The Manchester Bridge

Towards the south end of what is Rock Point Road, near what used to be the location of the Reymann Brewing Company, was a vital link to what is considered the back way to Wheeling.  I know very little of what the Manchester Bridge used to look like, other than it was a partly steel one lane bridge that entered the south eastern section of Wheeling.

Traveling south on Rock Point Road, you would have crossed the Manchester Bridge over Big Wheeling Creek on to 17th street in Wheeling.  According to an atlas from 1873 (courtesy of the David Rumsey collection) this section of Wheeling would have been called Manchester or New Manchester, possibly relating to a one time property owner.  The 1873 atlas shows a bridge crossing Big Wheeling Creek in the general vicinity, and even a search on Google maps today shows a bridge, but all that remains is the stand stone abutment that once carried traffic across the bridge.   I was not able to locate any photographs of the bridges heyday.

As the stand stone abutment, this area around the south end of Rock Point Road is virtually abandoned.  Some brick buildings show signs they probably date back to the Reymann Brewery, and others were at one time or another prominent businesses of Wheeling.

I invite you to view some more photographs of the bridge on flickr:

• what remains


• standing on what's left on the bridge.  it appears the folks on the opposite side of Big Wheeling Creek use the west end of the bridge abutment as part of their yard or patio.


• no entry

Note:  Thanks to Jim from Down the Road for some help with bridge terminology.