In the case of The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad v. The City of Parkersburg, 1924, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city. This dispute arose when Parkersburg imposed a tax on all tangible property within its jurisdiction which included certain railroad bridges owned by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company (B&O). B&O argued that these bridges were not taxable as they were instrumentalities of interstate commerce. However, the court held that while it was true that states could not impede or burden interstate commerce through taxation or otherwise, this did not exempt properties used for such purposes from bearing their fair share of local tax burdens. Therefore, even though B&O's bridges facilitated interstate commerce, they still constituted real estate situated within West Virginia and hence subject to state taxation laws.

The dissenting opinion in the case of The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad v. The City of Parkersburg argued that the majority's decision was based on a misinterpretation of West Virginia law. They contended that the state's laws did not grant cities such as Parkersburg the authority to impose taxes on railroad companies for their use of public streets, particularly when these railroads were already paying significant amounts in other forms of taxation. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority’s view that this tax could be justified as a fee for using city property; instead, they saw it as an attempt by local authorities to generate revenue from entities outside their jurisdictional boundaries. This dissenting opinion expressed concern about potential negative impacts on interstate commerce if municipalities were allowed to levy additional taxes or fees on businesses operating within their limits but also crossing state lines.