(rshsdepot) B&O 'Last Spike' 150 Years Ago Today

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Railroad Anniversary Observed

By MICHELLE BLUM


While area residents are making final preparations to observe Christmas,
today marks an important anniversary in the area's transportation history.

The last spike completing the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was struck at 5:20
p.m. Dec. 24, 1852, 150 years ago today, at Roseby's Rock in Marshall
County, connecting Wheeling to Cumberland, Md. and points east.
The B&O was chartered by the Maryland Legislature in 1827, while Virginia's
legislators granted the right of way "through her territory to the Ohio
River," according to the 1851 Wheeling City Directory.

In 1836, Pennsylvania "came in as a competitor and granted the right to
extend the road through the state with the proviso that it, or a branch
thereof, should terminate at Pittsburgh."

Plans called for the B&O to reach both Pittsburgh and Wheeling, with the
branch to Pittsburgh to be constructed through "the ravines of the
Youghigheny and Monongahela rivers and another to Wheeling by way of
Connellsville, Brownsville, Ten-Mile Hill, and Wheeling Creek."

The railroad did not reach Cumberland, Md. until the fall of 1842 but by
then, Pennsylvania's law calling for it to extend to Pittsburgh had expired.
The legislation was not renewed. At the same time, the Virginia Legislature
"promptly granted the right of way to Wheeling but expressly forbid the
selection by the company of any terminus south" of Wheeling.

While work continued from the east, a primitive-looking engine was brought
to Wheeling on the Ohio River from Pittsburgh. With it, track was laid to
the south over several hills.

At the same time, a highway, now known as U.S. 250, was being constructed
from Fairmont to Littleton, following several ridges to Moundsville and then
to Wheeling. The road's route was very similar to that taken by the
railroad.

In early December 1852, a temporary trestle bridge was being constructed on
Wheeling Creek as the engine, called "the Grasshopper," was 8 miles south of
town. Crews laying rails and cross ties went ahead of the engine, published
reports indicate.

As crews reached Loudensinger's, now Loudenville, W.Va., Chief Engineer
Benjamin Latrobe surmised that the rift between the two crews should be
closed "a day or two before Christmas, leaving the week between that and New
Year as a margin for contingencies."

One crew working under Superintendent R. Cass Jr. moving north and another
moving south reached a point in an isolated spot in the valley of Grave
Creek about 18 miles below Wheeling. It was near a natural block of stone
that was described at the time as being "about the size of a small house."

John Teigmeirr, assistant road master, drove the last spike at Roseby's Rock
with Roseberry Carr, general superintendent, and his son, who was not
identified in an early 20th century newspaper account of the railroad's 75th
anniversary, also on hand.

A man identified in the article only as "Mr. Bender," who was divisional
engineer, and "possibly 300 section men and laborers who toasted the
completion of their handiwork" were on hand, the article indicates.

Carr commemorated the occasion by noting, "We have laid the last rail of the
long line of railroad which connects the Chesapeake Bay and the banks of the
Ohio and I call upon all to give three hearty cheers for our President
Thomas Swann (of the B&O Railroad) and three more for our Chief Engineer
Benjamin Latrobe."

Freight was "at once" brought in small quantities through to Wheeling,
according to the article. A temporary shed and platform was constructed on
Water Street near the banks of Wheeling Creek. A larger depot was built
there later. And in the early 20th century, a still larger depot was
constructed on Wheeling Creek between Market and Chapline streets. The
building now serves as West Virginia Northern Community College's B&O
Building.

The first passenger trains arrived at midnight on Jan. 13, 1853, with a
grand celebration held at the McLure Hotel, now known as the Ramada Plaza
City Center Hotel.

A Dec. 31, 1919 obituary for John Monohan, a veteran B&O Railroad watchman,
noted the South Wheeling man was on hand when the last spike was driven at
Roseby's Rock "and the first locomotive passed through to Wheeling."

An Irish immigrant, Monohan first worked as a farm hand before working on
the B&O as it continued from Maryland to Wheeling, the newspaper article
indicates.

He later returned to Ireland but subsequently settled in Wheeling and again
worked for the railroad, his obituary notes.


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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