Morgantown as it was yesterday

I came across This site this morning while I was surfing the net. I started to read down the list reminisce a little bit about the way Morgantown used to be. I have lived here over 40 years and have watched this town grow and change through the years.

How many of these things do you remember?





* Ali Baba's in Westover
* The Underground Railroad/Underground
* Morrison's coat store down town
* Second Ward Elementary (and annex)
* First Ward Elementary
* Central Elementary
* Mistakes at Dairy Queen
* Fins, Feathers and Fur
* Health Sciences was the hospital
* Chico Dairy: Mighty Mountaineer Ice Cream Sundae

* Ray's Pastries (downtown, where the Blue Moose was as well as every other incarnation)
* Why McDonald's downtown closed
* The Theatre at the Mountaineer Mall
* Lums at the Mountaineer Mall
* When the Middletown Mall was the only mall, and actually had stores....
* Shop & Save/Foodland/Thorofare (?) downtown on Richwood Ave
* Roller Rink downtown
* Morgantown Jr High School (end of the Walnut Street bridge)
* The Vanity Shop
* The Mountainlair when:
1) you could smoke there
2) it didn't look like a mall

* Why the old stadium was great:
it was downtown
the band running out of the tunnels
Sunnyside
The Backyard Brawl
* When the Met was actually a working theatre
* Hardee's downtown--it had a basement dining room
* Wings & Things
* People hanging out in front of Massulo's Dry Cleaner (I was never that cool)
* When the fountain in front of the post office downtown worked
* When the Little Village was a red-neck bar
* The theatre next to Hills
* When Captain D's was next to Shoney's
* Burger Chef downtown

* The Foxfire
* Chalkies, when that alley had a wooden fence in the middle that made it a dead-end
* The goddam dryhouse/the machine shop
* Craig's Comics
* Space Port
* Carousel library cards
* Falstaff's in Sunnyside
* The miniature golf course/batting cages on Greenbag Road--was it Hole in One
* Montanero's in Sunny Side
* Alfredo's on Pineview Drive
* The payphones by Dairy Queen, at the beginning of that alley on the wall.
Two of them.

* Little Caesar's Pizza
* The Fayette House
* Don't forget the miniature golf course that was behind Hills.
* Scotto's Pizza on High St., where the Subway is now.
* Dr. John's (DJ's) was on street level in Sunnyside and the place to be.
* Gabe's was where the Brew Pub is now and you didn't want anyone to see you shop there.
* Mario's Pizza at the top of High Street.
* Nick's Canteen was the greatest place to get hot chocolate before the Christmas parade.
* WVU was the #1 party school and proud of it.
* The Steppin' Out guy painted on the side of Daniel's, before they painted over it with that huge Main St mural.
* BOPARC dances in the summer.
* Record Mart on Walnut St.
* Plant and Pet Shop

* Hecks--one in Sabraton, and one in Westover (Kimmie Tyer)
* St. Francis de Sales Elementary School and the Convent (yup, they're now gone)
* On the corner of Prairie Ave and University there is only the back wall left of a two story garage. That used to be Prairie Street Gym. Before that it was a garage for Wilson Chevrolet. You can still see the paint on the walls from the locker/shower room. (Chris and Connie Law)
* Lof's (John Corral)
* Dr. Pizza. They used to deliver their pizza's in an old ambulance (Susan)

* Robert CressG.C. Murphy's
* Rite Aid
* Revco
* Mc Vicker's Pharmacy
* Famers and Merchants Bank
* Morgan's (when they had hobby supplies)
* Murphy Mart
* Sterling Faucet
* Carosuel Drive -In (Mileground)
* Dairy Delight in Sabraton (Hero Hut)
* Giant Eagle In the Mountaineer Mall Parking lot

* Wayne Womble Whiteside's , a department store downtown on High St.
* Biafora's, a clothing store across the street from Masullo's Cleaners
* The Flora Dora Shop, a women's clothing store next to Daniel's
* The Olympia, a great bar and dance hall close to the Book Exchange
* The Cottage, a dirt bar where most of the football players frequented

* erin Wizard Records
NOTE: I still miss Jack and Wizard Records. Anyone remember the names of the other employees? "Chris was the guy from Fairmont with the mohawk."
* Backstreet Records (owned and operated by Eric Hansmann)
* Falstaff's

