Weirton, WV photo tour (Wheeling, Nitro: middle-class, houses, employment)

[Evergrey]

Weirton (pop. 19,746) is a city in West Virginia's Northern Panhandle. It is the 6th largest city in WV. 3/4 of the city is located in Hancock County (pop. 30,571) with the other 1/4 in Brooke County (pop. 23,844). Weirton is one of the primary cities of the Weirton-Steubenville WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area (pop. 123,243). The Weirton-Steubenville WV-OH-PA Urbanized Area has a population of 70,889.

Weirton is located near the Ohio River (though it has no riverfront) across the river from Steubenville, OH. It is a short 35 mile trip west of Downtown Pittsburgh via U.S. 22, and 30 miles north of Wheeling, WV. The City of Weirton stretches across the slender 5 mile width of WV's Northern Panhandle to touch Pennsylvania to the east and Ohio to the west. Supposedly, it is the only city in the United States that borders two other states on two sides, and its own state on the other two sides.

Weirton is a gritty steel town. It grew up as a collection of villages along the hilltops and valleys of the area. In 1909, Thomas Weir built a steel mill there. In 1947, this unincorporated collection of communities incorporated to become the City of Weirton... and it was almost immediately downhill from there for Weirton and environs... which started losing population in the 1960s. Weirton Steel has gone through a number of different owners, and is now controlled by AccelorMittal... with employment down from 12,000 to 1,200 (only the tin-plating section is now operational).

Probably due to the fact that Weirton was never really a single entity... and instead a collection of different villages merging together... it has a very disjointed, random urban fabric.

Recently, the supernatural thriller Super 8 filmed in Weirton.





Entering the Mountain State from PA


The far eastern reaches of Weirton (incl. Weirton Heights) are rather 1950s-1970s suburban. Weirton overall is a pretty new city in the grand scheme of things.


while those types of neighborhoods comprise much of Weirton... they're not that interesting to me... let's descend into the old heart of steel town
















such an evil-looking steel mill... it looks like a rusting Imperial Star Destroyer


steel mill for a backyard












"The Deer Hunter" was filmed here (as well as other nearby cities)


what a badass location for a high school football stadium... home of the Weir Red Riders!










Browns fan in a brown house


U.S. 22 in the distance


Greek Orthodox




The Tri-State identity is strong in Weirton... though curiously I didn't see a single Pennsylvania license plate the whole day










Downtown Weirton is rather small for the size of the city... particularly when compared to rival city Steubenville across the river. This reflects that Weirton was never really a true city... but an amalgamation of separate settlements. Downtown consists of a single long corridor of architecturally undistinguished 2-story buildings.


There's several strip clubs in Downtown Weirton... I guess the city's a destination for that sort of thing
















this bank has been transformed into a keno joint... keno is a bingo-style gambling game that WV legalized a few years back... keno bars are ubiquitous throughout Downtown Weirton




uhhhh...






Downtown Kroger


omg, i was so excited to see a Tudor's Biscuit World in Weirton! Tudor's Biscuit World is a Nitro, WV-based biscuit chain... it's found almost exclusively in West Virginia... they serve the most delicious biscuit sandwiches... now I have an excuse to go back to Weirton


heading up to Marland Heights... a rather middle-class residential enclave above downtown








the dramatic Veterans Memorial cable-stayed bridge connects Weirton and Steubenville


WV-2 heading south toward Wheeling




closed bridge


Franciscan University of Steubenville

[Chriscross309]

That was great, I love that Northern Grit!

Can't wait to see more of your work, thank you so much!

[GottaHerdOn]

I see a city that's been run down and that put too many of their eggs in the steel business basket.... However, I do see a lot of potential with that town. I'd focus more on how Pittsburgh reinvented itself after the demise of the steel industry there. Literally all it takes is some community direction. I'd almost be willing to bet that if the remaining parts of that large steel mill were torn down and turned into a modern industrial park that property values would go up and they could probably employ over the 1200-1500 people currently employed at the eye sore.

When property values are continually increasing it gives people a reason to have a neat and clean home. It's an investment, not just a residence. With it being so close to Pittsburgh it could easily become a commuter community. I wouldn't close the book on it just yet... Its beaten, but not down.

[Spazkat9696]

I was just there over the weekend. There has really been a lot of improvement since my last visit Thanksgiving 2010. With the new jobs the steel mill is bringing in (go figure they are hiring for the first time in how long) there is more money in the area. Oh that and the movie Super 8 was filmed there. The production crew put a lot of time and money into fixing up the downtown.

[Spazkat9696]

Originally Posted by GottaHerdOn

I see a city that's been run down and that put too many of their eggs in the steel business basket.... However, I do see a lot of potential with that town. I'd focus more on how Pittsburgh reinvented itself after the demise of the steel industry there. Literally all it takes is some community direction. I'd almost be willing to bet that if the remaining parts of that large steel mill were torn down and turned into a modern industrial park that property values would go up and they could probably employ over the 1200-1500 people currently employed at the eye sore.

When property values are continually increasing it gives people a reason to have a neat and clean home. It's an investment, not just a residence. With it being so close to Pittsburgh it could easily become a commuter community. I wouldn't close the book on it just yet... Its beaten, but not down.

Some of it is being torn down, but part of it is still active. The jobs there are starting at over 19$ an hour. Plus you get a raise after you complete your training. That's a lot of money up there.

[aeros71]

Weirton, like Wheeling and the rest of the northern panhandle, remind me too much of Pittsburgh. Thats not a good thing because I can't stand Pittsburgh.

Also, I thought my hometown in WV looked rundown but apparently its nothing like Weirton.

[mattec]

Originally Posted by GottaHerdOn

I see a city that's been run down and that put too many of their eggs in the steel business basket.... However, I do see a lot of potential with that town. I'd focus more on how Pittsburgh reinvented itself after the demise of the steel industry there. Literally all it takes is some community direction. I'd almost be willing to bet that if the remaining parts of that large steel mill were torn down and turned into a modern industrial park that property values would go up and they could probably employ over the 1200-1500 people currently employed at the eye sore.

When property values are continually increasing it gives people a reason to have a neat and clean home. It's an investment, not just a residence. With it being so close to Pittsburgh it could easily become a commuter community. I wouldn't close the book on it just yet... Its beaten, but not down.

The thing is, Weirton cannot follow Pittsburgh's model because it lacks the colleges and universities that Pitt has. Those elite colleges are the reason for much of the new pharma and research facilities that have sprung up there.

[GottaHerdOn]

Originally Posted by mattec

The thing is, Weirton cannot follow Pittsburgh's model because it lacks the colleges and universities that Pitt has. Those elite colleges are the reason for much of the new pharma and research facilities that have sprung up there.

Yeah, but what I was meaning was more diversification. Find a niche basically.... Perhaps spin off industries from Pittsburgh's???

[arwenmark]

Weirton is a great bedroom town for Pittsburgh, I also see it as a great place to retire inexpensively which is what we are doing. I think that the Marcellus shale deal will add many jobs to the area and now that the steel mill is free to sell large tracts of land I think things will only get better for the area. Just hope my taxes don't go up too much.

[SorryIMovedBack]

Lots of those houses look like the company housing in lots of coal and steel towns in western PA. Sears Roebuck and other companies sold them in that era, because towns needed fast housing for workers and industrial expansion.


Loved the church sermon sign, lol! One of the things I miss most about WV is the wit and the just-say-it outspokenness of the people.

Thanks for the tour. Lots of that town will clean up right nice, if they can just find something equivalent to replace and /or supplement the steel.