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My trips on County Road in Hancock County recently have been difficult. I think most folks who have to drive toward New Cumberland in the past few weeks have encountered the folks cutting trees along Route 2. Although it's important to do, the delays have been inconvenient. I am amazed, though, how the tree cutters can use their equipment to cut such high trees with such precision. Waiting in the traffic along the road has given me time to think about the history of that particular stretch of pavement. I consider that stretch from the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and County Road in Weirton through New Cumberland as one of the most changed areas of community.
Along County Road going south from New Cumberland, there are many cool sites to see. It's hard to see in the summer, but in the winter when the leaves are off the trees, one can see foundations and walls in the woods on the hillside. This is what is left of the community of Zalia, a small community nestled between the hill and the river. I won't get into this history here because my friends and fellow historians Tom Zielinsky and George Hines wrote a fantastic book on the subject. If you are interested in the history of the community, I would encourage you to read about this lost piece of history.
Along the road to Weirton, there is the area to the left known as Kings Creek bowl. I never knew much about this area, but I was told as a youngster that traveling groups of people known in the early 20th century as gypsies, would camp here and would occasionally bury money in secret places. I always daydreamed about getting lucky and finding a hoard of coins in an old, buried mason jar. No such luck yet. I think the most impacted stretch along the road is the area of North Weirton. As one travels up County Road, there are still some homes on the right, but at one time this area was a bustling neighborhood with homes, churches, businesses and schools. This area is where Weirton started, after all.
When E.T. Weir came to the valley from Clarksburg in 1909 and set up his mill, a town quickly followed. Roads, homes, shops and the like were quickly built along the hillside. One of my favorite pictures of early Weirton is a photograph of Oliver S. Marshall standing at the top of Avenue B at the intersection of County Road. Marshall was a lawyer and one of our state senators from New Cumberland. He was 15 when the Civil War ended, and that experience followed him into public service. His home now is the Hancock County Museum. In the picture, Marshall is standing in the intersection, with homes to his right and businesses to his left. In the background, the new mills of Weirton Steel loom large behind him. Today, there is nothing left of that scene but the streets.
At the intersection of County Road and Avenue F, there were once two important buildings. The first, on the mill side was Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Church, and on the other was Weirton Elementary. Both buildings played important roles in the history of our early town. Specifically, for me, the church was important to my father's family. This building was the religious home of the Polish Catholic families of Weirton and was a center of that community. There was a school that was adjacent to the church and many from our community attended. Although the school and church were demolished in the late 1960s, I feel like I remember them myself. Many of the stories I have heard from my father usually started with his time at Sacred Heart on Avenue F.
Close to Pennsylvania Avenue, there was St. Paul's Church and school. This building was a landmark on County Road and Crawford Avenue. Today, there is just one small part of the wall from the front of this building still standing. This place is important to me as my grandparents were married in this church in 1948.
Finally, close to the corner of City Street and the current Steelworkers Memorial, is the Weirton City Building. At the time of this writing though, the building was actively being torn down. This building was built in 1936 and was a survivor of a time when the North End of Weirton was a busy place.
Doing a quick search of the historical record shows that this building was a hub of community meetings and activities in the early days of our community. It was the home of the city of Weirton when it was incorporated in 1947, 77 years ago. Tom Millsop was elected the first mayor and based his operations from this building. Later it was the police and fire station along with other city offices. I was only there once with my father when he had to pick up his safety glasses when it was the Weirton Steel Optical Department.
At one time there was also an old barn built of cut stone located directly behind the city building. This barn served as the city garage and was built sometime around 1860 for the Crawford family farm. It was said that there was a tunnel between this building and the main farmhouse for use on the Underground Railroad. There was evidence of the tunnel, although decedents of the Crawfords have denied the claim. Mr. Crawford did not serve in the Civil War but did head up the local home guard in our area. This was a group of men who did not join up with the Army and could defend the area from enemy attack, in this case the Confederates. It was said that Crawford marched and drilled in the front lawn of his home near the old barn. It's cool to think that this little bit of space has so much history for our town. Soon the city building will be a memory, joining the other buildings and sites that have come and gone from our landscape. I know as I travel County Road I am reminded of all the things that have been there and are no longer here, and that doesn't make them less important now that those physical spaces are now memories. I am blessed to share those stories with my family, friends and all of you dear readers. I hope you do the same with those you treasure, too.
(Zuros is a historian and an Ohio Valley native.)