Monongalia County Courthouse

Monongalia County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located in Morgantown, Monongalia County, West Virginia. The courthouse was erected in 1784 with the current structure built in 1891. This Romanesque style building consists of a two-story building with a basement, five-story clock tower and a three-story South tower. The building measures at 99’ by 83’ by 99’ by 76’ with the first story at fifteen feet high and the second story at twenty-two feet high. The distinctive central clock tower has a pyramidal roof, four doomed buttresses, stone molds over the four clocks and tower windows, arcade belfry, and quatrefoil design with the building date. The original northern facade was covered by an addition built in 1925 with another addition built in 1975. Connected to the courthouse is a two-story Italianate style jailhouse built in 1881.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It is located in the Downtown Morgantown Historic District, listed in 1996.HistoryThe Monongalia County Courthouse, located at 243 High Street, predates the town of Morgantown, West Virginia by one year. The Romanesque building is the fourth courthouse built on the same site and serves as the headquarters of the county government. The first two buildings were frame structures with the first being built in 1784 costing $250 and the second in 1796 after a fire destroyed the building. The frame structure building was succeeded by a two-story brick building completed in 1802. The courthouse was then replaced by another two-story brick building in 1848 costing $6,500. In 1851 a wooden statue of Patrick Henry was placed on top of the courthouse in honor of his governance of the state of Virginia in 1776 when the county of Monongalia was created. This statue is currently standing in the turret of the present courthouse.