Marsh Wheeling Stogies (Wheeling, WV) – This spectacular scaffold sign sits perched atop a 5-story brick building and is the first thing you see as you cross the Fort Henry Bridge from Ohio into West Virginia. Although the building has been vacant since the M. Marsh & Sons Company closed its doors in 2001, the company’s 160 year history making Marsh Wheeling Stogies remains a source of pride for Wheelingites. It was the oldest US cigar manufacturer in still operating under its original name in the same city. In 1840, Marsh’s mild and inexpensive stogies were sold four for a penny to travelers on the Ohio River and their popularity grew quickly all over the US. By the 1940s, the company hit a peak of approximately 600 employees. I was fortunate enough to run into two local historians during my brief stop, both of whom shared fond memories of the plant’s glory days and concern over what the future holds for this now vacant building.
LOCATION:
- Neon Signs
- Vintage Signs
