MORGANTOWN — A city built in the hills is built on retaining walls.
Take a look around. They’re everywhere.
Earlier this week, Morgantown Mayor Joe Abu-Ghannam announced that three such structures have received a joint historical designation for their association with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and other New Deal programs implemented in the 1930s as a response to the Great Depression.
Deckers Creek Wall
The Deckers Creek Wall is an ashlar-stone retaining wall located along the Monongahela River tributary near downtown Morgantown.
The wall, built to prevent erosion of land into the creek, is 1,270 feet long and nine-to-10 courses, or block layers, tall depending on the location.
According to the application submitted to the U.S. Department of the Interior, there is historical documentation in Morgantown City Council minutes linking the wall to the early Reconstruction Finance Corp. and the Civil Works Administration, as well as the WPA.
Council meeting minutes indicate the stone for the wall was initially pulled from the Suncrest Quarry, then the Booth Creek stone quarry, located about three miles south of Morgantown.
Minutes show the wall was a topic of council discussion starting in 1933, when construction of a rip rap wall was initiated along Deckers Creek “in the Hog Back vicinity.”
Construction, repair, reinforcement and reconstruction continued until 1943.
Eighth Street Stone Retaining Walls
The Eighth Street Stone Retaining Walls are located along the west side of the street between University and Grant avenues.
According to Morgantown City Council minutes, the walls were built between 1934 and 1937 to retain the terrace upon which homes were constructed.
Each section of wall runs approximately 80 feet. They are constructed of sandstone with rectangular raised joints and a top cap. There are three plaques indicating that the walls were constructed in 1934 by workers under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.
The walls are made of rough-faced ashlar stone – meaning cut, dressed and stacked – indicative of the construction style of the New Deal era.
Regular progress reports appear in the city council minutes until May 1937.
According to the application, “the walls are a physical example of Depression-Era relief and workmanship. They are an example of federal relief program funding put to use in Morgantown.”
Richwood Avenue Wall
The Richwood Avenue Wall is a massive sandstone retaining wall on the south side of Richwood Avenue, but it’s not visible from the street.
Built between 1936 and1937, the wall forms the northern boundary of Whitemoore Park and creates a “substantial landscape feature” when viewed from the park due to its rough-faced stones and large, regularly-spaced buttresses.
The wall is a total length of 1,280 feet and stands between 11-to-15 feet tall in most places depending on terrain. It was constructed in two sections separated by a short peninsula of lawn that provides access down to the 8.6-acre park below.
The wall is marked “WPA 1936,” and described in the designation request as “one of the best preserved and well documented New Deal Era stone walls compared to other walls in the area.”
According to Morgantown City Council meeting minutes from April 17, 1934, the city manager reported that there had been a large slip into Whitemoore Park, which appears to have been the impetus to apply for WPA funding and initiate a large retaining wall project.
In 1937, the wall was dedicated in a ceremony that drew 5,000 people and included a mile-long parade according to newspaper reports.
The Dominion News reported the event’s attendees included Morgantown Mayor Harry Largent, Congressman Jennings Randolph and the regional engineer for the WPA program.
