Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged barges, Canon SX50, Ohio River, West Virginia, Wheeling, Wheeling WV on March 1, 2017| 3 Comments »
I’d never before seen river barges, so it was pretty cool to watch these ones moving along the Ohio River in Wheeling, West Virginia during my brief trip there last month. I never realized that barges are pushed from behind rather than pulled from the front. How in the world are they able to steer?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Landscape, Travel, Urban, tagged B&O Railroad, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Bell Telephone, Canon SX50, Marsh Wheeling Stogies, West Virginia, Wheeling, Wheeling WV on February 22, 2017| 5 Comments »
During my recent trip to Wheeling, West Virginia, I repeatedly encountered symbols of the town’s glorious past. Trains no longer run to the historic Baltimore and Ohio train station. The beautiful building has now been converted for use by West Virginia Northern Community College.
A prominent sign indicates the availability of the buildings of Marsh Wheeling Stogies. Could this possibly be a reference to cigars? As I did a little research, I learned that Mifflin M. Marsh began producing cigars in Wheeling in 1840. His cheap cigars were favored by the drivers of the Conestoga wagons that carried pioneers West and “stogies” are a shortened version of the wagon’s name. According to the website Archiving Wheeling, in 1877 almost 24 million cigars were sold in Wheeling. In 2001, the plant was closed after Marsh Wheeling was bought by National Cigar.
I suppose that Verizon now owns the Bell Telephone building in Wheeling, but Verizon is definitely not know for having buildings as interesting and beautiful as this one.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 