It was named appropriately not only because of its size, but also because Oglebay Park officials wanted to be up front with those wishing to reserve it after its construction during the Great Depression.
Small Shelter was, in fact, the smallest roof-covered picnic site in the entire municipal park and, for the most part, it was invisible while walking or driving from the Observatory to the Pine Room. During that particular trek one would clearly see more than a couple of cabins, the Dreihorst and Haller Shelters, the park’s tennis facility, and, of course, the historic swimming pool and the Pine Room.
All of those structures were built because of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s welfare-worker programs, one of which dispatched more than 200 men to the former Waddington Farm to produce progress. The reason why Small Shelter is so petite, Oglebay’s legendary leader Randy Worls reported, was tha t(he structure was made with left over materials from those other projects.
Worls also explained the site was never one of the more popular ones reserved through the years, and when the American Disabilities Act passed access mandates, Small Shelter was closed and removed from the park’s literature in the late 1990s.
Worls own wife, Betty, didn’t even know it existed until an article composed for Weelunk (https://weelunk.com/it-still-stands/) was published in late January 2018. It’s a good thing the former CEO took her to see it very soon after it published because a week later one of those giant oak trees fell and crushed it.
At Least the Deer Heard It
The remnants remain for now, but the area is far too dangerous for what many used it for even after it was chained off along with the natural spring that once quenched the thirst of many Wheeling residents. It was the “best water” for decades until, of course, it was confirmed that Earl Oglebay undermined many areas of the 1,000 acres he owned before gifting it to the city of Wheeling in the 1920s.
The secluded Small Shelter had a stone fireplace and stone floor, a couple of picnic tables, and shade and cool air even on the hottest summer day. It was perfect for the day-date or a small gathering with no more than 15-or-so folks, and although all others were more popular than this one, no other one offers a more realistic view of Appalachian nature.
“For as long as I have been here with Oglebay, it’s been the most beautiful place I have seen anywhere,” Worls insisted. “And I am not just saying that, either. I don’t walk the park these days as much as I used to, but I can tell you it’s a special place.
“People come to Oglebay for the golf and tennis and the pool, and in normal times, Wilson Lodge is usually close to being at full occupancy,” he said. “I always encourage visitors to the park to use the trails and see what this part of West Virginia looks like, and I really believe a lot of local residents did that during this pandemic.”
