Category Archives: Warwood West Virginia
WHEELING RETAIL GROCERS 1820 – 1920 by John Bowman
Today, Wheeling has Kroger and a Riesbeck’s Food Market, Sav-A-Lot, and a few convenient Convenience Stores where one buys groceries. Maybe today, that is enough stores to fill the need, but it wasn’t always so. A timely trend may be that you make your order from one of these stores and it will be delivered […]
Read MoreWHEELING ICE MAKING AND ICEBOXES by John Bowman
A listing for Ice in Wheeling finds ‘Louis Niebergall Ice Co., Inc.’ 4419 Eoff Street, Wheeling, WV. Over 100 years ago, in 1894, there was a listing: Louis Niebergall manufacturers “Pure Crystal Ice” at 4400 Water Street, Wheeling. The Ice plant has a capacity of 25 tons per day. We know we can find Ice […]
Read MoreWHEELING’S FIRST TELEPHONE 1879 by John Bowman
The TELEPHONE, A device nearly everyone everyday has in their hand, but this was the first telephone in Wheeling, West Virginia. In 1879, a telephone line connecting two telephones was strung between the H.F. Behrens Co. grocery store at 2217 Market Street and their warehouse at 2219 Market Street. The novel invention, then just three […]
Read MoreWHEELING STEEL CORP. TOWBOAT FLEET by John Bowman
WHEELING STEEL CORP. – WHEELING-PITTSBURG STEEL CORP. WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA WHEELING STEEL & IRON CO. was formed by the consolidation of the Benwood, Belmont and Top Mills, and was incorporated April 16, 1892 as the Wheeling Steel Works. Wheeling Steel’s plants in Wheeling in the early 1900s were the La Belle Works at Thirty-First Street, […]
Read MoreSTEAMBOATS SERVING WHEELING 1811 – 1920 By John Bowman
A 100-year listing of approximately 500 steamboats that served Wheeling businesses. The year shown is the first year they served the port and some would serve Wheeling for many years. From the Civil War years to 1900, eighteen steamboats docked daily at Wheeling. Steamboats porting at Wheeling were charged a wharfage fee of $3.00 per […]
Read MoreWHEELING’S FIRST OHIO RIVER FERRY BOATS and LAST 1789 – 1926 by John Bowman
Many of us cross the Ohio River daily, giving hardly a thought if any, to the crossing or to the bridge we used. However, to cross the river two-hundred years ago was something one had to plan and ferryboats were the means one used. Crossing the river on a ferry was costly, and it took […]
Read MoreBOOKS by WHEELING AUTHOR John Bowman
John Bowman Author, Historian, West Virginia History Hero and Steamboat Model Builder. John’s writings concentrate on Wheeling’s boat history. Wheeling began building boats, Barges, Bateaux, Flatboats, Keelboats, and Pirogues in 1774, the first Ohio River city to build boats, and the third settlement on the ‘Western Rivers’ to have a boat building industry. ‘Western Rivers’ […]
Read MoreCAPT. JACK LOOMIS TOWBOAT
CAPT. JACK LOOMIS Towboat Authentic Scale Model Replica by John Bowman In 1934, Dravo Corporation, Neville Island, Pennsylvania built the steel-hulled towboat Peace, hull number 1163 for Union Barge Line Corp. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which was delivered in October of 1934. She was powered by two Winton diesels, which developed 750-hp. She was later re-powered […]
Read MoreNAIL CITY TOWBOAT with COAL BARGE
NAIL CITY With Coal Barge Model by John Bowman Authentic Scale Model Replica of the NAIL CITY Steam-Towboat The Steam-powered Towboat “NAIL CITY” was built in the Nail City; Wheeling, West Virginia in 1872 for Ed Hobbs of “Hobbs, Taylor & Company” by the shipyard of “Wilson, Dunlevy & Wheeler”. This was probably the last […]
Read MoreCOSTANZO TOWBOAT
COSTANZO Towboat Authentic Sternwheel Towboat Model by John Bowman 2014 The towboat Costanzo was originally, the stern-wheel towboat A.R. Budd built for Capt. J.M. Hammitt of the Budd Coal Co. at his Marietta boat yard in 1906. A.R. Budd was traded to Frank Costanzo, owner of the Richland and Costanzo Coal Co. Wheeling, (Warwood and […]
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