Wheeling

Fort Henry Memorial Monument

Monument · Near Heritage Port, Wheeling, WV 26003

A historical marker and small memorial commemorating Fort Henry and the 1782 siege stands in the Wheeling area near the original fort site. The monument recognizes Wheeling's place in Revolutionary War history as the site of the war's last land battle and honors the garrison that held the frontier line. Local historical societies have maintained interpretation of this site as a way of keeping the frontier dimension of the Revolution visible in American memory.

Fort Henry Site (Wheeling Heritage Port Area)

Battlefield · Heritage Port, Wheeling, WV 26003

Fort Henry was constructed in 1774 on a hill above the Ohio River at the site of Ebenezer Zane's settlement. It was the westernmost Virginia fort on the upper Ohio and the anchor of frontier defense for the region throughout the Revolution. The fort endured two sieges — in September 1777 and September 1782. The 1782 siege is recognized as the last land battle of the Revolutionary War. The site is within the modern Wheeling Heritage Port area; a historical marker commemorates the fort's location near the riverfront.

Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex (Moundsville, WV)

Landmark · 801 Jefferson Ave, Moundsville, WV 26041

Located nine miles south of Wheeling in Moundsville, the Grave Creek Mound is one of the largest Adena burial mounds in North America, built around 250–150 BC. During the Revolution, the mound was a recognized landmark that settlers and military commanders used for orientation in the upper Ohio Valley. Its presence reminded all parties — American, British, and Native — that the Ohio Valley had been home to complex civilizations long before European contact. The adjacent Delf Norona Museum interprets the mound and its context.

Ohio River Landing and Heritage Port

Landmark · Heritage Port, Wheeling, WV 26003

The Ohio River at Wheeling was the strategic reality that determined why a fort was built here. Whoever controlled this stretch of river controlled movement between Virginia and the interior. During the Revolution, the Ohio River was simultaneously a supply route, a military highway, and a contested boundary between American settlement and Native-held territory. The modern Heritage Port area preserves access to the riverfront and interprets Wheeling's frontier history.

Wheeling Creek Confluence

Landmark · Wheeling Creek at Ohio River, Wheeling, WV 26003

Wheeling Creek flows into the Ohio River just south of the original Fort Henry site. The creek valley provided the primary approach route from the Virginia interior toward the fort and was the path along which settler families fleeing raids sought refuge. During the 1777 siege, families caught outside the fort were killed or captured in the settlements along the creek. The confluence remains visible today as a geographic feature that shaped all movement in and out of the original settlement.

West Virginia Independence Hall

Government · 1528 Market St, Wheeling, WV 26003

While constructed in 1859 as the Wheeling Custom House, this building served as the site of the Wheeling Conventions of 1861 that created the state of West Virginia during the Civil War. Its location at the heart of Wheeling connects the town's Revolutionary-era role as a frontier Virginia garrison to its later significance as the birthplace of a new state. The building is now a National Park Service site and museum interpreting both the Civil War and the broader history of Wheeling.

Zane Grey Birthplace and Museum (Zanesville, OH — regional connection)

Museum · 135 Jefferson St, Zanesville, OH 43701

Pearl Zane Grey, great-grandnephew of Ebenezer Zane, was born in Zanesville, Ohio — a town Ebenezer Zane founded at the end of Zane's Trace. Zane Grey's 1903 novel Betty Zane was the first of his western novels and drew directly on family oral tradition about the 1782 siege of Fort Henry. Though the museum is in Zanesville, its content is inseparable from Wheeling's Revolutionary history. It preserves the literary transmission of the Betty Zane legend and Zane family frontier history.