Wheeling

Wheeling, also known as the "Friendly City" or the "Nail City", is a city of 26,000 people (as of 2019) in West Virginia. Wheeling is known for having more Victorian architecture than any other city in the United States.

Get in

Downtown Wheeling From Chapel Hill

Wheeling is located in the northern (or western) panhandle of West Virginia, between Ohio and Pennsylvania, approximately 45 miles southwest of Pittsburgh and 120 miles east of Columbus.

By plane

• 1 Wheeling-Ohio County Airport (HLG  ^IATA) (8 miles north of downtown Wheeling, off of WV Route 2). Though this airport is open for public use, no commercial airlines service it. (updated Mar 2019)

The closest commercial service is to Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT ^IATA), which is approximately 40 miles northeast of Wheeling in Western Pennsylvania.

By car

Ft. Henry Bridge from Wheeling Hill

Interstate 70 is the primary route for reaching Wheeling from the east or west. Travelers in Northern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania can reach Wheeling via OH Route 7 or WV Route 2. Wheeling can be reached from Southern Ohio and Southern West Virginia via WV Route 2, or Interstate 79 and Interstate 77 for points further south. U.S. Route 250, U.S. Route 40, and WV Route 88 are other major highways that pass through Wheeling.

• 2 Wheeling Suspension Bridge. The first bridge to span the Ohio River, built in 1849 with a length of 1,010 feet, which was largely responsible for the influx of people to the area. At the time of its construction, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world, although that title was quickly usurped in 1851 by the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge. It remains, however, the oldest vehicular suspension bridge still in use.  
• 3 Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge (Interstate 470 Bridge). (updated Mar 2019)

By train

The nearest passenger rail service is in Pittsburgh, PA, and is provided by Amtrak's Pennsylvanian and Capitol Limited routes. Wheeling can then be reached by car or connecting bus service provided by Amtrak.

By bus

• Greyhound Bus Lines. The city's bus station is located in the Intermodal Center Garage at 1405 Main Street in downtown Wheeling. Two daily services are available from Pittsburgh. Greyhound in Wheeling can be reached at ☏ +1 304 232-1500.

Get around

Wheeling is a small city, so transportation options are limited.

By car

Car is by far the most efficient way to get around Wheeling. Traffic in Wheeling is non-existent, outside of congestion related to road construction or vehicle accidents, so driving through Wheeling can be accomplished with a great deal of ease.

Interstate 70 runs east to west through the city, and provides primary access to all of the area's major roadways. I-70 enters the city by crossing a back channel of the Ohio River at Wheeling Island (Exit 0), providing access to U.S. Route 40, and the Wheeling Island Racetrack & Casino. I-70 then crosses the main channel of the Ohio River, entering downtown Wheeling, and then continues east through Wheeling Tunnel.

U.S. Route 40 (Old National Road) is the main commercial thoroughfare in Wheeling, traveling east to west through the city, and has several interchanges with I-70. State road 2 is Wheeling's primary north to south road, running roughly parallel to the Ohio River the entire length of the city. Route 2 is a limited-access freeway south of downtown, and becomes a two-lane surface street north of downtown. Interstate 470 is a spur to I-70 that begins in the Elm Grove section of the city (Exit 5A), and spurs south, crossing the Ohio River in the South Wheeling section of the city, and merging with I-70 outside of St. Clairsville, Ohio (Exit 219).

By bus

• Wheeling-Ohio Valley Regional Transportation Authority, ☏ +1 304 232-2190. A local public bus system operates daytime bus service through most of the city, but service times and frequency are very limited.  

By taxi

Wheeling's primary taxi company is Yellow Cab, and they can be reached at ☏ +1 304 232-1313.

