Editing Weirton, West Virginia (section)

==History==
[[File:A portion of the ISG Weirton Steel operation, was once a fully integrated steel producer in Weirton, West Virginia, and one of the world's largest producers of tin plate products LCCN2015631990.tif|thumb|left|A portion of the [[ISG Weirton Steel|Weirton Steel]] mill as seen in 2015.]]
Holliday's Cove Fort was a Revolutionary War fortification constructed in 1774 by soldiers from [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]]. It was located in what is now downtown Weirton, along Harmons Creek (named for Harmon Greathouse), about three miles from its mouth on the Ohio River. It was commanded by Colonel Andrew Van Swearingen (1741–1793) and later by his son-in-law, [[Samuel Brady|Captain Samuel Brady]] (1756–1795), the famous leader of Brady's Rangers. In 1779, over 28 militia were garrisoned at Hollidays Cove. Two years earlier, Colonel Van Swearingen led a dozen soldiers by longboat down the Ohio to help rescue the inhabitants of Ft. Henry in Wheeling in a siege by the British and Indian tribes in 1777. That mission was memorialized in a WPA-era mural painted on the wall of the Cove Post Office by Charles S. Chapman (1879–1962). The mural features Col. John Bilderback, who later gained infamy as the leader of the massacre of the Moravian Indians in Gnadenhutten in 1782.<ref>Every Home a Fort, Every Man a Warrior; Michael Edward Nogay (Tri-State Publishing Co.: 2009) {{ISBN|978-0-578-01862-1}}.</ref>

A small village called [[Hollidays Cove, West Virginia|Holliday's Cove]] — which is now most of downtown Weirton — was founded on the site in 1793. In 1909, [[Ernest T. Weir]] arrived from neighboring [[Pittsburgh]] and built a steel mill, later known as the [[ISG Weirton Steel|Weirton Steel Corporation]], just north of Holliday's Cove.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11159/1152019-60-2.stm |title=Filming of 'Super 8' creates a buzz in Weirton, W.Va. |website=postgazette.com |access-date=March 28, 2018}}</ref> An unincorporated settlement called Weirton grew up around the mill that, by 1940, was said to be the largest unincorporated city in the United States. By then Hollidays Cove and two other outlying areas,  Weirton Heights, and Marland Heights, which as their names suggest were on hilltops or ridges surrounding the "Weir–Cove" area, had also incorporated.

On July 1, 1947, all of these areas — Hollidays Cove, Marland Heights, Weirton Heights, and unincorporated Weirton — merged and formed the city of Weirton as it currently exists. [[Thomas E. Millsop]], the head of the Weirton Steel division of the other Ernest T. Weir company, [[National Steel Corporation]], was elected as the city's first mayor. The city charter was approved by voters in 1950.

The Weirton Steel Corporation was once a fully integrated [[steel mill]] employing over 12,000 people. At one point was the largest private employer and the largest taxpayer in West Virginia. Due to reorganization of the [[Iron and steel industry in the United States|steel industry]], not only within the United States but worldwide, the Weirton mill faced declines in production. During the early 1980s the employees of Weirton Steel endeavored to purchase the mill from [[National Steel Corporation]] as the largest [[Employee Stock Ownership Program]] in the nation, saving the mill from bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://weirton.lib.wv.us/hancock/weir/maryhweir/reference/usgovt/WeirHist.html |title=Weirton History: A Short History of the Weirton Area |author=Fundis, Lois Alete |access-date=October 30, 2008 |year=1992 |publisher=Mary H. Weir Public Library, Weirton, West Virginia |archive-date=October 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007235353/http://weirton.lib.wv.us/hancock/weir/maryhweir/reference/usgovt/WeirHist.html |url-status=dead }} Published since October 26, 2004.</ref> However, by 2003 the corporation was forced to file bankruptcy after generating more than $700 million in losses since 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/20/business/company-news-weirton-steel-files-for-bankruptcy-protection.html |title=WEIRTON STEEL FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION |author=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 20, 2003 |access-date=January 26, 2023 }}</ref> In 2004, [[International Steel Group]] acquired the 3,000-worker plant before merging with international giant [[ArcelorMittal]]. By 2016, only the [[tin-plating]] section of the mill, though still one of the country's largest tin-plate makers, was in operation with only 800 workers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wvnews.com/theet/news/local/weirton-s-steel-mill-relies-on-good-employees-to-beat-the-odds/article_f5337bd3-e6de-50be-91ba-b5bb48cdef11.html |title=Weirton's steel mill relies on good employees to beat the odds |author=Harris, Linda |publisher=[[The State Journal (West Virginia)|The State Journal]] |date=December 4, 2016 |access-date=January 26, 2023 }}</ref> In 2020, Ohio-based [[Cleveland-Cliffs]] purchased the tin mill.<ref>{{Cite press release | url=http://www.clevelandcliffs.com/English/news-center/news-releases/news-releases-details/2020/Cleveland-Cliffs-Inc.-Completes-Acquisition-of-ArcelorMittal-USA/default.aspx | title=Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. Completes Acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA | publisher=Cleveland-Cliffs | date=December 9, 2020}}</ref> In February 2024, Cleveland-Cliffs announced permanent closure of the mill and layoff of its remaining 800 workers.<ref name="Steinbach">{{cite news |last=Steinbach |first=Bill |date=February 23, 2024 |title=USW finalizing support for employees affected by Cleveland Cliffs' Weirton plant closure |url=https://wtov9.com/news/local/usw-finalizing-support-for-employees-affected-by-cleveland-cliffs-weirton-plant-closure |work=[[WTOV-TV]] |location=Steubenville, Ohio |access-date=February 25, 2024}}</ref>

In May 2023, [[Form Energy]] began construction at the Weirton mill site for a manufacturing facility producing [[Metal–air electrochemical cell|iron-air batteries]] for electrical storage.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Noor |first=Dharna |date=August 14, 2023 |title=A renewable energy battery plant will rise in US where a steel mill once stood |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/14/weirton-west-virginia-battery-plant-steel-mill |access-date=September 17, 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Some civic leaders are attempting to attract businesses and homeowners from the neighboring [[Pittsburgh metropolitan area]], marketing Weirton as a [[bedroom community]], taking advantage of the close proximity to the [[Pittsburgh International Airport]] and [[Interstate 70]].

Weirton is home to a number of sites on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] including: [[Johnston-Truax House]], [[Marland Heights Park and Margaret Manson Weir Memorial Pool]], [[People's Bank (Weirton, West Virginia)|People's Bank]], [[Dr. George Rigas House]], and the [[Peter Tarr Furnace Site]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2009a}}</ref>