{"id":1201,"date":"2015-05-10T14:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-05-10T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2015-05-25T14:22:30","modified_gmt":"2015-05-25T14:22:30","slug":"they-used-to-make-things-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/they-used-to-make-things-here","title":{"rendered":"They Used To Make Things Here"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The Haunting and Strangely Beautiful Decay of Wheeling\u2019s Hazel-Atlas Factory<\/h2>\n
\n

On a sunny spring morning, we entered the belly of the sprawling complex. Current owner, Frank Calabrese, ushered a small group of Wheeling history devotees, myself included, through a dark garage door entrance. On the other side of an aisle lined with architectural salvage, we emerged, bathed once again in sunlight, into the expansive courtyard of Wheeling\u2019s Hazel-Atlas factory.<\/p>\n

\"Panoramic<\/a>
Panoramic view overlooking the courtyard of the Wheeling Hazel-Atlas factory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Only once surrounded by the four walls of the inner sanctum, did I truly get a sense of how large this former cathedral of industry is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Panoramic<\/a>
360 degree panoramic view from the courtyard of the Wheeling Hazel-Atlas factory shows the sprawling complex in its entirety.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is something about the contrast of sheer size of certain places and the realization of our own individual smallness that is akin to religion. Something that takes our breath away for a split second and inspires us to utter the word awesome in the way it was meant to be used. I have experienced this feeling while watching clouds roll by from the peaks of mountaintops, sitting in solemn pews in empty cathedrals, peering out into seemingly unending oceans. And I have experienced this feeling, once again, winding through the labyrinthine halls of the Hazel-Atlas factory.<\/p>\n

\"Frank<\/a>
Frank Calabrese looks pensively on outside of the Hazel-Atlas factory he owns.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The impressive complex, which sits just beyond the Route 2 overpass near 19th Street, had a rather humble beginning as a single story building, the first of many to be built by The Wheeling Hinge Company. Incorporated in June of 1865, according to an 1886 article in the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, this humble start did not last long.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [Wheeling Hinge] Company purchased two lots at the corner of Nineteenth [formerly Lindsley] and Jacob [formerly Sixth] streets, and erected a one-story frame building on Jacob street 35 by 150 feet, and commenced with one set of machinery to manufacture strap and T hinges. In the fall of 1866 it was found necessary to increase the facilities for handling the product of the factory, and the large three-story brick building 35 by 100 feet was added. In the spring of 1874 another addition of 35 by 150 feet was added to the factory and additional machinery place therein. The main building, under one roof, is now 70 by 250 feet, three stories in front and one story in rear. On the same lot are five other buildings, used for various purposes in the manufacture of their product.1<\/sup>\u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n