Mountain Line Transit Authority

As the streetcar era wound down, motor buses took over the work of moving Morgantown. By the 1920s, the Star Bus Company was running regular service out of town — carrying riders to Cassville, Maidsville, and the busy communities of Scotts Run, with an office downtown by the Reed Hotel Annex.

When a wide new concrete road was laid through town in 1921, Star Bus runs became a daily fixture. Buses could go where the tracks couldn't — and that flexibility is the direct ancestor of the route you ride today.

The technology changed. The mission didn't: move people, connect neighbors, keep a community running.

Historical sources: WVU Libraries West Virginia History OnView (wvhistoryonview.org); Morgantown Magazine

In the early 1900s, Morgantown had electric streetcars. Townspeople boarded right on brick-paved High Street, beneath the wires, alongside the storefronts. The line was run by the West Virginia Traction & Electric Company — and remarkably, one of Morgantown's own streetcars survives today, preserved at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine. See this one here: https://collections.trolleymuseum.org/items/146

It was Morgantown's first true public transit: pay your fare, hop on, ride into town. Sound familiar? 😉 We've been doing this for a long, long time.

Historical sources: WVU Libraries West Virginia History OnView (wvhistoryonview.org); Seashore Trolley Museum (collections.trolleymuseum.org)

250 years. One county. A whole lot of ways to get around.

In October 1776 — the same year the nation declared independence — the Virginia General Assembly carved Monongalia County out of the frontier. We've been a community on the move ever since.

From horse and buggy to streetcars to the buses you ride today, the story of how people got around Mon County is the story of Mon County. We're marking America's 250th by looking back at 250 years of going places — together.

Follow along. 🚌

Historical source: West Virginia Encyclopedia (wvencyclopedia.org)
West Virginia & Regional History Center https://wvhistoryonview.org/catalog/009026
Photo Courtesy of West Virginia and Regional History Center

As America turns 250, we're honoring the members of the Mountain Line family who served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

They defended our country. Now they help keep Monongalia County moving every day. Veterans, coworkers, neighbors — and we couldn't be prouder.

Thank you for your service: Wayne Sanders, Shawn Devall, Terry Cahill, Karl Williamson, Daniel Bronson, Shara Bieniek, Keith Smoot, and Andrew Feezle.

Then and now — thank you.