It’s up to individual interpretation when a visitor takes a stroll about the property located just across the street from the Mount Wood Cemetery.

It looks like a baby castle and that’s because, more than 100 years ago, it was supposed to resemble something so grand in honor of a lady named Mabel Harness. She was the wife of Dr. Andrew Jackson Harness, a Tennessee gentleman who practiced medicine in Wheeling before he was arrested for selling morphine and cocaine to a pair of federal undercover narcotics agents.

Mabel and the couple’s two daughters quickly moved away to the Charleston, W.Va., area while the doctor served 18 months in a federal prison in Atlanta, but once he was released the family moved out of the Mountain State and never returned.

The ground of an overlook.
The graffiti at the Mount Wood Overlook is constantly changing.

The castle, however, remains and continues to feature one of the best overlook views of downtown Wheeling as it rests along the Ohio River. Over the years, the property has been maintained by the City of Wheeling, and the structure has been the target for a plethora of different initiatives. 

One example was when, in 2014, members of the Wheeling Arts Commission attempted to apply moss-based art on the concrete, but the building is not shaded at all during daylight hours and was, on average, too hot.

Local artists also have adopted Wheeling’s little castle as a canvas for their artwork, whether it’s graffiti art or street scribe. Gray washing has taken place to the overlook and should again soon based on the lack of available space for new creation.   

The hallway of a castle.
Unfortunately, vandals have spray painted words over art in different areas of the Overlook.
A painted floor.
The floors of the castle are included by the graffiti artists when new works are created.
A wall with graffiti on it.
Local artists have been known to paint over older images so they can create new works.
The steps of a castle.
The structure has been on the hillside at the top of Wheeling Hill for nearly a century.
The side of a castle.
The castle-like structure can be seen from National Road once the trees lose their leaves.
The wall of a castle.
The Overlook is located along Mount Wood Road, a street that leads motorists to the North Park neighborhood of Wheeling.
A person at an overview.
The Mount Wood Overlook is a popular place for local residents and tourists who visit Wheeling during the warmer months.
A view from an overlook.
The view from the Mount Wood Overlook stares south straight down the Ohio River.

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