Until the Treaty of Paris in 1763, what is now known as Morgantown was greatly contested by white settlers and Native Americans, and by British and French soldiers.

The treaty decided the issue in favor of the British, but Indian fighting continued almost to the beginning of the American Revolutionary War in 1775.

Zackquill and David lived here for a few years and eventually built Fort Morgan in present-day Downtown Morgantown in 1772.

[citation needed] Zackquill Morgan settled the area about 1772 by establishing a homestead near present-day Fayette Street and University Avenue.

By 1783, following his wartime duties, Colonel Morgan commissioned Major William Haymond to survey his land and divide it into streets and lots.

Colonel Morgan then received a legal certificate for 400 acres (160 hectares) in the area of his settlement near the mouth of Decker's Creek.

[citation needed] Notable early structures still standing in Morgantown, include the Old Stone House, built in 1795 by Jacob Nuce on Long Alley (the modern-day Chestnut Street)[9] and the John Rogers family home on Foundry Street, built in 1840 and occupied as of 2011 by the Dering Funeral Home.

[10] During the 1970s, the U.S. Department of Transportation built an experimental driverless personal rapid transit system in the city, citing the area's variable seasonal climate and geographic elevations as factors in testing the technology's viability.

Close to the downtown campus of West Virginia University and for decades known as a neighborhood of student housing, is also the scene of many off-campus parties and post-game celebrations including, until 1995, the unsanctioned annual back-to-school block party that would annually draw upward of 10,000 revelers to celebrate the start of fall classes.

[13][15] The City of Morgantown and West Virginia University jointly established the Sunnyside Up Project: Campus Neighborhoods Revitalization Corporation, dedicated to the redevelopment of this area.

The area saw a rapid growth in population at the beginning of the 20th century as home to tinsmiths from Wales who came to work in the tinplate mill that later became the Sterling Faucet Company plant in Sabraton.

In its early days, Sabraton was connected to downtown Morgantown by a trolley line that ran the length of Richwood Avenue.

Winters are cool to cold with a January daily mean temperature of 32.0 °F (0.0 °C), an average annual snowfall of 27.6 inches (70 cm) and 1.3 nights of sub-0 °F (−18 °C) readings.

[24] West Virginia University constitutes 913 acres (369 hectares) of the city and vicinity, and with the fall 2012 enrollment added an additional population of 29,707 students.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,[citation needed] Morgantown had some of the lowest unemployment rates in the United States as of early 2009.

[30] Core Arboretum is owned by West Virginia University and consists of mostly old-growth forest on steep hillside and Monongahela River flood plain.

It includes densely wooded areas with 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of walking trails, as well as three acres (1.2 hectares) of lawn planted with specimen trees.

[32] Athletic centers include Milan Puskar Stadium and WVU Coliseum, the home West Virginia Mountaineers football and basketball teams, respectively.

With an operating budget of approximately $1.2 billion as of 2022,[35] it also has $150 million annually in sponsored contracts and research grants conducted by faculty members.

Some basic 2021 figures regarding the student body are: The 2022–2023 curriculum is supported by 13 colleges and schools offering 350 bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degree programs in the arts and sciences; business and economics; creative arts; engineering and mineral resources; human resources and education; journalism; law; agriculture, forestry, and consumer sciences; dentistry; medicine; nursing; pharmacy; physical education; plus programs at Potomac State College and WVU Tech.

Three of Monongalia County's 23 schools have earned Exemplary Achievement status, according to the West Virginia Office of Educational Performance Audits' (OEPA) report issued November 2004.

A Roman Catholic elementary school, Saint Francis de Sales, began sometime prior to 1915 as a two-room school in a house on McLane Avenue in the Seneca neighborhood, and run by lay teacher Miss Sterbutsal, who became Sister M. Isabelle of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

In October 1915, the pastorate of Father Peter Flynn arranged for Ursuline nuns from Louisville, Kentucky, and in 1918, under principal Sister M. Isadore, the school moved to a new building on Beechurst Avenue, adjacent to St. Theresa's Church.

[46] The Academy moved to a new two-story building in 1830, with principal Jonathan Haddock offering courses in geography, surveying, and navigation in addition to traditional subjects.

Presbyterian minister Reverend James Robertson Moore was principal during the Academy's 1852–1864 heyday, when its enrollment included students from 14 states.

However, a two-tier system was created: White children attended a regular term (at the second former Monongalia Academy building, purchased in 1867 from West Virginia Agricultural College, the future West Virginia University), only a short term was provided for African-Americans, who met at St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Church, on Beechurst Avenue.

The university-owned and student-run college newspaper, The Daily Athenaeum, is published on weekdays while classes are in session, and is provided free of charge on campus and to many businesses around Morgantown.

The only active rail line near Morgantown is owned by Norfolk Southern with CSX trackage rights and serves a mine northwest of Rivesville, West Virginia.

Coal is the major commodity, with a train serving local chemical industries such as Tanner and Addivant (formerly Chemtura) that require tank cars.

CSX uses it mostly to bring trains from Grafton to load at Consol's Bailey Mine and for direct access to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.