Wheeling-Ohio County Airport

AT A GLANCE WHEELING - OHIO COUNTY AIRPORT WHAT: A public general aviation airport WHERE: Eight miles northeast of downtown Wheeling, West Virginia WEBSITE: www.ohiocountywv.gov/departments/wheeling-ohio-county-airport/108 CountyAirport E ntering the lobby of the Wheeling - Ohio County Airport terminal is like stepping into the past… to an era when air travel was sophisticated and elegant. The original benches and displays, art deco glass doors, photos, and a wealth of memorabilia take you back to the glory days of flight. Dwight Eisenhower met Richard Nixon here, just after Nixon’s Checkers speech in 1952. John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie Kennedy sat in these chairs while waiting for transportation after a mix-up. It’s a fun slice of nostalgia in an area that itself is steeped in history. The City of Wheeling, West Virginia lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It is one of the oldest settlements in the country, originally in the British colony of Virginia, and later the second largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Wheeling dates back to the beginning of the 1600s and was part of the first enduring English colony in North America. Founded by the Virginia Company, settlers first landed at the Jamestown Settlement which was at the brink of failure before the arrival of a new group of settlers and supplies by ship in 1610. Tobacco became Virginia’s first profitable export, the production of which had a significant impact on society and settlement patterns. Wheeling was the first capital of the new state of West Virginia, mostly because it was along major transportation routes such Celebrating 75 years of flight