West Virginia - Day 25 - far northern WV

Tomlinson Run State Park, New Manchester
Thursday, 25 April 2019

When I walked the dogs right before leaving last night's campground, I got a photo of a sweet little waterfall in the creek that gives Creekside Camping its name.

The hillside was nearly carpeted in those tiny blue wildflowers.  I'm seeing them everywhere.  You can see that this far north the trees aren't all budded out yet, but spring's well underway.

today's route

I'd wanted to spend some time in Wheeling, as there are several places I've been wanting to see.  For instance, Wheeling used to be the state capital and that building is still there.  Also there's a place known as the West Virginia Independence Hall that has a museum I wanted to visit.  But the weather was looking drizzly and grey and I was getting too tired to tackle a large town without more preparation - and I haven't had internet access in the last 2 campgrounds.  So I decided to head on north.  Today we went into that little narrow neck that's known as WV's Northern Panhandle.

First, I passed through a part of north Wheeling that was a step back in time to the Victorian era.  Block after block of beautiful old houses, some shabby but others just lovely.  According to this website, the neighborhood has more Victorian architecture than anywhere in the US.   www.onlyinyourstate.com/west-virginia  It was a complete surprise to me and I kept holding up traffic while I gawked.

Pike Island Locks - WV is on the left

I passed something labeled only Pike Island that looked like a hydroelectric site to me and found when I looked it up that I wasn't so far off.  It's the Pike Island Locks and Dam, a Corps of Engineers project that doesn't include power generation but does provide part of the municipal water supply.

I continue to be impressed with the Ohio River, which never seems to get any smaller as I drive along.  I finally looked it up and realized that I'd forgotten I watched it being formed.  When I visited Pittsburgh, I saw the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join and create the Ohio River.  From there it flows 1,000 miles through 6 states and drains 190,000 square miles of area from 15 states.  By the time it ends, the Ohio is actually larger than the Mississippi River where they join.

On the other hand, I was right to wonder about pollution: as a whole the Ohio is ranked as the most polluted river in the United States.  That ain't no way to treat a lady.

I passed a number of historical markers: one for Beech Bottom Fort, which was part of the defenses during the Revolutionary War; one to mark where George Washington crossed the Ohio River in 1770; one for Brickyard Bend of the river: 

Named by boat captains for many brick works shipping from area. John Gamble first mined clay in 1839; James Porter had first brick works in 1832. By 1844, five works produced 1.5 million bricks. Later, some 20 plants: including Captain John Porter, Clifton, Mack and Cresent, using local clay, gas and coal, and hundreds of workers, produced millions of bricks yearly. First shipped on the Ohio River after 1886 also by Pennsylvania Railroad.

I've been thinking as I went through some of these tiny towns that they were reminding me of the mill towns I was seeing in PA and New England, and sure enough I passed a historical marker that listed four mills that had been built just in this one area: Nesselroad's powder mill 1795-1801; Hartford's grist mill early 1800s; Swearingen's grist mill 1823; Eaton's saw mill 1823.  Not quite the same as the textile mills I was seeing farther northeast, but they would have provided some jobs in those early years.

I passed a plant for ArcelorMittal, which claims to be the world's largest steel producer; their plant in Weirton WV is, they say, their premier tin plate operation.

I just missed the annual memorial service held in the memory of steelworkers who died at the local steel mill.  There were about 120 deaths over a 100-year period; the last was in 1999 so they seem to be improving their safety record.

I passed the Mountaineer Casino, one of five in West Virginia.  It's clear they're trying everything they can think of to diversify their economy.

Because it was still morning when I passed the turnoff to the campground, I continued along Route 2 to Chester, WV's northernmost town.  A few miles west of it is Newell, home of the Homer Laughlin China Co., makers of world famous Fiestaware.  Of course I had to stop.  I'd hoped to take a tour but learned they only have those on Tuesday and Friday; today being Thursday I looked around the display room instead.

2 sizes of pitchers; many bowl sizes

more bowls, salt/pepper shakers

Most of what was in the display room was Fiestaware - many styles I hadn't seen in stores and all at discounted prices.

And a wide selection of pet supplies.

there was a whole other display, too

But Fiestaware is only one of the company's products.  They make china that's used in restaurants all over the world.  In one of the side rooms, I saw many patterns I recognized.

huge bins all over a huge room

I was afraid to breathe around these stacks

and more patterns

restaurant ware

I tried to enhance this photo so you could see the pattern, which I recognize well

Two enormous side rooms off the display rooms - one is where I took these photos, and these are only a very few of the bins there.  There weren't any signs or prices, but I saw people in there pushing shopping carts, so apparently these things were for sale.  The other side room is labeled as seconds, and there are price lists posted there showing about 50% discounts on store prices because they are, after all, seconds.

After this intro, I decided to come back tomorrow for the tour.

From there, we went to the campground where the ranger assured me I'd never be able to get an Internet signal.  Very disheartening because it's still 5 days till the end of the month and I was tired of looking for a campground where I could rest and catch up.  But I guess the ranger was using the wrong provider because my little hot spot got a good signal right away.  I found a nice campsite, they only charged me $26, and I decided to spend the rest of the month here.