See

Victorian downtown; Eckhart House in center

• 1 Victorian Wheeling, 823-R Main St, ☏ +1 304-233-1600, toll-free: +1-800-SEE-1870 (733-1870). Wheeling has more Victorian architecture than any other city in the US, much of it having undergone extensive restoration. Tours available 1 to 3PM Saturday and Sunday, from May through December, beginning every half-hour from the Hess House at 811 Main Street. High tea and meals also available in a Victorian dining room. In early October, an open house is held in which Victorian buildings and private homes are made available to tour. Tours $3 - $8, meals $12 - $17. (updated Dec 2020)

• 2 Eckhart House, 810 Main Street, ☏ +1 304-232-5439, +1-888-700-0118. Called Wheeling's "Crown Jewel", Eckhart House is a restored 1892 three-story Queen Anne town home with most of its original architectural features intact. Gift shop on-site. Tours are available W-Sa 1-3:30PM for $3. Parlor teas available. 

• 3 West Virginia Independence Hall, 1528 Market St, ☏ +1 304-238-1300. M-Sa 10AM to 4PM. Called the "birthplace of West Virginia" because the Wheeling Convention was held here in 1861, during which 32 counties in Virginia voted to secede and join the Union. Restored interiors, an interpretive video, audio tours, authentically-costumed guided tours, and an exhibition on West Virginia's statehood featuring dramatic displays with period artifacts. (updated Nov 2016)

The Professional Building

• The Ohio River riverfront is flanked by the 11-mile lighted Wheeling Heritage Trail if you want to walk, jog, rollerblade or bike by the water's edge. At the boat landing is Wheeling Heritage Port, an award-winning riverfront amphitheater that hosts events between May and October, like band concerts, holiday celebrations, an Italian festival, a chili cook-off and movie nights.
• Prabhupada's Palace of Gold, 3759 McCrearys Ridge Rd, Cameron (Palace Rd, off Route 250), ☏ +1 304-843-1812. Guided tours available from 10AM to 8PM April through August, and 10AM to 5PM September through March. Located in a community called New Vrindaban, founded in 1968, which is a replica of Vrindaban in India. The Palace of Gold has been called "America's Taj Mahal". Gift shop, organic vegetable garden, snack bar, health shop, and award-winning rose garden on-site. Guest lodge and cottages available. Admission $6.  
• 4 Oglebay (Route 88 N), ☏ +1 304-243-4000, toll-free: +1-800-624-6988. 1,700 acres of parkland with dozens of activities, including shopping, golfing, miniature golf, swimming, pedal boats, tennis, horseback riding, fishing, skiing and snowboarding, walking trails, museums, a zoo and planetarium, floral gardens, and a resort.  

• 5 Wheeling Park (Oglebay Park), 1801 National Rd, ☏ +1 304 243-4185, toll-free: +1-800-624-6988 ext 4085. 406 acres including a swimming pool with waterslide, playground, boating, pedal boats, miniature golf, ice skating, tennis, soccer, and an outdoor aviary.  
• 6 Good Zoo and Planetarium. Over 80 species of animals from North America, South America and Africa, nestled in 30 acres of flowers, trees, hills, and valleys. Also features an indoor Discovery Lab where kids can learn about animals; a barn petting zoo with llamas, donkeys, deer and other animals; a 1.5-mile train ride past the ostrich exhibit; a wetlands walk; and a planetarium with family programs and an annual Astronomy Day. 
• 7 Schrader Center, 465 Lodge Dr, ☏ +1 304 242-6855. An environmental center constructed with environmentally-sensitive building products using environmentally-friendly building processes. Includes an exhibit hall, bird observation areas, a children's awareness area, and programs throughout the year. 
• 8 Stifel Fine Arts Center, 1330 National Road, ☏ +1 304-242-7700, +1-888-696-4283. Dance and fitness, music, live theater, movies, choral singing, and the only hands-on art center in the region. Workshops and classes available. 
• 9 Oglebay Institute Glass Museum, 1330 Oglebay Dr. Over 3,000 examples of Wheeling glass made from 1829 to 1939. A highlight is the Sweeney Punch Bowl, the largest piece of cut lead crystal ever made, at five feet tall and 225 pounds. The Carriage House Glass gift shop offers the area's largest selection of West Virginia decorative glass. 

