MOUNT WOOD CEMETERY, Mount Wood Rd., is on the steep slopes of Wheeling Hill, near the spot where Major Samuel McCulloch leaped over the precipice, and where tradition says Ebenezer Zane halted on his first westward trip to view the Ohio River and valley. From the cemetery there is an excellent view of the city, surrounding hills and valleys, and distant towns in Ohio. Many of the old-fashioned slaps covering the tops of graves are so weather-beaten that their inscriptions are illegible. Sepulchres that open into the steep hillsides are sealed with heavy stone or wooden doors fastened by rusty padlocks. Hundreds of flags indicate graves of war veterans, and massive monuments the graves of prominent citizens. A marble monument marks the grave of Dr. Simon P. Hullihen (1810-57), often called the 'Father of Oral Surgery.' Dr. Hullihen was the first doctor to confine his practice to surgery dealing with the mouth, nose, and throat. Much of the modern technique in dealing with hare-lip, cleft palate, and fractured jaw has developed from his discoveries. He invented several dental and surgical instruments and made improvements in others. from 1835 to 1857 he was a resident of Wheeling and was instrumental in having a hospital organized in the city, the first given a charter in what is now West Virginia -West Virginia: A Guide to the Mountain State, 1941, pg. 293.
The Mount Wood Cemetery continued to be active until about 1950 when burials declined significantly and were infrequent starting in the 1970s. The cemetery went into decline and vandalism caused significant damage. The cemetery was transferred to the City of Wheeling in the 1970s and upkeep was improved. The last burial was in 2003. The cemetery was founded in 1848 however was a family cemetery before then with first burial in 1831. There are gravestones with earlier dates because many graves were relocated to this cemetery from other cemeteries. The earliest stone dates to 1817. The cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.