Early Industry Takes Root
The original town occupied today’s downtown area, with small water-powered mills operating along Deckers Creek and the Monongahela River. Local red clay deposits supported an early pottery industry that became one of the region’s first significant export trades, bringing the settlement regional recognition by the early 1800s.
Steamboats and River Commerce Arrive
The first steamboat reached Morgantown in 1826, opening the town to substantial river traffic and connecting it commercially with Pittsburgh and points along the Ohio River system.
Morgantown Receives Its First City Charter
The Virginia General Assembly granted Morgantown its first city charter in 1838, when the town’s population stood at roughly 650 residents.
In 1867, four years after West Virginia became a state, the West Virginia Agricultural College was established in Morgantown under the federal Morrill Land-Grant Act; it was renamed West Virginia University the following year. The university transformed the small river town into an educational center and remains its defining institution today.
Railroads Spur Industrial Growth
The railroad reached Morgantown in 1886, dramatically accelerating the town’s growth and connecting it more directly to regional and national markets.
Coal Mining Reshapes the Regional Economy
Although coal deposits had long been known in the area, large-scale mining did not begin until the early twentieth century, when operations in the nearby Scott’s Run coalfield brought substantial industrial growth, new jobs, and waves of immigrant workers to Monongalia County.
The University Expands Through the Twentieth Century
West Virginia University grew steadily through the early and mid-1900s, adding new colleges, research facilities, and the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, which became an important regional medical training and research hub.
As WVU’s split downtown and Evansdale campuses grew increasingly congested with student traffic in the 1960s and 70s, the university and the U.S. Department of Transportation developed the Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system, the world’s first automated rapid transit system, which began carrying passengers in the 1970s and remains in daily use by students today.
Neighborhoods Grow Into the Modern City
Morgantown expanded over the twentieth century by annexing formerly independent communities, including Woodburn, South Park, Jerome Park, Greenmont, Suncrest, Evansdale, Sunnyside, and Sabraton, each of which retains its own distinct neighborhood identity within the city today.
Several structures from Morgantown’s earliest decades still stand today, including the Old Stone House, built prior to 1813 on what is now Chestnut Street, and the 1840 John Rogers House on Foundry Street. Downtown Morgantown’s historic core and the WVU campus together preserve the visible layers of the city’s development from frontier fort to university city.
Conclusion
Morgantown’s history spans Zackquill Morgan’s 1772 frontier settlement, its 1785 town charter, a century of river and rail commerce, and the founding of West Virginia University in 1867. The Personal Rapid Transit system and the university’s continued growth carried that history into the twentieth century and beyond, shaping the college town that exists today.
