Sidewheel Packet Chesapeake

The sidewheeler "Chesapeake," built in 1871 at Ironton, Ohio.

State officials arrived in Wheeling on the Chesapeake, May 23rd, 1875 when the State Capital was moved from Charleston to Wheeling. In the 1880s she was purchased by Steve Ball of Wheeling, and operated in the Wheeling-Marietta trade, with Capt. Steve Thompson, master. Ironically, state officials also departed Wheeling on the Chesapeake when the State Capital returned to Charleston, May 2, 1885.

Two years later, in 1887, the Chesapeake sank at Pittsburgh. 
 

Articles

▶ The Chesapeake Launched, 1883, Wheeling Intelligencer, July 10, 1883.
▶ The Capitals and Capitols of West Virginia, West Virginia Legislative Hand Book and Manual and Official Register (West Virginia Blue Book),” 1922.

Image