To me and you, the corner of 16th and Market streets is just the beginning of downtown in Wheeling. When you take a good look back, it has many faces. I have a series of photos that will show you many things from your childhood and mine about the corner of 16 and Market streets.  Beautiful moments in time.

Some of these photos I can remember … like The Liberty Theater and the Rambler car dealership.  Now it is a part of the West Virginia Northern Community College. Sit back and take a tour with me to the West side of 16th and Market streets.

A photo of a former theatre.
What a stunning photo of The Liberty Theater and Tino’s Pizza. When I was a child, for 25 cents you could go there on a Saturday and see three movies and cartoons and have snacks and a drink … all for just a quarter.
A photo of a damaged car.
Here is a photo around the time that a Cyclone came through Wheeling. This is very rare because of our hills. This photo depicts a man with his new Duesenberg. The cyclone blew the roof off of the Liberty Theater and destroyed this classic car.
A photo fo damage.
Another view of that Cyclone , looking east on Sixteenth, shows the devastation. This view is picturing the back of the Liberty Theater on the left.
The front facade of a car dealership.
This photo of Glenn Straub’s car dealership was taken during one of Wheeling’s floods. As a child on our way to town, we would always stop to look at the silver dollars that were embedded in the tile at the doorway. We used to be fascinated by those silver dollars.
A flooded downtown street.
Looking North on Market is a different view of the car dealership. During this time period, it wasn’t often that the water would travel as far as Market Street.
A historic photo of a downtown.
Here’s a view of the Liberty Theater when the 16th Street Grill was there. This was taken in the 30s. As a child, I sold papers on the corner of 16th by the Pythian building. And afterward, I would go have a slice at Tino’s pizza shop. Tino’s was where the Grill is in this photo. Wonderful times in Wheeling.
A photo of a lighted building.
Fast forward to present day. This is that same corner at 16th and Market. What a difference a hundred years makes! Now it is a beautiful West Virginia Northern Community College Building. It is called the Applied Technology Center. It makes you wonder what it will look like in another 100 years.

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