Editing Wheeling, West Virginia (section)

===Establishment of European settlement===
During the fall of 1769, [[Ebenezer Zane]] explored the Wheeling area and established claim to the land via "[[Cabin rights|tomahawk rights]]", the practice of [[girdling]] a few trees at a prominent site and marking the bark with the initials or name of the person making the claim. He returned the following spring with his wife Elizabeth and his younger brothers, Jonathan and Silas; they established the first permanent European settlement in the Wheeling area, naming it Zanesburg. Other families joined the settlement, including the Shepherds (see [[Shepherd Hall (Monument Place)|Monument Place]]), the Wetzels, and the McCollochs (see [[McColloch's Leap]]).

[[File:View of Wheeling (West Virginia). From Chapline Hill (NYPL Hades-118826-54977).tif|thumb|[[Panoramic map]] of Wheeling from Chapline Hill in 1854 with list of sites]]

In 1787, the United States gave Virginia this portion of lands west of the Appalachians, and some to Pennsylvania at its western edge, to settle their claims. By the Northwest Ordinance that year, it established the [[Northwest Territory]] to cover other lands north of the Ohio River and west to the [[Mississippi River]]. Settlers began to move into new areas along the Ohio.

In 1793, Ebenezer Zane divided the town into lots, and Wheeling was officially established as a town in 1795 by legislative enactment. The town was incorporated on January 16, 1805. On March 11, 1836, the town of Wheeling was incorporated into the city of Wheeling.

By an act of the [[Virginia General Assembly]] on December 27, 1797, Wheeling was named the county seat of [[Ohio County, West Virginia|Ohio County]].<ref name="History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, West Virginia and Representative Citizens">{{cite book |editor=Cranmer, Hon. Gibson Lamb.| title=History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, West Virginia and Representative Citizens|orig-year=1902 |year= 1902|publisher= Biographical Publishing Company|location= Chicago}}</ref>