When I first started taking pictures of Indiana’s county courthouses, I never imagined the hobby would take me all the way to a chain of them in West Virginia. Hoosier borders felt plenty wide enough, but life had a funny way of expanding my map: seven years ago, a cousin’s wedding gave me the perfect excuse to cross several state lines and see what lay beyond. As I wound through the hills, I couldn’t resist pulling over for a few shots. One of the buildings I found was the Monongalia County Courthouse in Morgantown. 

Monongalia County was formed in 1776, when Virginia’s far-flung District of West Augusta was carved into three new counties: Ohio, Yohogania, and Monongalia. Each was named after the river that defined it¹, and each was enormous! At its founding, Monongalia County covered a swath of what’s now north-central West Virginia and even reached into parts of Pennsylvania.

At first, the county seat was nothing more than the home of Theophilus Phillips, which stood two miles from what’s now Geneva, Pennsylvania². Officials eventually relocated to the residence of Zackquill Morgan, a homesteader who entered the area around 1767 and later rose to the rank of Colonel in the American Revolutionary War³. 

The county’s first courthouse in Morgantown was a simple frame building erected in 1784. A brick structure took its place eight years later, and a larger two-story brick courthouse followed in 1848. That third courthouse was still in service when West Virginia officially became a state in 1863, but only for another twenty-seven years: it was declared dangerous in 1884, so officials decided it was once again time to build something worthy of a new era⁴.

To bring their vision to life, commissioners turned to Pittsburgh architect James P. Bailey, a man making waves in architecture circles. Bailey earned acclaim for his work on Pennsylvania’s Butler County Courthouse in 1885⁵ and quickly built a reputation for crafting striking public buildings and churches⁶. Many of his designs, such as Old Main at Geneva College; First Presbyterian Church in South Bend, Indiana; and First Methodist Episcopal Church in Massillon, were designed as variants of the heavy-handed Richardsonian Romanesque style. It was characterized by heavy masonry, rounded arches, and asymmetrical, complex massing. 

Bailey’s Monongalia County Courthouse was completed in 1891 for $43,478. Facing east, the two-story building is predominantly composed of red brick. It’s anchored by a soaring five-story clock tower at its center and a three-story south tower that adds balance and depth to the skyline. The first floor stretches fifteen feet high and the second rises twenty-two, but it’s the tower that steals the show. Capped with a steep pyramidal roof, it features four domed buttresses, intricate moldings that frame each of its faces, and an arcaded belfry. Just below the summit, a quatrefoil carving displays the building’s construction date. The building was renovated in 1976, when a $1.5 million annex was added to its rear.

Unfortunately, the Morgan County Courthouse isn’t the easiest subject for photography. It sits tucked into a tight downtown block, hemmed in by a seven-story bank on one side and the eight-story Monongahela Building on the other. No matter where you stand, there’s always something towering over it or crowding the frame. I did the best I could with my photos. 

Still, something was fitting about the challenge. The courthouse may be surrounded by taller, newer neighbors, but it refuses to be overshadowed. Its arches, carvings, and proud clock tower still command attention, even in the narrowest sliver of sky. Standing beneath it, I admired how the building has held its own for well over a century. The courthouse remains a monumental presence in downtown Morgantown today.

TL;DR
Monongalia County (pop. 109,198, 3/55)
Morgantown (pop. 30,347)
Built: 1891
Cost: $43,478 (about $1.5 million today).
Architect: James P. Bailey
Style:  Romanesque Revival
Courthouse Square: Lancaster Square
Height: Five stories
Current Use: County courts and offices
Photographed: 4/23/2018

Sources Cited
1 Wiley, S.T. (1883). History of Monongalia County, West Virginia. Preston Publishing Company [Kingwood]. Book. 
2 Deacon, J. “Monongalia County”. American Courthouses. 2008. Web. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
3 Core, E.L. (1976). The Monongalia Story: A Bicentennial History, Volume 1. McClain Printing Company [Parsons]. Book. 
4 (See footnote 2).
5 National Register of Historic Places, Butler County Courthouse, Butler, Butler County, Pennsylvania. National Register #77001132.
6 Tatman, S.L. (n.d.). Bailey, James P. (fl. ca. 1884 – 1907). Philadelphia Architects and Buildings. Web. Retrieved October 22, 2025.