#historyofwheeling

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Learn Wheeling: Stanton's History Class Returning in September

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Learn Wheeling: Stanton's History Class Returning in September

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Stanton's History of Wheeling Class Returning in September

His high school students at Wheeling Park usually are surprised to learn the Wheeling Suspension Bridge once served as the original “Gateway to the West” and that Fort Henry was operational in downtown Wheeling during the Revolutionary War era, but the adults attending his monthly Saturday sessions have added to those historical conversations over the past eight months.The classes, made possible through a partnership between Ohio County Schools and Wheeling Heritage, were staged inside the J.B. Chambers Performing Arts Center at Wheeling Park High School and usually attracted between 150-200 local residents. The topics included Wheeling Island, Wheeling Steel, the Civil War and the creation of the state of West Virginia, and the history of organized crime in the region. History teacher Ryan Stanton, an educator who has taught a “History of Wheeling” elective class at the high school for more than a decade, served as the instructor.Wheeling Park history teacher Ryan Stanton has been teaching a History of Wheeling class to the high school's students for several years.“Overall, everything went very well, and I ended up learning a lot from our speakers, and from the people who attended, too,” Stanton said. “What made it worthwhile is the fact so many people kept coming back to learn more and more, and they shared their stories about their memories about some of the history we discussed.“One of the best parts was when some of the people brought photographs and objects and memorabilia to the sessions,” he said. “When those folks did that, it made it all real, and that’s why I’ve been a collector of artifacts from a lot of the history of Wheeling I find most interesting.”Stanton prepared a primary topic for each of the eight sessions, but he also provoked conversation on some subjects he believed to be less popular. On more than one occasion, the pupils surprised the teacher.Stanton has hosted the eight sessions at Wheeling Park's J.B. Chambers Performing Arts Center.“Before each topic during the class, I did what I call the ‘Wheeling Warmups,’ and some of those topics ended up being some of the favorites for those who attended,” Stanton explained. “And pretty often, a few people in attendance knew something about a house or a person. When that happened, it really brought the history to life. The warmups were supposed to be five-minute intros, but pretty often they led to 20-minute conversations.“We have a lot of properties in the Wheeling area that are very old and have ties to key periods of time for the city, and on several occasions, we had people who knew a lot about them,” he said. “So, it was little things like that I didn't really expect to be such huge successes but really brought out a lot of memories with people. One topic was the Benwood Mine disaster, and while most folks didn’t know much about it, one person had an ancestor who died in the tragedy, and they told a lot of stories about it.”Stanton has spent a great deal of time researching the brewing history in the city of Wheeling.School’s Out for SummerThe good news – there’s more to learn.The better news – Summer break is underway for Stanton and all of his students.The best news of all – the weekend sessions, the educator reported, will return on the first Saturday of September.“We’ll be back inside the (J.B. Chambers) Performing Arts Center to begin our conversations again,” he revealed this week. “When I first started thinking about the topics for the adult class, I was determined to cover the Frontier era, transportation, and the story of statehood, for sure, but it’s expanded from there and the people have enjoyed that.“There’s so many different stories about West Virginia, and how it came to be such a terrific story,” he said. “And most of that story took place here in the Wheeling area and I know it’s a lot of fun for my high school students and for the adults to realize they live where that history was made more than 150 years ago.”Stanton's research into Henry Schmulbach led him to this rare photo of the Roney's Point mansion. Today. Only remnants of the structure remain today.Stanton, himself, has researched the history of beer in the Friendly City, especially since a pair of brewers became important historic figures in the history of Wheeling. Anton Reymann, for example, not only founded the Reymann Brewing Company, but he developed the Manchester area and the operation into the largest in West Virginia.Henry Schmulbach, a brewer who produced his beers in South Wheeling, was the founder of the German Bank of Wheeling, an institution that eventually became Wesbanco Bank.“I’ve researched the Reymann and Schmulbach breweries a great deal, and one thing I’ve learned is that there are so many stories about Wheeling that involve those two men,” Stanton said. “There are still buildings that stand today, including the Schmulbach Building that most people know as the Wheeling-Pitt. But Reymann and Schmulbach did a lot more than brew beer.The Manchester Bridge linked East Wheeling to the Clator neighborhood and to Mt. de Chantal Road that leads to Wheeling Hospital. In the late 1800s, the Reymann Brewery operated on the Manchester side of the bridge. (Photo archived by James Thorton of Creative Impressions)“They both were very philanthropic, and they both left their mark, and when the people start connecting the dots, you can tell they love learning more about where they live,” he explained. “There’s always more when it comes to the history of Wheeling, so I don’t think I’ll run out of material anytime soon.” Once again, local residents will assist Stanton with his lesson plans.“When we get restarted in September, the topics will be some things I know the public will enjoy, and I’ll also take suggestions again from the crowd about what they want to discuss. It’s always a better conversation when a lot of people get involved with it,” Stanton insisted. “One topic will be the Civil War and how the city of Wheeling was involved. I don’t know how many people realize what that looked like around here.“It’s really about what people want to hear about, and the Saturday sessions definitely have made the regular class even better because of the addition of so many topics. The high school kids usually are pretty surprised about our history here,” he said. “The adults on Saturday, though, seem to know a lot about it and they enjoy learning even more.” Read the full article

