Moundsville

City and seat of Marshall County, in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia; population (1990) 10,800. The city lies 19 km/12 mi south of Wheeling along the Ohio River.

Moundsville is situated in an area rich in coal, salt, and natural gas. It contains one of the main factories in the country producing hand-blown glass. Settled in 1771, the city grew up around Grave Creek Mound, one of the largest conical Indian mounds (see Moundbuilder) in the USA (standing 21 m/69 ft high, and some 275 m/900 ft in circumference).