page_title: Morgantown, West Virginia
section_title: Woodburn
hierarchical_section_title: Morgantown, West Virginia / Geography / Neighborhoods / Woodburn
caption_attribution_description: English: Downtown Morgantown from North High Street. Created by myself. September, 2010.
context_page_description: Morgantown is the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. West Virginia University is located in the city. The population was 29,660 at the 2010 Census Bureau, making Morgantown the largest city in North-Central West Virginia. The Morgantown metropolitan area has a population of 138,176.
context_section_description: Woodburn used to be farmland on the hills to the east of downtown Morgantown. It encompasses the area enclosed by Richwood Avenue in the south and Willey Street in the north. Monongalia Avenue serves as the western boundary and the eastern boundary begins in the south at the intersection of Richwood Avenue and Darst Street, and continues north until Darst intersects with Willey Street at the beginning of the Mileground.
  While it used to be home to small hillside farmsteads, Woodburn grew into a typical city neighborhood in the late 19th century. Many of the street names, such as Louise Avenue, James Street, and Ridgeway Avenue, are named for early farm families, and many of the original farmhouses remained standing in the first decade of the 21st century. 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. A trolley line ran the length of Richwood Avenue and originally connected downtown with Sabraton. The Welsh community was active in the Methodist Church at the intersection of High Street and Willey Street, and held picnics in Whitemoore Park, the main green space in Woodburn.  Many of these immigrants retained the Welsh language, and as late as the 1930s it was common to hear Welsh spoken on the streets of Woodburn and the community was known for carrying on a traditional eisteddfod every year.  Woodburn Elementary School was the neighborhood school built in 1910.
  Following World War II, many new families came to Woodburn, attracted by the parkland, close proximity to downtown, community atmosphere, and nearby school. In 1950, Tom and Anna Torch opened the Richwood Avenue Confectionery, a corner store and lunch counter that served beer in large Weiss goblets from the Morgantown Glassworks.  When they sold the operation in 1963 to Mario and Rose Spina, the establishment was nicknamed "Marios Fishbowl" in honor of the goblets.
  A neighborhood newspaper was published here in the 1980s.
caption: Downtown Morgantown from Fife Avenue
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