Flatiron Building | friends-of-wheeling

Flatiron Building, 1507 Main Street

Note: Photos taken by Joanne Sullivan from September 2014 and April 2015 show the condition of the building before renovations were begun and after some clean-up was done. They can be seen at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jcsullivan24/sets/72157646783453890/

The earliest property transaction found for this address occurred in January 1, 1874 when Benjamin F. Caldwell purchased it from the B&O Railroad for $6000 (the equivalent of over $120,000 today). The description states that it was “a triangular piece of ground bounded towards the south by South Street, towards the east by Main Street, and towards the north by the southern side of the south wall of a brick warehouse fronting on Main Street and now owned by A. Allen Howell.” There is no mention in the description of a structure on the property.

Caldwell (1828-1910) was born in 1928 and worked first as a cabin boy, at age 12, on the river steamer Arcade. Four years later, at age 16, he began an apprenticeship with G. W. Johnson, learning the copper, tin, and sheet iron business. After 5 years of apprenticeship and another four years as a journeyman, he partnered with W & J Stewart in what became known as Bell’s Foundry. City Directories list his own business, B.F. Caldwell, at 1507 Main Street as early as 1875-76 and as late as 1888, when he was in partnership with William F. Peterson. An ad in the 1899 City Directory shows that he was “manufacturer of and dealer in cooking and heating stoves and house furnishing goods.” He also advertized “marbleized, iron, and slate mantels, and various kinds of roofing, hearths, and related materials. He served as Mayor of Wheeling from 1893 to 1897.

The next owner of the property was Riverside Iron, the company that built the building that stands there today. The October 4, 1895 Wheeling Intelligencer reported, “Very rapid progress is being made on the foundation for the new Riverside Iron Works office and ware rooms on Main and South Streets.” An article in the January 8, 1896 paper mentions the building as “in progress of erection.” On April 11, 1896 the paper reported, “The Riverside Iron Works’ new office building, at the corner of Main and South streets, will be completed and occupied probably the 1st of June.” No further mention of building completion was found, so presumably the company offices were occupied in mid 1896.

The 1896 City Directory shows Riverside Iron Works at this street address, and the 1902 Sanborn map shows the footprint of the current building. The National Tube Company acquired the property in late 1899 from Riverside Iron Works, when National Tube bought out all of the Riverside works for a total sale price of $6 million (the equivalent of over $165 million today). No sale price for the building itself was indicated. Riverside, and then its successor National Tube, manufactured steel pipe, steel blooms and billets, steel rails, etc. The company had a mill at the east end of 25th Street and a plant and blast furnaces in Benwood. Key officers of the company at the time of the consolidation were President J.N. Vance, General Manager Frank J. Hearne, and Secretary John D. Culbertson. An estimated 2000 men worked for the company then.

In 1907 the property at 1507 Main was sold to the Wheeling Steel and Iron Company for $87,000 (the equivalent of over $2 million today). Subsequent City Directories indicate that it served as the office of Wheeling Steel and Iron Company until at least 1920.

The 1923-24 Directory lists the Wheeling Steel Corporation general engineering office at this address. The following tenants were listed in City Directories in the next few years:

1930 – Consolidated Expanded Metal Company

1934 and 1936 – American Legion Wheeling Post 1

1938 and 1940 – U.S. Naval Communications Reserve, and the Oglebay Institute Downtown Center (in 1940)

1941-42, 1944, and 1946 – The Steelmakers Musical Studio

1948 – Girl Scouts of America

The building then apparently stood vacant until the mid 1950s, when it served as City Hall while the current City County Building was being built. During the years 1956-1959, City Directories indicate that police headquarters were located on the first floor; the city auditor and treasurer were on the mezzanine; the water department and city manager were on the 2nd floor; the city clerk and other city offices were on the 3rd floor; and the county health department was on the 4th floor. No mention was made of the 5th floor. (Could it be that the current first and second floors were a single floor at that time, with just a portion of the current second floor being the “mezzanine?”)

The building then apparently stood vacant until after it was purchased in 1964 by Grace and Nick Karnell. Various uses over the next two decades included Karnell Real Estate and Karnell Furniture, Ohio Valley Shopping News, the Stark Artificial Limb Company, the State Vocational Rehabilitation District Office, Florence Crittenton Outreach, Interim Health Care, Dr. Mohamed Badr, and rental apartments.

Wheeling author George Fetherling recalls living in one of the apartments in 1966, when he was a cub reporter for the Wheeling Intelligencer. He includes a brief description in his book Travels by Night.

“When one of the reporters at the Intell left town, I was able to assume her spot in a communal apartment in the old flat-iron building at Main and South Streets, between the newsroom and the cavernous railway freight sheds by the river. Five of us lived there for what one or two persons might have expected to pay for other accommodations of equivalent squalor. A determining factor in the price was the way that one could reach the place only by passing through the premises of the business that occupied the ground floor. The establishment was called the Stark Artificial Limb Company. We had latchkeys and at night would grope our way across the showroom in the dark, bumping into wooden legs and other prostheses.”

In recent years, the building fell into disrepair. Deeds indicate that Olive Lee Cox purchased it in 2003 from the Karnell family for $124,000. Quan Lu was the next owner, purchasing the property in 2006 for $100,000. And MZQ LLC is listed as the current owner, having purchased it in 2008 for $100,000.

Despite the debris and decrepit conditions, the former beauty is apparent, and the building appears to be watertight and structurally sound.

Prepared by Jeanne Finstein, September 6, 2014

Sources:

Ohio County deed records
Wheeling City Directories, numerous years
Wheeling Intelligencer, numerous dates in 1899 and 1900
Sanborn Insurance Maps (1884, 1890, 1902, and 1921-22)
Newton, J.H. History of the Panhandle, West Virginia, 1879, page 270
Death record of Benjamin F. Caldwell
Fetherling, George (Douglas). Travels by Night, 1994, page 88

More information, submitted to Archiving Wheeling:

I am Susan Karnell Lobalzo, the daughter of Nick and Grace. I found your article very interesting and informative, filling in missing parts of the history of the Flat Iron building. I would like to add a tidbit to its history the Friends of Wheeling may not have known.

I am not sure of the exact year but it was In the early 1970’s, the city of Wheeling decided to take the building through eminent domain in order to clear the entire block. Recognizing the value of the structure, my father fought the city tooth and nail. I remember my parents anguish over the thought of the loss and the jubilation when they won.

I would call the design of the the Flat Iron Richardsonion which has its roots in Chicago from architect H. H. Richardson whose influences trickled down to Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. An important part of Wheeling’s history would have been lost forever had the decision gone the other way, another architectural gem torn down for a parking lot.

I have not had the pleasure of walking down Main and Market for some time. I hope when a do the aluminum facades are gone revealing the many beautiful store fronts hidden for decades.