Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains within the state's northern panhandle. It is the fifth-most populous city in West Virginia and the most populous city in the northern panhandle with a population of 27,062 at the 2020 census. The Wheeling metropolitan area had 139,513 residents in 2020. Wheeling is located about 60 miles (97 km) west of Pittsburgh and 120 miles (190 km) east of Columbus via Interstate 70.
Wheeling was settled in 1769 on land contested between colonial Pennsylvania and Virginia, and later grew to become Virginia's largest city west of the Appalachians. During the American Civil War, Wheeling was the host of the Wheeling Conventions that led to the separation of West Virginia from Virginia and served as the state capital from 1861 to 1870, and again from 1875 to 1885. It became a manufacturing center in the late nineteenth century due to its location along major transportation routes, including the Ohio River, National Road, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. After the decline of heavy industry and substantial population loss following World War II, Wheeling's major industries now include healthcare, education, law and legal services, entertainment and tourism, and energy.
