Fort Hill Archeological Site

Morgantown, Monongalia County

Fort Hill is a 5-acre prehistoric archeological site located off State Route 705 near the Evansdale campus of WVU. The site includes what appears to be a Village. It is in a good state of preservation and one human burial, animal bones, bone beads, a marginella shell bead, shell tempered pottery and triangular arrow points have been recovered to date. Fort Hill is included in a parcel of land that was donated to West Virginia University several years ago by the late Sylvia Straight. Wal-Mart originally considered developing the site, and planned on donating three acres, including the village, to the Archeological Conservancy. After Wal-Mart decided not to build there, the WVU Foundation sold the highly desirable parcel without restrictions to the CMC Company at a cost of $1,550,000. The company has promised to avoid the village site, while the rest of the 45-acre property would be mixed-use with retail and commercial space, such as a strip mall, a hotel, a nursing home and fast food restaurants, with limited housing. Critics claim the property owners have not kept their promise to protect the village site against future development.