Wheeling in the 20th Century
by
Book Details
About the Book
Within the context of a laissez-faire, urban economy
and ineffective city planning, Wheeling’s early economic growth, decline, and
attempts at revival are highlighted in this survey of West Virginia’s first
capitol. Wheeling’s early diversified
and manufacturing economy is discussed within the framework of the nail, steel,
glass, tobacco, and brewery industries.
Reasons for their demise and the city’s subsequent decline are
offered. Alongside the economic swings,
Wheeling’s attempts to deal with the problems of pollution, housing, city
parks, and downtown revitalization receive treatment.
Chapters on music and entertainment, parks, and the
city’s sporting life of prostitution, gambling, and illegal liquor demonstrate
Wheeling’s diversified and colorful early 20th century past. As the city attempted revival in the 1950s
and 1970s, Wheeling’s love-hate relationship with the federal urban renewal
program is explored. Missed
opportunities have characterized much of Wheeling’s past, and attempts in the
late 20th century to overcome its economic stumbles round out this
brief history.
About the Author
Author of Charleston (West Virginia) in the 20th
Century, Tom Dunham, graduated from West Virginia University’s graduate school,
and has worked as a librarian in West Virginia and a reporter elsewhere. For a number of years, he edited the
Highlands Voice, a West Virginia environmental publication. He has also contributed a selection to a
history of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.