Fort Henry Days

I have been aware of Fort Henry Days for quite a while, but was never able to attend until this year. When Beth asked me what I wanted to do on Labor Day, I realized this was my opportunity to remedy that deficiency. Once I had her agreement to drive me all the way to Wheeling on a holiday weekend, I immediately began to expand the proposed expedition. Steubenville’s not that far from Wheeling; why not detour that small amount and check out the cable-stayed bridge at Weirton? Consequently, we began our odyssey by heading for Route 22. Today’s 22 west is not the winding two lane highway I remember from my youth. The tortuous drive down the Cove past Weirton Steel has been replaced by a hill-side super-highway culminating in the breath-taking view of the east tower of the bridge. In no time we were over the Ohio River, exhilarated by the beauty of the bridge. How can Pittsburgh be “the city of bridges” when it lacks a cable-stayed bridge? Perhaps the proposed Mon Valley Expressway bridge over the Monongahela River will fulfill my desire for one.

Once on the Ohio side of the river, we turned onto Dean Martin Boulevard and headed south, passing through Mingo Junction (home of Woody Hayes), Tiltonsville (home of Bill Mazeroski), and Martin’s Ferry (home of Lou Groza) on the “Ohio River Scenic Byway” (Celebrities’ Birthplace Byway?). I don’t think I had ever driven down that side of the Ohio before. In no time, we found ourselves in Bridgeport, directly across the river from Wheeling. We took the I-470 bridge across Wheeling Island and the river, then got off on the east side so we could visit Ellett’s historic suspension bridge. This too was new for me; I had seen the bridge from a distance many times, but never before had the opportunity to inspect it close up.

Although the National Road (later Route 40) was completed from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling in 1818, and extended to Vandalia, Illinois in 1837, it was still necessary for travelers on this state-of-the-art highway to resort to a ferry to cross the Ohio River at Wheeling. To eliminate this problem a company was formed to build a signature bridge at that site. Charles Ellett’s lower bid for a suspension bridge prevailed over John Roebling’s more impressive reputation, and by 1849 the longest (at its time) bridge in the world was constructed. Two massive masonry towers support a main span of 1010 feet and approach spans of 150 feet each. Five years later a severe windstorm destroyed the deck by generating oscillations much like those that destroyed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (“Galloping Gertie”) in 1940. Two modifications were made to strengthen the new deck – the addition of a wooden stiffening truss and the installation of sloping stays from the top of the towers to the trusses. Designed originally to accept the weight of horse drawn wagons, the bridge became obsolete (limited to two ton vehicles) in the twentieth century and finally restricted to pedestrian traffic in 2019. It richly deserves its designation as a National Historic Landmark.

By now it was lunch time (and rest stop time). Unfortunately, we were too far from Washingtonville, Ohio, for a return trip to Fat Ted’s Diner, so I instructed Beth to find us a fast food restaurant. Once through the tunnel and onto Route 40, we immediately found a convenient Perkins, where we enjoyed an excellent lunch. Whenever I am in the West Virginia Panhandle, I wonder if the folks who live there would ever consider seceding and becoming part of Pennsylvania. I suspect the WVU fans I know would counter by annexing Greene and Fayette Counties.

The festival that was our original destination was in Oglebay Park, just a few miles north of the restaurant. We found it easily; Beth dropped me off with a lawn chair in the shade and parked her car. While l waited for her, I was entertained by a colonial era orchestra (two violins, a lute, and two flutes) playing catchy tunes reminiscent of that era. Fort Henry Days is a combination of a Market Faire and the re-enactment of a 1794 battle. The term “Market Faire” has a special connotation for history buffs; it might be considered a re-enactment of a market in colonial times. This market was quite extensive and included a gunsmith boring the barrel for a flintlock rifle, a woodworker carving a spoon with a hand axe, a blacksmith forging ironware, a primitive artist producing very attractive water colors, and a lady dying cloth indigo, among others. All the artisans were dressed in colonial attire and were eager to discuss their craft with visitors. I was particularly pleased to see a bookseller there specializing in books by my favorite western writer, Zane Grey. The tie to Fort Henry, of course, was Grey’s Frontier trilogy on the Zane family and the siege being re-enacted there.  

The re-enactment was based on a three-day battle in 1782 when forty Loyalists from Butler’s Rangers and two hundred forty Indians led by Simon Girty attacked Fort Henry in what is now down-town Wheeling, West Virginia. Forty able men were available to defend the fort and the sixty women and children who had fled to it for safety. On the third day of the siege teen-aged Betty Zane ran from the fort to a nearby fortified blockhouse, retrieved an apron full of gunpowder, and ran back to the fort through a volley of gunshots. Later in the day a relief force of colonial militia arrived; the attackers gave up the siege and departed. Like most re-enactments, there weren’t enough participants to accurately reflect the scope of the battle, but those present did an excellent job of suggesting its flavor.

In total, the day was another memorable experience, one that we will try to repeat in the future.

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