as a makeshift infirmary for patients referred by local physicians. Recognizing the need for a permanent institution, Bishop Richard Whelan partnered with pioneering surgeon Dr. Simon Hullihen—later joined by Dr. John Frissell and Dr. Matthew Houston—to establish a formal hospital serving the rapidly growing industrial city. In 1853, six Sisters of St. Joseph arrived from Missouri to staff the facility, and the hospital soon moved into the Metcalf property on 15th Street. Continued expansion led to its relocation in 1856 to the Michael Sweeney mansion in North Wheeling, where it remained for more than a century.
During the Civil War, the U.S. Army commandeered the hospital in 1864, converting it into a military facility that treated both Union and Confederate wounded. The hospital continued to grow in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, opening a nursing school in 1900 and replacing its aging structure with a new building in 1933. In 1975, Wheeling Hospital moved to its modern campus in the Clator neighborhood. In recent years, the institution entered a new chapter when it became part of WVU Medicine, strengthening its clinical resources, specialty services, and regional healthcare network while maintaining its historic mission of service to the Ohio Valley.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/4ttfnjtx) (https://tinyurl.com/2dm5xa47) (https://tinyurl.com/2s3h6pdw) (https://tinyurl.com/39kk2vd6) (https://tinyurl.com/39z8hmjm); West Virginia Encyclopedia – “Wheeling Hospital” (https://tinyurl.com/hvsdtuc6), WVU Medicine (https://tinyurl.com/y9fmefk5), Wikimedia (https://tinyurl.com/2s4kvd3u), West Virginia Public Broadcasting (https://tinyurl.com/2s4kvd3u)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons, WV Encyclopedia
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