• 10 National Imperial Glass Museum, 3200 Belmont St, Bellaire Ohio (across the river from Wheeling), ☏ +1 740-671-3971. Open 11AM to 3PM Thursday through Saturday, from April to October. Features an extensive array of Imperial glassware, including Candlewick, Carnival and glassware donated by the National Imperial Glass Collectors Society and the former Bellaire Glass Museum. (updated Dec 2018)
• 11 Wymer's General Store Museum, 1400 Main St, ☏ +1 304-232-1812. In the Artisan Center. Open 11AM to 7PM Monday through Thursday, 11AM to 9PM Friday and Saturday, and Sunday by appointment. General store representing the 1800s to the present, with items made in Wheeling. Gift shop on-site. 

Former B&O Railroad Terminal

• 12 Toy and Train Museum, 144 Kruger St, ☏ +1 304-242-8133, toll-free: +1-877-242-8133. A restored Victorian-era schoolhouse with thousands of toys from dolls and dollhouses, to toy soldiers, trucks and cars, trains, planes and ships, Western toys, space toys, cartoon characters, ride-on toys and more. Interactive displays, operating O and HO gauge train layouts, a room dedicated to Ohio Valley history and culture, a restored railroad caboose, and a gift shop on-site. Guided and self-guided tours available. 
• 13 Point Overlook Museum, 989 Grandview St, ☏ +1 304-232-3010. Illustrates Wheeling's history with photographs, maps and illustrations. 
• Historic National Road. The nation's first federally-funded interstate highway, which began in Cumberland, Maryland and eventually reached Saint Louis Metro East in Illinois. The highway crosses the West Virginia panhandle from Little Wheeling Creek near Mt. Echo over Wheeling Island to the Ohio border. To drive it, follow the Historic Route 40 markers. 
• 14 Toy and Plastic Brick Museum. (updated Dec 2018)
• Mt. Wood House (The castle), Rt 40 East&West Acsessable on Mt. Wood Rd., just north on Stone Blvd. Open dawn to dusk. Mt. Wood Overlook is called "The Castle" by locals or "Stone House" to some people. It was going to be a house until the owner's wife had died so he was heartbroken and stopped building it and sold it to the city and opened it to the public. Free. 

Do

• 1 Capitol Music Hall, 1015 Main St, toll-free: +1-800-624-5456. A 1928 movie theatre - the oldest and largest in West Virginia - which is home to the second-oldest country music program in the country, Jamboree USA. Weekly country music shows on Saturday night, touring Broadway musicals. Dinner show packages available.  
• 2 Wheeling Symphony, 1025 Main Street, Suite 811, ☏ +1 304-232-6191, toll-free: +1-800-395-9241. Established in 1929, and today offering 11 concerts annually in their Masterworks series, Pops series, Symphony on Ice concert and free outdoor summer concerts. Tickets are $12-56 (student price $5), subscriptions are $93-218 (student price $15-218). 
• 3 Victoria Vaudeville Theatre, 1228 Market St, ☏ +1 304-233-7464, toll-free: +1-800-505-7464. Shows begin at 7PM on Saturday. Variety shows provided by local talent - including the Ohio City Revue, the Friendly City Band, and Elvis impersonator Earl Brown - in the restored Victoria Theatre.  
• 4 Wheeling Nailers, 1315 Main St, ☏ +1 304-234-4625. Part of the East Coast Hockey League, the Nailers play October through April at the WesBanco Arena in downtown Wheeling. The Nailers are the AA minor league affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers. Tickets start at only $10. 
• 5 Wheeling Island Hotel, Casino & Racetrack, 1 S Stone St, toll-free: +1-800-445-9475. On Wheeling Island, +1-877-WIN-HERE (946-4373; gaming center) or +1-877-WHEELING (943-3546; hotel reservations). Open 7AM to 4AM. Over 2,400 slot machines, multi-line nickel games, video lottery games including Keno, 20 poker tables, and greyhound racing. Four restaurants and hotel on-site.  
• Collect fossils. About 4½ miles northeast of Wheeling are a series of boulders from the Monongahela Group along Long Run, where late Pennsylvanian fossils can be found. The most common local fossil is the fern Pecopteris, but others include fish, the gymnosperm Cordaites, horsetails, the scale tree Lepidophyllum, and seed ferns. (updated Jun 2015)

