West Virginia Explorer

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 around 1767 by Colonel Zackquill Morgan, son of Colonel Morgan Morgan, who is believed to have been 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 is believed to have been established in Morgantown around 1785. Morgantown was incorporated in 1785 as a Virginia town and reincorporated as a West Virginia city in 1901, at which time the adjacent communities of Seneca, Greenmont, and South Morgantown were annexed.

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 are adjacent to Morgantown but remain independent.

Map of Morgantown, West Virginia

[mappress mapid=”176″]

Regional Information

Morgantown is located in the Monongahela Valley Region in northern West Virginia.

Read Also

  • WVU researchers have already demonstrated that enhanced geothermal heat resources exist in and around Morgantown and across much of north-central, central, and northeastern West Virginia.

Recent Articles