Located just south of Morgantown's downtown commercial center, South Park is one of Morgantown's first suburbs and the first neighborhood in Monongalia County to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was nominated and added to the register in 1990 because of its preservation of most of the houses through strict deeds. South Park was added because of the distinctive post-Victorian style used throughout the neighborhood.
Kern's Fort, also known as Michael Kerns' cabin, was built by Michael Kerns in 1772 and is the first permanent and oldest extant structure in the Morgantown area. The site acquired its name for the now absent wooden fortifications erected around it in 1774 to ward off attacks from Native Americans. The fort served as a gathering point for local settlers on the west side of the Monongahela, though it was never a site of active combat. The cabin later became a home for various West Virginia University professors and students. The small cabin is constructed of rubble sandstone, wooden clapboard, asphalt shingles, and features a brick chimney and porch.Various renovations have taken place over the years. Kern's Fort is registered as a location of historical significance on a statewide and national level (added to the National Register of Historic Places in April 1993).
Following his decision to donate his elaborate mansion known as "Pietro's Castle" to the Franciscans in 1949, this Morgantown house became the home of Italian American advocate and local businessman Thoney Pietro. Pietro was born Ferdinando Pitassi in Genoa, Italy in 1878. He learned stonemasonry from his grandfather before immigrating to the United States in 1896 and initially settling in Pittsburgh. Pietro quickly established himself as a master mason and moved to Morgantown, where he created the Thoney Pietro Construction Company. This company was responsible for many of the major roads and other infrastructure features in Morgantown. Pietro is best known locally for his home near Cheat Lake, which resembles a castle and is known as Pietro’s Castle. Pietro was an outspoken advocate for Italian-Americans and workers' rights. The Thoney Pietro House is significant in the ways it reflects Pietro’s life, values, and legacy.
This neo-classically styled home was once the residence of West Virginia Senator, Waitman T. Willey, and was built in 1839. Willey is best known as one of the founding fathers of West Virginia and was one of the first two U.S. Senators to represent the new state when it was created in the midst of the Civil War. One of Willey's most impactful accomplishments was resolving debates about West Virginia’s status in the Union regarding slavery. While West Virginia was attempting to enter the Union with slavery intact, some Northern Congressmen had indicated that they would only support statehood if West Virginia's state constitution barred slavery. Willey hoped to resolve the differences in his state between opponents of slavery such as himself and those who wished to avoid the subject or continue slavery by proposing an amendment for the gradual elimination of slavery. The amendment passed, and West Virginia entered the Union. Willey was such a prominent representative of the Union that a major goal of the Confederate Jones-Imboden raid of the Morgantown area was to destroy Willey's home along with the Morgantown suspension bridge. The attack on Willey's home was stopped by his wife when she told the Confederate soldiers that Willey was not there, and then invited them into her home to be fed after they made an agreement that the house would not be burned down. A double-sided historical marker stands near the Willey House, one side commemorating the Willey Amendment, and the other discussing the house itself.
Constructed in 1860, this historic home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places owing to its second owner, educator Alexander Wade. Wade lived in this house from 1872 to 1904 during which he developed what became known as the "Wade System," a set of promotional examinations and graduation designed for country schools. He began testing this system in 1874, and by 1876 he was using the system in area schools. The apparent success of the system as determined by test results gained national attention and many schools throughout the nation adopted his system. Wade's book, "A Graduation System for Country Schools," was published in 1881. The book outlined his ideas for a more comprehensive system which was adopted by the state of West Virginia in 1891.
Located in downtown Morgantown, West Virginia, 76 High Street is a Queen Anne Revival that was built in 1895 as a home for the West Virginia University dean of the School of Engineering. With the exception of an addition on the back of the building, it has retained its original facade. The building is currently home to Bel-Cross Properties, a property management and real estate firm. Beginning in the fall of 2001 and lasting through June 30, 2016 the building was the location of Cafe Bacchus, a local restaurant that was known to host a Titanic dinner in honor of former resident, Lucian Philip Smith, who died during the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Before that, it was home to the Demanielis—descendants of Greek immigrants to Morgantown—who had decided to transform their home into The Flame Steakhouse, a restaurant that operated for over 30 years.
A branch of the Morgantown Public Library established in 2004 and dedicated to local history and genealogy, the Aull Center is located in the historic Garlow House. The house was built in 1907 and was home to the family of Aaron J. Garlow, president of the Second National Bank. Researchers at the Aull Center are welcome to explore collections of books, photo albums, yearbooks, and a plethora of family histories. The Aull Center is also home to the J. D. Rechter Holocaust Memorial Library and a portion of the Appalachian Prison Book Project collection. The building serves the public as a research center and forum for discussing the past.
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The Rogers House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 due to its local historical significance. The brick Classical Revival house was built in the 1850s and is one of the last remaining residences from this time period in downtown Morgantown. A wooden addition was built in 1905-1906. Elmer F. Jacobs, a prolific local architect, designed the addition and an interior remodel completed at the same time. The Rogers House has served as home to several prominent Morgantown residents and has been a campus ministry center since the 1980s.
Originally built between 1900 and 1901 for local Morgantown resident Mary S. Walters, the building and land that has housed West Virginia University's Rohr Chabad Jewish Center since 2007 earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The brick late-Queen Anne Revival structure is one of the last remaining residences from this time period in downtown Morgantown, during which many local elites built elaborate homes around the core of what was then the area's business district. The house served as a private residence, boarding house, fraternity house, campus ministry building, and business office, before its purchase for the use of the Rohr Chabad Jewish Center in 2007.
Designed by Uniontown, Pennsylvania architect John Charles Fulton in 1904 as a new residence for West Virginia University’s presidents, the building known as Purinton House on the school’s downtown campus is an eclectic blend of Colonial Revival and Neo-Classical styles. The building takes its moniker from its first occupant, Daniel Boardman Purinton, who purchased the land on which it stands from Dr. Israel Charles White (West Virginia’s first state geologist and one of the university’s first students when it was founded in 1867). Despite initial protests from university members who considered the expenditure unnecessary (particularly within the context of President Purinton’s aggressive expansion of the downtown campus more generally), Purinton House quickly became a fixture in university life. While the building serves as a window into the history of geological science and the university itself through its associations with Dr. White and President Purinton, however, it is also notable as the location of President William Howard Taft’s “World Wide Speech” in 1911. Purinton House remained the residence of WVU’s presidents until 1967 when it became for a time the headquarters for the Alumni Association. It currently houses the university’s International Students & Scholars Services program.
The Vance Farmhouse is one of the few remaining historic farmhouses in the Morgantown area. It was built in 1854 by Addison S. Vance on 110 acres of West Virginia farmland. It was owned by a few other family members before acquired by West Virginia University in 1899 to serve as an experimental farm, helping fulfill the mission of the University as a land-grant institution. The Vance Farmhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.
This tour spans over two and a half centuries of historic Morgantown homes. From Kern's Fort – the oldest extant structure in Morgantown – to the relatively newer Thoney Pietro House, a variety of periods and architectural styles are represented.