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Lived History the Secret Ingredient for Stanton’s New Adult Wheeling Class

It likely will be an incredible crowd of people sharing a fascinating collection of history about a city that’s been a battleground during the Revolutionary War, the capital of two states, and the home of the original 'Gateway to the West'.The conversation will be guided by educator Ryan Stanton, the same gentleman who has been teaching local students about the impressive history of – wait for it – Wheeling, W.Va. Thanks to the creativity of administrators with Ohio County Schools and a $1,000 grant from Wheeling Heritage, Stanton will meet with local residents to discuss that history for a couple of months beginning September 7th.“The people in the class will have a lot to do with what we talk about during the sessions,” Stanton explained. “I know most of them will remember the different businesses we once had here, and they’ll know about the high schools, the downtown, and I’m sure we’ll talk about the holidays and what the city offered back then.Stanton's classroom at Wheeling Park High is full of artifacts from the history of the Friendly City.“They’re going to want to talk about their neighborhoods, and places like Elby’s, Green’s Donuts, and Louie’s Hot Dog and Stone & Thomas, and Ernie’s Esquire,” he said. “They remember the names of the bars they used to go to, and the bands that used to play in Wheeling. I’ll have a topic to talk about for each class, but the class will take the conversation where they want.”Each Saturday class will be held from 10-11 a.m. with the first of eight sessions scheduled for Wheeling Park High School. The grant funds from Wheeling Heritage will cover the cost of the book “Wheeling: Then and Now,” a volume of history authored by Sean Duffy, the programming coordinator at the Ohio County Public Library.“People really enjoy historical objects because it lets them see and maybe hold something from a long time ago. It makes it real for a lot of people,” Stanton said. “Old products, family photographs, old newspaper, and magazine ads … those kinds of objects are really interesting.“I’ve taken in a brick I have from old Wheeling High School, and some of my students wonder why I would collect an old brick. After I tell them about the history of the school, and about the people who went there, they start to understand. They understand that it’s important to tell those stories to preserve the history. The students bring objects to class, too, and we have something like ‘Show and Tell’ in class. And I’m sure it will happen with the new class, too.”Only remnants of the Schmulbach Mansion remain at Roney's Point, but when it was constructed it was the only home in Ohio County with air conditioning.Brewer to BankerStanton is beginning his 15th year as an educator at Wheeling Park High School, and his “History of Wheeling” elective will be available for the 14th consecutive school year.It was his curiosity about his hometown that initiated it all.“When I was just getting started with studying the history of Wheeling as a pretty young guy, I was taking pictures of places and things I found interesting, and I was writing a blog about what I had researched, and people started paying attention to it,” Stanton recalled. “I’ve always thought that it’s really cool that Wheeling played such a role in the development of the rest of the country and many parts of the world.“That blog really got me started with my research in Wheeling, and it’s something I do all the time now,” he explained. “I was in a conversation with (former Wheeling Park High principal Bernie Dolan) when I just started teaching and a class on Wheeling’s history came up. So, I worked with the school and with Wheeling Heritage, and we all put it together. This school year will be the 14th for the class.”Henry Schmulbach, Brewer, Banker (Photo from the Ohio County Public Library Archives.)A good deal of his research, interestingly enough, focused on beer, but not because it was beer.It was because of Henry Schmulbach, the founder of the Schmulbach Brewery in South Wheeling, and of the German Bank of Wheeling, a financial institution that has evolved into Wesbanco. Schmulbach, by far, was the wealthiest man on the eastern side of the United States in the early 1900s.He passed away in 1915 from congestive heart failure, only one year after the West Virginia Legislature enacted prohibition.“Schmulbach could do anything he wanted, and that included getting away with murder,” Stanton said. “He was the wealthiest man in this area by far because he was a terrific businessman. There are so many stories about him and they really fascinate the people who appreciate the history of this area.“There are a lot of objects that Schmulbach left behind, like the brewery buildings in South Wheeling, the Wheeling-Pitt building in downtown, and what’s left of the mansion at Roney’s Point are just a few of them,” he said. “My students love Henry Schmulbach because he was such a character, but they enjoy hearing the history and they learn why Wheeling’s population has declined over the years. But they see a lot of positives right now.”