Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Wheeling Freight Station, Fourteenth & South Streets, Wheeling, Ohio County, WV
Summary
Significance: Built in 1852, the Wheeling Freight Depot, and the passenger depot which once stood adjacent to it, formed the first terminus of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad on the Ohio River. Indeed, the B&O was the first railroad to reach that river and gain access to its thriving commercial traffic, thereby linking the Eastern seaboard to the entire Mississippi valley. The same engineering skill which enabled the builders of this railroad to surmount the formidable obstacles of the Allegheny Mountains is also evident in the construction of this building. The composite timber, wrought- and cast-iron trusses of the shed roof span a distance of 90 feet with amazing lightness and are one of the best remaining examples of the early use of structural iron in American architecture.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-10
Survey number: HAER WV-3
Building/structure dates: 1852 Initial Construction
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