* Debra and Mark Riffon The intersection of Beechurst and University Ave. was AAA for years, but before that it was a Texaco gas station with upper and lower gas pumps.
* Across from that Texaco gas station was the Beechurst Ave. Market and the Gold & Blue Restaurant.
* Where Mode Roman and Nautilus is now, was Wilkins Motors.
* Where Vic Solomon's garage is now, was Wilson Chevrolet.
* On Chestnut St where SaraTec was, Pizzaria Italia was downstairs and the Castle was upstairs. And, before that it was the Pontiac Garage.
* Where Great Wall on High St. is now, use to be Moore - Parriott Pharmacy.
* Right beside where Great Wall is, was Bakers Hardware.
* Where BW3 is use to be Greys Cutrate Drug Store and the ajoining street of High and WAlnut use to be McCrory's.
* On Chestnut St the building where the restaurant is with the deck and lanterns and hanging lights, used to be the Sanitary Milk Co.
* Where the Human Services Dept is now, used to be the ACME Supermarket.
* Where the Dollar General is by the South High bridge now, used to be the A & P Grocery Store.
* A & P also used to be where Boston Beanery is on Patterson Drive.
* At the top of High St. where the bank is used to be Borden Burger Foods (remember the big Satalite)
* Across the street where the VooDoo Shop is, used to be Gioviani's Pizza Shop.
* To the left of the Dairy Mart on Willey St. where the parking lot is used to be the Thorofare Grocery Store. After that is was Foodland until it burned down.
* Where the Senior Center is on High St, used to be Montgomery Ward. It was 3 stories. If you look up at the building you will still see the big "W"
* If you look at the ingraving on where the Pawn SHop is now on High ST. you will see Farmers & Merchants BAnk. Also down from where Subway is now used to be Woolworth's.
* Where the bike shop is by the courthouse use to be O. B. Fawley's and beside that was the State Liquer Store. and before that it was Rogers Drug Store.
* The Mountain Peoples Co-op used to be Picketts Dry Cleaners.
* On University Ave where the parking garage is now, used to be a small white building that was Kelly Cab and Yellow Cab.
* At the end of Westover bridge where Wings Ole is now, was Firestore Tires.
* Where Gibby's is now use to be Communtzis Restaurant.
* On Walnut St. down from where the Blue Moose is now, used to be Presto Lunch (what a great place to eat)
* Where Salvation Army Shop is now, used to be Radio Shack.
* Where WesBanco is in Sabration used to be a Sunoco Gas Station.
* Where Hardee's is in Sabraton used to be a Texaco Station and a car wash.
* Beside KFC used to be Mr. Donut.
* Dominion Post used to be on Spruce St where Manpower is now.
* To the right of where manpower is now on Spruce St. is a Medical building. That used to be the Moose Lodge.
* To the left was a gas station and the building on the corner was Plaid Stamps Store.
* At the intersection of Stewart St. and Chestnut Ridge Rd and Stewartstown Rd was Chestnut Ridge Grade School (became Bed & Breakfast and then some kind of Lodge after that) and across the street was a Texaco Station.

* Matt Helmick "The Press Box" (bar) and the trailers behind it, near the stadium.
NOTE: These just went down in 2004, and much of that whole stretch is now being converted to town houses. (Expensive town houses I'm sure.)
* Dick's Hot Dogs ("Everyone Loves Dick's"), one of many drive-thru ideas in the building near the intersection of University and Patteson.
NOTE: The original building was some el cheapo drive through/walk-up hamburger joint (Rally's?). No one seems to realize that's a terrible location and they'd be better off razing it to the ground and selling the space for parking.
* Pizza Man on University Ave, all you can eat pizza buffet for (if I remember correctly) 3.99. Not a bad deal if the folks in the kitchen were actually making pizzas while you were there. The price eventually went up, in anticipation of the liquor license, which never went through, and the joint went out of business. Next it was the Alamo, some of the most expensive burritos I've ever seen.

