Morgantown, West Virginia

I.C. White Building, Morgantown, West Virginia, Monongalia County, Monongahela Valley Region — I.C. White Building, High Street, Morgantown

Morgantown, West Virginia (WV), the county seat of Monongalia County, was founded in about 1767 by Colonel Zackquill Morgan, son of Colonel Morgan Morgan, who was believed to be the first European to settle permanently in what would become West Virginia. The city is home to West Virginia University (WVU) and is one of the largest cities in West Virginia. In 2010, Forbes Magazine ranked it tenth among the best small U.S. cities for "business and careers." Business Insider named it the ninth best college town in America, and BizJournals.com named it the "No. 1 Small City in America."

The 1,892-acre university campus in Morgantown includes 245 buildings, eleven of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. More than 25,000 students annually attend WVU in Morgantown. Its resident population in 2014 was 31,073, according to the U.S. Census.

Lodging near Morgantown, West Virginia

Morgantown (WV) Hotels

History

Woodburn Hall at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV, Monongalia County, Monongahela Valley Region — Woodburn Hall, WVU

Morgantown was established along the Monongahela River below the mouth of Deckers Creek, on the banks of which Thomas Decker and his family were killed by natives in 1768. The first pottery west of the Appalachians was believed to have been started in Morgantown in about 1785. Morgantown was incorporated in 1785 as a Virginian town and reincorporated as a West Virginia city in 1901, at which time the adjacent communities of Seneca, Greenmont, and South Morgantown were annexed.
[vc_message style="square" message_box_color="mulled_wine" css_animation="fadeIn"]Morgantown is a favorite haunt of ghost hunters and is numbered among the most haunted locales in West Virginia. According to West Virginia Ghosts, a handful of Morgantown hauntings have become legendary.[/vc_message]

Location

Morgantown is located on highways US-19 and US-119 approximately 20 miles northeast of Fairmont, West Virginia, 50 miles southeast of Washington, Pennsylvania, and 70 miles west of Cumberland, Maryland. Expressways I-79, I-68, and WV-43 converge along the flanks of the city. The communities of Osage, Star City, Granville, Westover, and Sabraton adjoin Morgantown but are independent.