Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.
Heavy Traffic
Photographer: Allen C. Browne
Taken: December 30, 2013
Caption: Heavy Traffic
Additional Description: ❷ The Wheeling Wharf was an important stop along the Ohio River freight routes. At one time more cargo passed by Wheeling along the Ohio than any cargo that went through the Panama Canal. By the mid-1800s, three million people traveled the Ohio River annually. An account from the 1870s stated that one could regularly see fifty to seventy steamers leaving and passing Wheeling Wharf. An example of how powerful the Wheeling river trade had become was that by 1871 the total tonnage of the ships to be taxed was 116 vessels aggregating over 12,000 tons, growing to 445 vessels aggregating 35, 856 tons by 1878. Today, Wheeling sees approximately 42, 000,000 tons of cargo per year pass the Heritage Port, site of the former Wheeling Wharf.
Close-up of photo on marker

Submitted: January 5, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p263780
File Size: 1.434 Megabytes

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