* Randy Oleksa Ed's barber shop on Brockway avenue
* Carl's roller rink also on Brockway next to Connie's grocery building is gone now.
* This goes way back: The Commodore restaurant and department store used to set in front of Sterling Faucet along route 7 in Sabraton.
* The Hayloft bar then it was Company B dance club in Dellslow where the Dairy Mart is now
* Beckman Brothers Feed Store in Sabraton where Southern States is now.
* Cloverleaf drive in on Cheat road
* Johnnie's Texaco on Cheat road
* Whipper will on the lake (Cheat Lake)
* Sycamore lounge on Fairchance road
* LuLu Belle's on Fairchance road

* Jay Paulovicks The Columbian Dorm - on Beechurst Ave. - now an office building
* My Brothers Place - in an ally downtown
* Communtzi's Restaurant - Downtown - Slogan was "Where Dad took his girl and grandad too"
* The Armory
* The "tin can"
* Reynolds Hall
* "Bonded" gas station on Beechurst
* Shoe shines at the Met Theatre
* Pool Hall in "old" Morgantown BEFORE the BBF was built there
* Whatever was "49 steps up Walnut from High"
* Old Hawley Field drill area (ROTC) - where coliseum is now
* Tony's Restaurant - Italian restaurant near Chico Dairy
* WVU Dairy at Ag School - when it provided ALL milk and ice cream for all residence halls
* Golf course where the new Mountaineer Field is
* Mont Chateau motel and restaurant

* David Schreiber The Cantina
* RedBeard's
* Di Giovanni's on Sunnyside- old married couple ran it- home of 3 am pizza- but watch your change!
* The Old KA House (just knocked down)
* Original Mario's Fishbowl- don't curse!
* The "CI" a/k/a College Inn on Sunnyside
* The Bullpen on Sunnyside
* The Down Under
* The Fifth Quarter
* The Nyabhingi (after the Underground)
* Grant Street Block Party


* The College Inn, University Avenue, Sunnyside USA where I worked as bartender and doorman in 87-88. I believe the CI held the record for the oldest, continuously operating bar in Morgantown.
* Down the street in what later became half of the Foxfire Hot Diggity, my brother in law's (Bob Armstrong) hot dog only restaurant. It closed in the early 80's, around the time Old Mountaineer Field closed.


* The old, three-story offices of the Daily Athenaeum near the corner of Pleasant and Price Streets (am I remembering those correctly?) -- it was across the street from a sorority house... Man, that was a great old building for a geeky newspaper crew to hatch its world-domination schemes from... before putting the paper to bed every night and heading down to Mario's Back Door for a pitcher! =)

* The Berger Chef on (now) Rte 705. Was right next door to Flatts Elementary school
* Flatts Elementary School, as well as the middle school that it fed into that was out about where the Wal-Mart not-to-be was going to go. I forget the name of the school. I want to say Chestnut Ridge, but I cannot recall for sure. It would have been 5th and 6th grades and fed into Suncrest Jr High School.


* How about Fredlock's? Fredlock's used to have one of those weird Zen things that made designs in the sand. Also they used to have these raunchy mugs with women on them, and when there was condensation on the mugs the women's clothing would disappear. I would love to know if anyone remembers this.
* Grey's discount
* The Dining Room!
* Jambie's

* Remember the Morgan Theatre, it stood up from what is now the Boston Beanery, right at the alley. It became a hot dog place and beside it was a clothing store. I think the clothing store moved across the street. Where the hot dog stand was is now a bar. Actually when I was young, I think the movie theatre closed but my parents remember going to movies there as they were growing up.
(I remember the Hallmark store next to where the Beanery now is, not sure about a hot dog stand. Anyone else?)


* How about Pike's Rest. near the corner of High Street, later on the House of Cards and now a lawyer's office.


