The Three Economic Lives of Hancock County

At the very tippy-top of West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle is Hancock County. While many think of West Virginia as the transition area between the cultural north and south in the United States, Hancock County reaches further north than Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Columbus, Ohio. With that in mind, the history of the region has much less to do with coal and much more to do with industrial manufacturing, especially steel. Dedicated to preserving the history and culture of this part of West Virginia is the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center, which features an array of exhibits detailing the history of the region and ongoing events that bring visitors closer to the unique history and culture of this region. In support of the museum and cultural center’s mission, Dr. Lou Martin, Associate Professor of History at nearby Chatham University, presented Hancock County: From Pre-Industrial to Post Industrial on February 20, 2022 to an audience of folks invested in the history and future of the Northern Panhandle.

Lou Martin is a steady voice for West Virginia’s industrial and labor history. In addition to his role at Chatham University, he is also a founding board member of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, which is about as far as you can get from Hancock County without entering Kentucky. Lou is also the author of Smokestacks in the Hills: Rural-Industrial Workers in West Virginia, which highlights the unique combination of industrialization and the preservation of rural habits and culture in areas like Hancock County.

His lecture on February 20 spanned the commercial and industrial history of the region from the late 1700s to the present, detailing the transition from an agriculturally driven economy to one firmly rooted in producing pottery and steel and finally on to the present, post-industrial era brought on by the proliferation of neoliberalism in state and federal government. As emphasized in the talk, neoliberalism has less to do with “liberals” and more to do with market-oriented reform policies like deregulation, incentivizing free trade, and privatization. Indeed, one of the strongest proponents of neoliberal trade policies is Ronald Reagan. That there should very clearly communicate the relationship between neoliberal trade policies to “the liberals.” Indeed, no one person or company is responsible for the shuttering of factories and mills, but rather it comes a consequence of a shift in global economic policy. Of course, it can be frustrating and confusing when major economic shifts occur and there is no one, clear individual or entity to blame.

Lou Martin, Ph.D. discussing the development of the potteries of the East Liverpool region, which includes Hancock County and Weirton.

Both Morgantown, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are examples of thriving communities with knowledge-based economies emerging after the fall of heavy industry. The term “meds and eds” is commonly applied to Pittsburgh, which has doubled-down on world-class institutions of higher education and medical facilities over the past five decades to great success. Within West Virginia, Morgantown is home to the largest institution of higher education in the state, West Virginia University. Each year more and more people flock to Morgantown to start careers at West Virginia University, WVU Medicine, and an increasing number of professional services and tech companies founded or branching out into the state to take advantage of the growing brain trust in the area. I relate strongly to this because, well, I am part of that movement!

The talk revealed that opportunities can spring up anywhere and that there are individuals and organizations interested in helping preserve and develop communities like Weirton. However, it can be difficult to connect communities in need with the resources available. Groups and individuals often do not know what they do not know.

With so much food-for-thought, it seemed like it was time for actual food. On the recommendation of West Virginia food blogger (and Northern Panhandle native), Candace Nelson, I stopped at Drover’s Inn to try out their legendary wings. Not your typical wing joint, Drover’s dates back to 1848 as a tavern and inn on the Washington Pike a few miles east of central Wellsburg, West Virginia. Each dining room (and the tavern) maintains the character of a bygone era and features extensive collections of local artifacts with an emphasis on glass produced in the area. Indeed, staff even urge guests to walk around and take in the accumulated history of hospitality.

Free Caching WV's Northern Panhandle

We had celebrated the birth of a nation by visiting three of the finest caches in the southwestern part of state that was the site of America’s formation (Pennsylvania!) and then dining with one of our many families. After a pleasant night at the DoubleTree near the Pittsburgh Airport (though surprisingly dirty: lots of other people’s hair all over the pool area and unknown substance on the toilet seat in the room), we regrouped and decided to change our caching strategy.

We had been seeking caches in the top 100 by favorite points within 200 miles of Morgantown, WV (caveat, our laziness put a hard, and very low limit, on the terrain we were willing to tolerate). We decided on the next day, July 5, to start with one of these caches but then “free cache” on the Northern Panhandle until, basically, we got hungry enough to head down to our favorite DiCarlo’s Pizza location (downtown Wheeling! …though I’ve been told it’s worth defecting to the Glen Dale location).

Our first stop of the day, a cache at the World's Largest Teapot

To us, free caching is when you don’t have a specific aim or theme in mind. For us, we merely applied our maximum desired terrain rating and bounced from cache to cache all over Brooke, Hancock, and Ohio counties. Because we don’t routinely cache there, there were many to choose from and selecting a specific terrain rating was helpful as to not completely overwhelm us. Plus, even when free caching, it can just get obnoxious to drive in half-mile increments.

For our efforts, we found 13 geocaches and discovered two things we found to be particularly interesting.

The Margaret Manson Weir Memorial Pool in Marland Heights Park was a pleasant surprise after picking up a seemingly average guardrail cache in a seemingly average neighborhood. It was recently listed on Preserve WV’s most endangered list for this year, which is how I knew about it. But the pool, opened in 1934, has a unique architectural charm lacking in so many structures today that are focused on function before form (which is a noble goal, but I can’t imagine my local pool in Morgantown being something I or anyone else will care about in 80 years). And, truthfully, West Virginia just doesn’t have a lot of art deco structures. This isn’t Miami Beach, where even the Burger King is authentically art deco.

The other interesting then we discovered are the old bridges over Buffalo Creek on the road to Bethany College (another gorgeous side trip!) from Wellsburg. While after finding only one of these caches we were frustrated over the placement of another (if I have to drive 6 feet into overgrowth on a day that feels very snaky, it’s not a terrain level 1!). We love looking at old infrastructure, even if it is of the old, worn out, and purely utilitarian sort (maybe I will still be interested in the Marilla Park pool in 80 years…).While heading back towards West Virginia State Route 2 we also discovered that when the road along Buffalo Creek, the Bethany Turnpike, was first cut through it actually had two tunnels, the first highway tunnels west of the Alleghenies, to get through the rough terrain, though my husband was crestfallen to discover that the tunnels are long gone (but their locations are identified on this old map).

So even seeking out the less exciting or highly rated caches in an area has rewards. Or maybe it is just our undying love of infrastructure.