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My first recollection of ever crossing the Wheeling Suspension Bridge was in the back of my parents’ old DeSoto. The car was white and green and had one of those problem-plagued push-button gearshifts. While there may have been weight and height restrictions on the bridge at that time, I only remember the signs instructing cars to maintain 50 feet between one another.

I believe we were headed to one of the circus performances that were held at the Island Stadium in the blazing heat of a July afternoon. However, prior to making our way to the stadium, our parents made sure to take us down to South Wheeling to see the circus elephants and other animals disembark from the train parked there.

That event often drew as many if not more gawkers. It wasn’t everyday that you could see and hear lions, tigers, elephants and show horses up close. The animals often were paraded up through town and across the Suspension Bridge to the Island Stadium.

My dad told us a story (folklore?) about how one of the largest elephants put one foot on the Suspension Bridge and refused to walk across the swaying bridge. I’m not sure how true that was, but perhaps the animal knew better than the humans.

I was fortunate enough to have been to the circuses that featured the high wire acts of the famed Flying Wallendas family. Only when tragedy struck the high wire family locally did we think twice about going to the circus again. Even so, we always went to meet the circus train.

My next serious encounter with the Suspension Bridge came when I was a freshman in high school at Wheeling Central. Since our football team played its games at the Island Stadium, many students walked from downtown to the Island via the bridge. A girlfriend and I decided to make the trek on a fall Friday night. As we started across the bridge, we made the mistake of looking down. We both froze.

At that time, the sidewalk of the bridge was a metal grate-like surface. If you looked down, you could see the flowing waters of the Ohio River. There was no turning back as people walking behind us kept yelling at us to move. We did, ever so slowly. It probably took us 40 minutes to get to the other side of the bridge. Most people could do it in 10 minutes.

Now more than 50 years later, it’s sad to see that the bridge has been abused by errant drivers — so much so that vehicles are no longer allowed to cross the span. It’s good to see that it is getting the attention it needs to at least open it for the brave souls who want to walk across it. Sorry, that still won’t include me.

Heather Ziegler can be reached via email at hziegler@theintelligencer.net.

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