Most books about Wheeling and the Upper Ohio Valley focus only on particular periods. Wheeling: A Brief History differs in being an accessible survey of the city s nearly 250-year existence. It not only narrates Wheeling's rise from frontier outpost in the late 18th century to wealthy industrial center in the 20th, but brings the subject up-to-date with analysis of the economic decline that plagues such American communities in the early 21st. George Fetherling puts Wheeling's history in the context of larger forces at work in the world. He shows how indigenous culture, European colonialism, the Industrial Revolution, slavery, organized labor and mass immigration all shaped the identity of West Virginia's "only experiment in urban living." It is a colorful story graphically told, replete with warriors, politicians, entrepreneurs, gangsters, and humanitarians.
Used availability for George Fetherling's Wheeling