Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1901-11-23
HOW 1T LOOKED.
Impressions Made by the City
of Morgantown
On Captain Kyle STAFF Correspondent of
the Intelligencer-lI lie il Very Much
Taken with it-A Brilliant Future
ahead of the Town aud County.

the Inteliigencer-He Ii Very Muct
Taken with it-A Brilliant Future
ahead of the Town aud County.
Recently Captain Hugh 4. Kyle of
Fairmont state representative OF the
lntelligeneer was here and sent his
paper long story about Morgantown.
The following is the result of his oh.
servations while here:
Until recently, 1t was the prevailing
opinion among business men that d
college town was worse than no town
at all, Ii manufacturers sought a
new location they kept far from a town
that contained college or uniyer.
sity, and some were so opposed to II
that they would choose town with
fewer shipping facilities. But not SO
now, and the home OF West Virginia's
University is practical demonstra-
tion of the change In opinion, for
here are factories of all kinds, and
more are yet to come.
Among the new proposed improve
ments are a street car line, railroad
aud zig glass plant, aside from sew.
eral lesser factories TO locate here.
Morgantown possesses several big
industries which are mentioned In
detail hereafter. As TO the town It,
SELF, it has miles of paved streets, an
electric light plant, water works,
natural gas, coal and all the conven-
fences that go to make up pretty
home town, and place for manufac.
turers TO locate.
A noticeable feature is the great
number of pretty homes all painted
bright and new, and lawns In such
order az To make one think of some
metropolitan park. There are no
saloons, aud this is an inducement t J
a man raising family, or 10 school
| INK youth that is of great Importance.
! On the streets are not seen the many
bar room loafers, but every man you
meet Is one that seems to be thinking
OF home and It's comforts and II 1t Is
after business hours. he Is on his way
home, To pass his evenings with a
lovely wife and an interesting family.
1t does man good to go to Morgan
town and take look"
Monongalia county OF which Nor
gantown is the county seat, Is one OF
/ the wealthiest counties In the state
in natural resources, and upon the
fact that such an Insignificant portion
OF them has been taken from its hill
sides and valleys Is largely based the
faith Ia the future OF Morgantown.
The area OF The county is nearly /, 900
square miles Every foot Of 1t is un-
derlaid with coal. Three-fourths OF
1t IS underlaid with three veins--the
Pittsburg or nine foot vein, the upper
Freeport vein and the lower Freeport
vein. The Pittsburg vein reaches a
thickness of sixteen feet in places,
and short distance north Of Margan-
town crops out to the surface.
The oil development has shown
Morgantown To be rich Ia the greasy
product. Clay and Battelle districts
form the oil belt. The Standard Oil
Company is largely, interested In the
development but some OF the best
leases are owned by Courtney & Nc.
Dermott private local capitalists
One gets some idea of the extent of
the oil production and the greatness
OF the Standard Oil Company by
simply looking over its pumping sta
tion property, located one mile south
OF Morgantown. The station is one
OF the five which take the oil from
West Virginia fields to PHILADELPHIA
by way OF pipe lines. The property
here is scattered over 100 acres Of
land. On this are thirty five tanks
with a total capacity OF 1000, 900
barrels OF oil.
The days OF excitement, incident to
the early stages OF oil production In a
new field, have passed, but the solid
business which it left behind is boon
to both the operator and the farmer.
1t Is estimated that the natural gas
in Monongalia county will last half a
century with economic usage. In
deed, the supply has scarcely been
touched, as Morgantown has been
pumping its supply from Mount Nor
ris, Pa. The Union Gas and water
Company owns and distributes the
gas used In Morgantown. In farm
houses on the west side IF the river 1t
is a usual thing to see gas Used for fuel
and lighting purposes.
The county is rich In hard wood.
timber, fire clay, limestone AMI glass
sand. The hills prevent grain raising,
soil is well adapted to grazing pur-
poses ard the kfinest cattle shipped
from West Virginia go from this
county. Fruit OF all kinds, especially
the apple, is found here In abundance
.and many farmers realize comfortable
incomes from vegetable gardening.
The railroad facilities OF Morgan
town, while not elaborate, are ade-
quate. 1t was not until 1885 that a
railroad came into the town, but dur
ing that year the Baltimore & Ohio
Company built a branch from its
main line at F'airmont, a distance of
stwenty-six miles. In 1898 the COM
pauy extended the branch northward
TO Uniontown, Pa, q distance Of
thirty.three miles, to connect with
the branch line 1t had already extend.