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City-County Building

Places of Wheeling Icon
 â–¶  WHEELING HISTORY  â–¶  PLACES  â–¶  GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC SERVICE

â–¼ City-County Building Quick Links

 â–¼ History  |  â–¼ Location   |   â–¼ Images   |   â–¼ Additional Resources 

The City Hall and County Court House Building in Wheeling

Originally built as the State Capitol in 1875-76, the building at the corner of 16th and Chapline became the Wheeling City Hall and Ohio County Court House building when the West Virginia state capital permanently moved to Charleston in 1885.

-from The WPA Guide, "WEST VIRGINIA: A Guide to the Mountian State," 1941, pg. 286

The CITY-COUNTY BUILDING, Chapline St. between 15th and 16 Sts., is a massive red brick building of Romanesque design, trimmed with gray limestone. Above a central unit rises a square three-story bell and clock tower. The four corners of the north and south wings are surmounted by squat, domed towers. The building, designed by J. S. Fairfax, was erected in 1876 by citizens of Wheeling and donated to the State as a capitol, but it reverted to the city in 1885 when the capital was moved to Charleston.

A granite MONUMENT TO SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE CIVIL WAR stands on the southwest corner of the grounds... On the northeast corner is the TRADES AND LABOR MONUMENT, erected by employees of the Pollack Tobacco Company in honor of Augustus Pollack, one of the first tobacco manufacturers in Wheeling and a supporter of organized labor... THE PAXTON FOUNTAIN, in front of the main entrance, was given to the city by James W. Paxton in 1878.

The city-county building was eventually deemed archaic and was itself torn down in 1956 in favor of a more modern building built upon the same site. The cornerstone for the new building was laid in 1958 and dedicated January 30, 1960. 

 Location

â–¶ East side of Chapline Street from 15th to 16th Streets (where current City-County Building is located)

Images

City-County Building

Additional Resources

Materials in the Library:
â–¶ Vertical File: City-County Building, Wheeling Room, non-circulating, ask for access at Reference Desk.
â–¶ Archives Vertical File: City-County Building, please call 304-232-0244 to make an appointment or ask at reference desk.
â–¶Archives Collection: Upper Ohio Valley Historical Records, 1948-1958, Box 1 (contains information about material included in the cornerstone); please call 304-232-0244 to make an appointment or ask at reference desk.

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