Events

• Celtic Celebration, Artisan Center. Held during a weekend in early March. Music, dancing, crafts and food.
• African-American Jubilee, Wheeling waterfront. Held during the last weekend in June. African-American food, fashion show, live music, arts and crafts.
• Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival. Held during one weekend in late July. The largest Italian festival in West Virginia, and the third-largest in the country. Bocce tournament, pasta exhibit, wine competition and tasting, ethnic foods, arts and crafts, carnival midway, live entertainment. 
• Wheeling Heritage Port Sternwheel Festival. Wheeling riverfront. Held in mid-September. "Anything that Floats" raft race, food, live entertainment, children's playground, and lots of sternwheelers on display. 
• Oktoberfest, Artisan Center. Held in mid-September. German food, music, and lots of beer.
• OglebayFest, Oglebay Park. Held the first weekend in October. An artist's market with over 100 artisans, a harvest market offering West Virginia food products, chrysanthemum display, parade, fireworks display, live entertainment, dancing, juried arts and crafts show, home-cooked and ethnic foods, German Rathskeller and the Ohio County Fair.
• Winter Festival of Lights, Oglebay Resort & Conference Center. Held from early November through early January, from dusk to 11PM. One of America's largest light shows since 1985, with a three-mile drive covering around 125 acres. Trolley tours available.

Learn

• The local newspaper is The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register, 1500 Main Street, +1 304-233-0100 or +1-800-852-5475 (both local).
• Wheeling Jesuit University, 316 Washington Avenue, +1-800-624-6992. A Jesuit, Catholic, liberal arts university offering over 30 majors.

Buy

• Mountain Craft Shop Co., Proctor Creek Rd, Proctor, ☏ +1 304-455-3570, toll-free: +1-877-FOLKTOYS (36558697). Reproduction folk toys. 
• Thistle Dew Farm, Proctor Creek Rd, Proctor, ☏ +1 304-455-1728. Quality honey, beeswax, bee products and services, honey bee hives and equipment, bee shows and educational demos. 

Lost its appeal.

Shopping centers

• 1 Centre Market, 2200 Market St, ☏ +1 304-218-2525. Fresh food, gift shops, galleries, antiques and restaurants, housed in and around two market houses - an 1853 cast iron columned market house (the only one in the country) and an 1890 brick market house.  
• 2 Oglebay Park, ☏ +1 304-243-4000, toll-free: +1-800-624-6988. Route 88 N. Seven gift shops, including Carriage House Glass (the area's largest selection of West Virginia decorative glass), Gourmet in the Gardens (gourmet and regionally produced food products) and the Palm Room seasonal plants and fresh flowers, herbs and hanging baskets).  
• Artisan Center, 1400 Main St, ☏ +1 304-232-1810. A renovated building with a three-story atrium in downtown Wheeling, housing retail shops, galleries, historic exhibits, and working demonstrations by local artisans. 

