Super Bowl V MVP Chuck Howley grew up right here in Warwood! He was born in 1936 and lived at this beautiful Colonial Revival home. Howley garnered national attention as a linebacker for the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys, but he began his football career at Warwood High School and West Virginia University. He remains the only athlete in WVU history to letter in five sports and the only player awarded the Super Bowl MVP from the losing team.
This Queen Anne house was the childhood home for Eleanor Steber, a world-renowned opera singer at the Metropolitan Opera. Born in 1914 on 33rd and Eoff Street, her family moved to Warwood when her father, William Steber, became president at the Bank of Warwood. After graduating from Warwood High School and Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music, she starred at the Met in New York City. As a soprano, she gave over 400 performances, including 50 lead roles, over 22 years. She died in 1990 and is buried at Wheeling’s Greenwood Cemetery.
The Queen Anne home was constructed in 1906 by Wheeling architect Joseph Leiner for Charles H. Dowler and his family. Dowler was a prominent figure in Warwood, having served as an owner of the Warwood Land Company, the second mayor of Warwood, city manager, and the second CEO for the First Bank of Warwood. The home features eighteen rooms, a four-story turret, interior oak detailing, a 500 square-foot wrap around veranda with two porches, forty-six windows, and a 1 ½-story carriage house. The maple tree and four sycamores were planted on the property in 1907 and protect the house from heat and cold. The retaining wall was built in 1928 when the city widened Warwood Avenue for two lane traffic. This is a private home and not open to the general public.
To prepare for the factory’s relocation, the Warwood Tool Company built several company homes in 1904 on N. 18th Street and N. 19th Street, including this one. The first person to live in this Dutch Colonial Revival-style house was John A. Moore, who was the secretary (and later manager) of the company. Two additional houses were built for J.W. Bumgartner, the company’s superintendent, and Fred Reese, the manager of the forge shop; the last house was built as a company office.
Built in 1918, this beautiful, stately red brick house belonged to one of the first families in Warwood. In 1864, Casper and George Dorsch purchased 130 acres in Warwood that extended from the top of the hill, to the Ohio River, to 13th Street, to the alley between 10th and 11th Street. They farmed the land until it was turned into city lots. Casper’s palatial white brick house, built around the same time, stood next door until 1969, when it was razed and replaced with the Garden Park Terrace apartments the following year. These two homes were “the first show places of grandeur in Warwood”. Each home was constructed to compliment the beauty of the land, with the tree-covered hill as its backdrop.
The Lasch House stands tall representing one of the earliest families in Warwood. Conrad Lasch, a Wheeling Island resident, was born in 1857 to German-born parents, Jacob Lasch Sr. and Katrine Lasch. He bought land in Glenova (now Warwood) from his brother, Jacob Lasch Jr., on March 6, 1894. His property ran from “the hilltop” to the Ohio River, and from what is now 6th Street to 8th Street. Conrad Lasch and his wife, Julia Klebe Lasch, built their home and raised their eight children at what is now 603 Warwood Avenue. His land west of Warwood Avenue was used for farming, while the rest was used for pastures. His son, Albert Lasch, was a notable florist in Warwood and ran his business on the property from 1907 to 1973.
These two Tudor Revival-style houses were built in 1914 and designated for the six appointed lockmasters for the Ohio River Lock & Dam #12. The dam, located near the houses, was completed in 1916 and stood until 1975. Its replacement, the Pike Island Lock & Dam, was completed in 1963 and is located just north of Warwood.
Mt. Wood Castle, also known as Wheeling Castle, is located across the street from the historic Mt. Wood Cemetery. Though it is now a popular site for vandalism, the site was intended to be the extravagant home of a local doctor. The unfinished structure was owned by the disgraced doctor, Andrew J. Harness. Construction of the castle was abandoned after his 1925 arrest for selling substances like cocaine and morphine in violation of the 1914 Harrison Act. The Mt. Wood Cemetery is the oldest surviving cemetery in Wheeling and was established in 1848. The cemetery was falling into disrepair and like the castle was often vandalized until a volunteer effort began to restore the grounds in 2013.
Built in 1891 by George W. Eckhart, the Eckhart House was considered to be representative of Wheeling's progress during America's Gilded Age. The house is a 3-story, red brick Queen Anne building. An October 29, 1891, edition of the Wheeling Intelligencer, listed the house as one of the residential building achievements of the year with tasteful architecture that "has thoroughly impressed everybody who gets about over town much." Today, the Eckhart House includes a Gift Shop, Tea Room (available for afternoon Teas, children's tea parties and special events) and House Tour.
Home of notable businessman Robert C. Woods, this Greek Revival house was built in the 1800s prior to the construction of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge. At various times, this building was owned by three prominent businessmen in Wheeling, West Virginia. The Robert C. Woods House is one of the only standing buildings in the city that was constructed prior to the 1849 suspension bridge, and although the exterior and interior have been altered, many of the original details can still be seen. Today the house is a private drinking club, the West Virginia Snakes Club Inc.
The Mother Jones House, a partnership between Wheeling Jesuit University and Laughlin Memorial Chapel, was an intentional Christian service community of Wheeling Jesuit students. It is named after well-known labor leader Mary Harris Jones.
This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.
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This tour guides users through a wide variety of architectural styles and historic homes in the Wheeling area. From founders to football legends, disgraced doctors to titans of industry, meet the individuals who shaped Wheeling's architectural and cultural fabric.
