Schmulbach Building
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Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation (Schmulbach Building)
1904–1907, Giesey and Faris. 1134 Market St.
On December 22, 1904, Manufacturers Record reported: “Giesey & Faris have prepared plans for [a] 12-story 100 × 127 office building for Henry Schmulbach, to cost $500,000.” The Columbus, Ohio, firm of Caldwell and Drake served as the general contractor, and Wheeling's own Riverside Bridge Company supplied structural steel for the frame. The Martin Brick Company of Pittsburgh provided face brick, L. Schrieber and Sons of Cincinnati supplied ornamental iron, and Otis furnished the elevators. The Schmulbach Building was sponsored by and named for Wheeling brewery owner and entrepreneur Henry Schmulbach. When completed, it was regarded as the state's largest office building. After almost a century, it remains the largest office building in Wheeling.
Surprisingly restrained, even a bit boring, the H-shaped high-rise has several horizontal belt courses that attempt to arrest its vertical thrust. The first two stories are faced in granite, those above in cream-colored brick. Several years after the building was completed, the Wheeling Steel Corporation took over its operation, and the building now serves a successor company.
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