* Mom and pop grocery stores: Chester Hartley's store on the corner of Grand Street and Gordon Street in South Park (briefly became Dairy Mart, before moving to its present location on Dorsey Avenue); Bobette's store on the corner of Wilson Avenue and Kingwood Street (later located in the building behind its first location); Marvin Luckini's store on Kingwood Street (I hope I spelled Marvin's last name right); Forlini's store on White Avenue; Bailey's grocery on the corner of Arch and Green Streets; Cobun Avenue Confectionery on the corner of Cobun and Maryland (Connie Negri still has her business, but it's on Pleasant Street now); the one on Barrickman Street in First Ward which later became (and may still be) Roto Rooter; and many others across Morgantown that I don't remember because they weren't on the south side (where I obviously grew up).
* The five-and-ten's: Woolworth's on High and Wall Streets--I especially remember their record section in the basement; Murphy's, across from the court house, where the Dollar Store is now--you went through the front door, down the stairs, and the toys were on the right, pets on the left--and at Christmas time, Santa came there so you could sit on his lap and tell him what you wanted; and the ultimate five-and-ten, McCrory's on the corner of High and Walnut--so huge that a multitude of businesses now occupy its space (BW3, Z Club, the state treasurer's office, etc.)--McCrory's had great old wooden floors, a great restaurant at the back, and the ladies' underwear was segregated into a separate room where little boys weren't allowed to go so they wouldn't get any bad ideas.
* Downtown restaurants: Remember when the Acropolis was a restaurant and not a coin shop? (It was where the Discount Den now is.); Remember when {where BB&T Bank is} was the BBF before it was Borden Burger before it was Burger Chef? (and before that, it was a Chinese laundry and Olan Mills photography studio.); Bonanza steak house on the corner of High & Fayette (later Hardee's, & later still Cafe of India's old location); the Indian restaurant that was in the back of Cafe of India's old location before it became Cafe of India; Cosmopolitan hot dogs; Healthy Bites (now the Blue Moose); Hav-a-Lunch on the corner of High & Pleasant, where the Huntington Bank drive-through now is.
* The bench on the corner of High and Kirk Streets, which had "Southside Lumber" painted on it--used to be the only bench in all of downtown Morgantown, but I never saw anyone ever sitting on it.
* The pet store on West Street in Westover (at the far end from Holland Avenue).
* The bakery on Walnut Street (now a lawyer's office), next to D&A Jewler's (now the porn store).
* The house on Wall Street with the great balcony and the barber shop on the first floor, which was torn down to become Morgan's parking lot. The barber's wife was a painter, and her paintings were always stacked up so the barber couldn't use one of his chairs. The barber shop moved to the location which is now the Blue Moose's new dining room extension.
* Grocery stores on High Street! (High Street Market & Morgantown Market)--one was on the corner of High and Forest, recently torn down--the other was where Subway is now.
* The Blue Tic Tavern in the Mountainlair!
* The Double Decker bar on Walnut Street (now the Living Room), and another bar down the street, the Washington Cafe (now GARO).
* The miniature golf course on the Greenbag Road, where Bluegrass Village is now.
* Downtown newstands: Walter's News, on the corner of High & Pleasant, and before that in the middle of the block of Pleasant Street between High & Spruce; and Stenger's, where Casa d'Amici is now.
* John Marshall Records, at its many locations up and down High Street, and even on Willey Street at one point; Record Bar in the Mountaineer Mall; and Disc Jockey in the Morgantown Mall.
* The Euphorium, upstairs in Sunnyside--Morgantown's very first head shop, I believe. Speaking of head shops, where Cool Ridge is now used to be the Morgan Theater.
* The stadium bridge--no wonder I don't walk to Sunnyside anymore!
* Morgantown's first pizza delivery place, Phantom Pizza. Its location was supposed to be a secret, but it was on Beechurst.
* Morgantown's first Kentucky Fried Chicken was in a small building on Patteson Drive which today would be located in Kroger's parking lot. The "Today's Buffet" Chinese restaurant next door used to be another Bonanza steak house.
* Morgantown used to have good Chinese restaurants! The Great Wall (not affiliated with the current Great Wall) was where Fatty Loaf's is on Walnut Street; East Garden is now that tea house above Zen Clay; and Foosheen used to be called Hallelujah Chinese Restaurant and used to be good despite the fact that they were serving up cat meat.
* Independent book stores! Who can forget Stilwell's on the corner of Pleasant and Chestnut Streets? (Before it was Stilwell's, it was a bar called El Toro.)--Not to mention the cafe in back of Stilwell's. I remember it first as an oriental grocery store, then Cafe Libretto, then Cafe Catherine, then Grasshopper Locomotive--and now a parking lot. How about the book store on Foundry Street, next to the South High Street Brigde? First it was Wolf's Head, then Abshire's, and finally Books Books Books. Remember Trans-Atlantic Books on Fayette Street? Or how about Riverrun in the Garlow Building above where Kinko's used to be? (and remember when Kinko's was on Willey Street?)--well, some good news, Riverrun is back, now in the Sand Castle on Walnut Street across from the police station/parking garage.


This list has brought back a lot of memories. From the old Burger Chef's to Flatts Elementary to Scotto Pizza downtown.