Some history, before we get to football:
As a guy who’s lived in the west for my entire life, I always felt familiarity with our opponents in the WAC, the MWC, and the PAC-12. Those are places known to me to one extent or another, especially the California schools, and the places like Wyoming, New Mexico, even West Texas, and the college a little bit south of us in Utah.
So in a fit of curiosity, I went to AI to learn more about Morgantown. What I learned kind of made me feel like I understood more about our opponent tomorrow. So here is what I learned from ChatGPT about Morgantown, and also about the state of West Virginia.
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Morgantown
Early Settlement
• Morgantown traces its roots back to 1772, when Colonel Zackquill Morgan established a settlement along the Monongahela River.
[Zackquill! What a name! I have a grandson coming in a few months. I’ll see if my daughter and son-in-law will consider that name for him. I have some doubts.]
• The area was attractive because of its fertile soil, waterways, and its position along early frontier routes.
• It was officially incorporated as a town in 1785 and later as a city in 1901.
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Growth Around the University
• The Morgantown Male and Female Academy was founded in the early 1800s, paving the way for higher education.
• In 1867, the newly created state of West Virginia established West Virginia University in Morgantown as its land-grant institution under the Morrill Act.
• WVU quickly became the focal point of the city’s identity, driving population growth, cultural life, and the economy.
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Industrial and Economic Development
• In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Morgantown benefitted from coal mining, glass manufacturing, and river transport.
• The arrival of the railroad further boosted industry.
• Over time, the city shifted from being an industrial hub to an education-, healthcare-, and technology-driven economy, with WVU’s research centers and hospitals at the core.
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Modern Morgantown
• Today, Morgantown is one of the fastest-growing areas in West Virginia, largely due to WVU and associated industries.
• It’s known for a vibrant college-town atmosphere, sports (especially Mountaineer football and basketball), and a strong sense of state pride.
• The Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system, a unique automated people mover built in the 1970s, connects campus and parts of the city—one of the only systems of its kind in the world.
West Virginia
[I’m fascinated by the Civil War, so the details of West VA’s birth as a state are interesting:]
Background
When the Civil War began in 1861, Virginia voted to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. But the western part of Virginia — mountainous, less dependent on slavery, and with closer economic and cultural ties to Pennsylvania and Ohio — had very different views. Many people there strongly opposed secession.
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The Wheeling Conventions
• In May 1861, delegates from northwestern Virginia met at the First Wheeling Convention. They declared the Richmond government (the Confederate Virginia government) illegitimate.
• A Second Wheeling Convention followed in June, establishing the Restored Government of Virginia, loyal to the Union, with its capital at Wheeling.
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Formation of West Virginia
• Leaders from these counties began pushing for separation from Virginia.
• Congress debated the issue, since the U.S. Constitution says no new state can be carved out of an existing one without that state’s consent.
• Technically, the “Restored Government of Virginia” (Unionist) gave that consent — even though the Confederate Virginia government in Richmond would never have agreed.
• In December 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the statehood bill. On June 20, 1863, West Virginia officially became the 35th state in the Union.
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Key Point
So yes — West Virginia was born because citizens in the western counties of Virginia did not want to secede from the Union. They set up a loyalist government, and from that basis, Congress admitted West Virginia as a new state.
Lincoln’s Dilemma
The U.S. Constitution says:
“no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State… without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.” (Article IV, Section 3)
The trouble was:
• The legislature of Virginia in Richmond had voted to secede and join the Confederacy.
• The Unionist “Restored Government of Virginia” in Wheeling claimed to be the legitimate government of all Virginia. That body gave “consent” for West Virginia to separate.
So the question for Lincoln was: Did that count?
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Lincoln’s Reasoning
Lincoln admitted it was a stretch constitutionally, but he justified it in two ways:
- Practical necessity
• These western counties were loyal to the Union. Denying them statehood would punish loyal citizens while rewarding rebels.
• He saw it as an urgent wartime measure, not a peacetime precedent.
- Consent — in a technical sense
• The “Restored Government of Virginia” was recognized by the Union as the legitimate government of Virginia. Therefore, its consent (though representing only a portion of Virginians) was legally valid.
Lincoln even wrote:
“The division of a State is dreaded as a precedent. But a measure made expedient by war is no precedent for times of peace.”
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Congressional Role
• Congress also had debates, with some members objecting that this violated the Constitution.
• Ultimately, Lincoln signed the bill on December 31, 1862, allowing West Virginia to enter the Union in June 1863.
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Legacy
• Critics called it unconstitutional.
• But because Lincoln cast it as a wartime, exceptional measure, it held.
• After the war, the Supreme Court in Virginia v. West Virginia (1871) upheld the legality of West Virginia’s existence.
Now, GO UTES! Regain your swagger!
