Wheeling Stone Arch Bridge

Gallery

Further Reading

• Placing the Keystone Over the Place of the Skull: Wheeling’s Main Street Stone Arch Bridge: Hidden in Plain Sight from Archiving Wheeling
• Wheeling Stone Arch Bridge from the Historic American Engineering Record – Library of Congress

Designed by F. L. Hoge and A. L. White to replace a collapsed bridge, the construction of the stone arch crossing began by Paige, Carey & Company of New York City on November 3, 1891. ¹ To build the arch, a temporary wooden arch consisting of 250,000 feet of lumber was erected to serve as a foundation to support the stones used to construct the permanent arch superstructure. ^{1 2} The 771 rocks used in the construction were quarried and cut at 29th and Eoff Streets.

Shortly after the keystone was placed on December 18, ¹ the timber frame was removed and the bridge opened to traffic in early 1892. ² At 159 feet in length, it was the longest single-span stone arch bridge in the country.