Independence Hall - Wheeling, West Virginia - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

Text of marker

Independence Hall
Beginning of Statehood

This building erected as a Federal custom house in 1859, is known as West Virginia Independence Hall. Considered the birthplace of West Virginia, it is the site of a series of events that led to the state's creation in 1863.

In spring and summer 1861, this building was the home of the Second Wheeling Convention, at which delegates formed a pro-Union government of Virginia.  The custom house was the capitol for this government until June 1863, and it was the meeting place of a constitutional convention for West Virginia in the fall of 1861.

The separation of West Virginia from Virginia was the only change in the map of the United States brought about by the Civil War.  Events that took place at the custom house during the war raised constitutional and political issues still debated today.

Union victories of the First Campaign in June and July of 1861 pushed Confederate forces back across the Allegheny Mountains, allowing the West Virginia statehood movement to proceed amid the relative safety of Wheeling.

This restored National Historic Landmark now houses period rooms and exhibitions that interpret the site's historic and architectural significance.

Fifty-seven elected delegates attend the Second Wheeling Convention, which convened on June 11, 1861.  On June 20, 1861, the Restored Government of Virginia was established in Wheeling.  Francis H. Pierpont was elected governor.