Quincy Hill Stairs

03/19/2020

Today marks the 111th anniversary of the Quincy Hill tank disaster. Two people—a newlywed couple—died. Some accounts of the disaster say three people died, but none of those accounts name the third person. If you look carefully at the photos, you will see that some of the homes and buildings in the photos still exist.

I’ve never seen a definitive reason for the tanks failing, but one account mentioned people seeing lightening strike the tanks just before the failed.

03/19/2019

Today is the 110th anniversary of the disaster.

At 5:10 a.m. on March 19, 1909, Parkersburg's two reserve water tanks, sitting atop Prospect Hill (now Quincy Hill), burst and sent two million gallons of water cascading down the side of the hilll and into the streets of the city. Each tank, made of iron and sitting on a stone foundation, was 40 fe...

12/22/2016

It's the most wonderful time of the year.....

05/18/2015

Why old places matter

In this Exposure piece, we explore Tom Mayes' answers to the question, "Why do old places matter?"

12/30/2014

11/24/2014

Here are the results of the survey.

Should the City of Parkersburg sell any of the land adjacent to the Quincy Hill stairs, which was donated to the city by the Postlewaites, to Mr. Clyde Way so he can build a garage?

182 answers

No way, no how, never. 157 votes 86.3%

Sell but with restrictions such as the city has to use the money from the sale of the land to Mr. Way to add features to the Quincy Hill Park. Make these restrictions absolutely binding on the city and Mr. Way. 21 votes 11.5%

Sell Mr. Way the land without any restrictions
of any kind. 4 votes 2.2%

11/19/2014

The gazebo is gone; moved to the top of the hill, due to a request by Mr. Way because he thought it attracted teenagers who used it as a place to do drugs. The city moved the gazebo to its current location on top on the hill in the children's playground section of Quincy Hill Park. Mr. Way now wants the city to sell him a strip of land next to where the gazebo used to sit, so he can build a double car garage there. What do you think about this? Take the survey!

https://apps.facebook.com/my-surveys/qnlpvt?from=admin_wall

At the city council meeting tonight, 13 people spoke on the issue of selling the strip of land adjacent to Quincy Hill stairs to Mr. Way to build a garage. Of the 13, 12 spoke against it; only one supported the land sale. What's your opinion on the issue? Here's YOUR chance to say what yo

11/16/2014

The city council will be voting on this issue again Tuesday night, November 18th at 7:30. If you want to see the property in question remain part of Quincy Hill Park, please make your wishes known by contacting your city council members to let them know. Those who can attend the city council meeting on Tuesday evening might want to take the opportunity to weigh in on this issue also.


http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/599571/

PARKERSBURG — The question of whether to sell a piece of downtown property some believe should be part of Quincy Hill Park apparently isn’t settled...

03/19/2014

One hundred and twelve years ago, on this day, this happened:

This link takes you to an article that was published in the June 5, 1909 issue of Scientific American magazine about the disaster. The article is courtesy of the Electric Earl website: http://www.electricearl.com/parkersburg/quincyhill-SciAm.html

03/02/2014

Taken by Steve Wellman. View of Parkersburg and Belpre at night from the top of Quincy Hill Stairs.

10/01/2013

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

It's possible to travel back in time though historic materials (not in body--at least not at this time!). On the 1873 and 1877 maps of Parkersburg, Quincy Hill was called Prospect Hill.