Eat

• 1 Coleman's Fish Market, 22nd St and Market St in the Centre Market, ☏ +1 304-232-8510. Open Monday through Saturday. Fish, shrimp rolls, deviled crab, chicken, coleslaw and fries. Try the fish sandwich (fried fish on white bread) and clam strips. $2–3. 
• 2 Generations Pub, 338 National Rd, ☏ +1 304-232-7917. Popular local restaurant with live bands on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pasta, steak and seafood. (updated Nov 2016)
• 3 Michael's Beef House, 2200 Market St, ☏ +1 304-232-2231. Open Monday through Saturday. Old-fashioned meaty sandwiches (roast beef, ham, turkey, corned beef, pastrami, reuben and more). $2.50-3.50. (updated Nov 2016)
• 4 TJ's Sports Garden Restaurant, 808 National Rd, ☏ +1 304-232-9555. Su-Th 11AM-1AM, F Sa 11AM-2AM. Sports bar with a television at each booth. Appetizers, salads, sandwiches, beef, chicken, seafood, pasta, desserts. (updated Nov 2016)
• Undo's Family Ristorante, 753 Main St, Benwood, ☏ +1 304-233-0560. Authentic, homemade Italian food. Soups, steaks, chicken, seafood, pizzas. Try the escarole soup and veal osso buco. 
• 5 Ye Olde Alpha Restaurant, 50 Carmel Rd, ☏ +1 304-242-1090. Neighborhood restaurant since 1932. (updated Nov 2016)
• 6 Pizza Villa, 236 1/2 29th St, ☏ +1 304-233-1160. Open at 4PM. A unique crust loaded with toppings for a great price. Try the take n bake pizza that you can cook at home. (updated Nov 2016)

Sleep

Budget

• Comfort Inn Wheeling East, I-70 (exit 11) and Dallas Pike in Triadelphia, +1 304-547-0610. 106 rooms. Outdoor pool. Complimentary continental breakfast. Average price $44-70.
• Haven Inn, 302 Wheeling Ave, ☏ +1 304-845-2144. In Glen Dale. 
• New Vrindaban Guest House, ☏ +1 304-843-1600 ext 11. Palace Road off US-250. Open April through November. 38 rooms, temple guest rooms, and 12 cottages. Buffet breakfasts, lunches and dinners available. Rooms and guest rooms are $30 peak season, $15 off-season; cottages are $125 - 150 excluding holidays. 

Mid-range

• Hampton Inn Wheeling, 795 National Rd, ☏ +1 304-233-0440. 104 rooms. Outdoor garden, exercise facility. Complimentary breakfast bar and USA Today. $84 - $115. 
• McClure House Hotel and Conference Center, 1200 Market St, ☏ +1 304-232-0300, toll-free: +1-800-862-5873. 170 rooms. From $61. 
• Super 8 Motel, 2400 National Rd, ☏ +1 304-243-9400, toll-free: +1-800-800-8000. 55 rooms. Exercise room. Complimentary continental breakfast. Average price $60 - 73. 

Splurge

• 1 Oglebay Resort & Conference Center, 465 Lodge Dr, ☏ +1 877-436-1797. 212 rooms and 49 cottages. Indoor pool, outdoor pool at Oglebay, jacuzzi, sauna, fitness room, Wolff tanning bed, massage therapy, golf club with driving range. Four restaurants on-site. Complimentary newspaper. Packages include Mountaineer Buffet Breakfast. $135 - 275 peak season, $99 - 170 off-season. (updated Nov 2016)
• 2 Wheeling Island Resort, 1 S Stone St, ☏ +1 304-232-5050, toll-free: +1-877-WHEELING (94335464). 151 rooms. Island-themed rooms with marble showers. 9 2-room suites and first-class end suites available. Fitness center. Breakfast-in-bed room service available. On-site casino, racetrack and restaurant called The Pointe. $95 - 110 room, $135 - 165 suites. (updated Nov 2016)

Bed and Breakfasts

• Bonnie Dwaine Bed and Breakfast, 505 Wheeling Ave, ☏ +1 304-845-7250, toll-free: +1-888-507-4569. In Glen Dale. 5 rooms. Fireplace, whirlpool tub. Gourmet candlelight breakfasts. $89 - 125. 

Go next

Cities

• Weirton is about 45 minutes north on OH-7.
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is about 1 hour east on I-70 and I-79.
• Fairmont is about 1½ hours southeast on I-70 and I-79, or almost 2 hours if you follow US-250.
• Parkersburg is about 2 hours southwest on I-70 and I-77, or a little over 2 hours if you follow WV-2.
• Columbus, Ohio is about 2 hours west on I-70.

Routes through Wheeling

Columbus ← St. Clairsville ←	W  E	→ Washington → Pittsburgh via
New Philadelphia ← Jct W E ←	N  S	→ Moundsville → Fairmont