Editing Wheeling, West Virginia (section)

===Role as transportation hub===
[[File:Wheeling Suspension Bridge.jpg|thumb|Wheeling Suspension Bridge]]

The [[National Road]] arrived in Wheeling in 1818, linking the Ohio River to the Potomac River, and allowing goods from the Ohio Valley to flow through Wheeling and on to points east. As the endpoint of the National Road, Wheeling became a gateway to early westward expansion. In 1849 the [[Wheeling Suspension Bridge]] crossed the Ohio River and allowed the city to expand onto [[Wheeling Island]]. Lessons learned in constructing the bridge were used in the construction of the [[Brooklyn Bridge]]. Rail transportation reached Wheeling in 1853 when the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] connected Wheeling to Pennsylvania, Maryland, and markets in the Northeast. A new bridge connected the city to [[Bellaire, Ohio]], just across the river, and to western areas of the U.S.