Morrow Hall is an over 90 yr. old building that has housed students as part of the Fairmont State University campus. It has since been renovated to bring it up to today's standards of living. It was originally an all-female residence hall for the Fairmont state teacher's college. The school is known under many names and Morrow Hall was a part of them all. This means the history is filled with many different peoples' memories. The cornerstone for the building was first laid august 15th 1867 and that started the building's history up. The first class consisted of 17 females and 13 males that lived in Morrow Hall. The first graduate from Fairmont State University was Hyre D. Clark in 1871. The building has a lot of history that is still just as prominent today. In that same year, 1871, James G. Blair became the fifth principal in 6 years.
By 1880, Fairmont had many students, more than any regular school. The campus moved to new quarters between Fairmont and Gaston avenues and second and third street in south Fairmont. The student rate never dropped during the depression below 1,200.
The school shifted towards a college curriculum in the year 1912. In 1923 they offered a 4-year program that offered training to teachers that then changed the name to Fairmont state teachers' college. Morrow hall has been a part of that the whole way through.
Many years along came more principles that helped keep Fairmont State College as prominent as it is today. World war II caused a severe plummet in the number of students enrolling in the school and the young men went off to war. 11 of the professors, a quarter of the faculty, also joined them in the war. By January 1944 only 9 males were enrolled as full-time study students at Fairmont out of the 776 students in the academic year. 35 Fairmont students died in the war.
The longest-serving principal/ president was Joseph Rosier who was president for 30 years (1915-45). He guided the college through the 2 world wars, the depression, and the growth in enrollment boom of the 1920s. He then passed the power to George W. Hand (1945-52) who then handed it over to John W. Pence (1952-59) who oversaw the construction projects. Fairmont, with help from a state loan, was finally able to build a male dormitory called Pence Hall and 2 extra wings were added to morrow hall that adds to the renovations this amazingly historic building has been through.
Enrollment peaked at 1,798 in 1949-50 it started to decline after that, and they started to let the college be mixed race in 195. Prior to this the college student count has doubled in 5 years.
The community and technical colleges became a part of the main college. Both colleges received accreditation in 2004. After the creation of the West Virginia community and technical college system, the college was renamed Pierpont Community and Technical College and became independent from Fairmont State University. After the separation, Fairmont state universities headcount enrollment stayed strong and was recorded at 4,025 in fall 2015.
Overall, morrow hall has seen Fairmont State University through so much in history. It has been built upon, but the main building has been there since it was first built. It is an important piece of history that should not be forgotten.
