A Preston County community
Masontown’s entries begin with the town’s 1856 layout and follow its roads, churches, stores, railroad connections, recreation, and civic development. Together they show a community shaped by both local institutions and regional transportation.
This overview is drawn from the timeline entries and the source trails on their individual event pages.Community timeline
1856
Oren F. Morton records that Masontown’s site was a clearing called “Hartley Green” until the fall of 1855, when William Mason built a store there. A small village was laid out in 1856, and its lots were sold at auction for $5…
Open event and sourcesMarch 23, 1858
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act which incorporated the Masontown and Independence Turnpike Company to construct a road from Masontown, to Springdale, to the Pennsylvania, Morgantown, and Beverly Turnpike Road in…
Open event and sourcesJune 22, 1861
Morton records a flag presentation to Captain Kirk's volunteers at Pleasant Valley church between Masontown and Reedsville before the company was mustered at Baltimore.
Open event and sourcesMarch 1882
Wiley says the Masontown Methodist Episcopal church, built in 1872, burned in March 1882 and that a new church was under construction when he wrote.
Open event and sources1898 — exact opening date to verify
Frank L. Street opened Street's Store in Masontown in 1898 after local farmers encouraged and helped him get started. The fourth-generation family business began as a feed store and later expanded into lumber and general…
Open event and sources1902
Brown reports that the Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad reached Masontown in 1902, extending the growing line into this Preston County community.
Open event and sources1905
The Town of Masontown's official history dates its incorporation by circuit court to 1905. The legal milestone came nearly half a century after the community was laid out and platted in 1856.
Open event and sourcesJune 9, 1909
James J. Brown dates Oak Park’s opening near Masontown to June 9, 1909, although the exact opening date remains under review. Brown describes its entrance as facing the railroad tracks and says the amusement park generated…
Open event and sourcesJanuary 3, 1918
A fire believed to have begun with an overheated furnace destroyed Masontown’s twelve-room high school. Built in 1914 for $25,000 by Kingwood contractor Charles Spindler, the building was insured for $15,000; the Preston…
Open event and sourcesJanuary 6, 1918
Three days after the fire, residents gathered at the Methodist Episcopal church and pledged approximately $17,000 toward rebuilding Masontown High School. The surviving foundation was considered suitable for the new structure.…
Open event and sources1918
After fire destroyed Masontown’s 1914 high school building on January 3, residents immediately began raising money for a replacement. Later accounts date completion of the new three-story school building to 1918. It…
Open event and sources1930
Oak Park closed its gates in 1930. e-WV attributes the park’s decline to the growing popularity of automobile travel, the weakening rail and coal industries, and the onset of the Great Depression. Peggy Ross’s 1994 Goldenseal…
Open event and sources1953
Passenger service on the former Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad ended in 1953. The route remained in use for freight, carrying coal, limestone, and other industrial traffic under Baltimore & Ohio operation.
Open event and sources1977
Preston County reorganized several community high schools under three regional identities in 1977. Kingwood High School became Central Preston High School; Terra Alta and Aurora high schools consolidated as East Preston Senior…
Open event and sources1990–1991
The last train reportedly ran over the western Morgantown–Reedsville portion of the former M&K in 1990. With no traffic remaining in 1991, CSX abandoned the section; its rails were removed in the early 1990s, leaving the…
Open event and sources1995
An informal group of kayakers, rock climbers, anglers, and other creek supporters formed Friends of Deckers Creek, beginning with illegal-dump cleanups and water-quality monitoring. The organization serves the full Deckers…
Open event and sources1996
In 1996, the 51-mile former CSX corridor that included the Morgantown–Reedsville portion of the M&K was acquired and railbanked as a nonmotorized trail system. The conversion preserved the abandoned railroad grade for public…
Open event and sources1998
Construction of the Mon River and Deckers Creek rail-trail system began in 1998, and the network's first section opened that year. The former M&K grade along Deckers Creek was developed in phases into a public route for…
Open event and sourcesThreads through time
Follow early road building, the arrival of the Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad, passenger service, and the corridor’s later recreational use.
Explore Street’s Store, religious life, town incorporation, and the everyday institutions around which the community grew.
See how the railroad helped create Oak Park and how the site became part of Masontown’s social history.
People counted within the town boundary at each census. These are town totals; surrounding magisterial districts are separate areas.
| Census year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1910 | 520 |
| 1920 | 831 |
| 1930 | 924 |
| 1940 | 869 |
| 1950 | 941 |
| 1960 | 841 |
| 1970 | 868 |
U.S. Census, 1930, Population, Volume I, West Virginia, Table 4, printed page 1170 (PDF page 118). View the census table ↗
1940 counts: 1940 Census, Population, Volume I, West Virginia, Table 4, printed page 1150 (PDF page 133), also checked against the 1940 column in the 1950 report. View the 1940 census table
1950 counts: 1950 Census, Number of Inhabitants, West Virginia, Table 7, printed pages 48-12–48-13 (PDF pages 12–13), checked against Table 6, page 48-11. View the 1950 town totals
1960 counts: 1960 Census, Number of Inhabitants, West Virginia, Table 8, printed pages 50-14–50-15 (PDF pages 14–15), checked against the 1960 column in the 1970 report. View the 1960 town totals
1970 counts: 1970 Census, Number of Inhabitants, West Virginia, Table 6, printed pages 50-11–50-12 (PDF pages 11–12), checked against Table 10, page 50-18. View the 1970 town totals
Masontown’s 1910 count of 520 was checked against the 1920 West Virginia population bulletin, Table 3, printed/PDF page 10. View the 1920 bulletin ↗
Town boundaries can change between censuses, so changes in these counts do not necessarily represent growth within a fixed area.
Explore Preston County’s population history →James Brown Collection
Views of the community preserved in the James Brown Collection. These photographs are undated; identifications follow the collection’s descriptions.
8 indexed National Archives images documenting postal locations and surroundings, with descriptions and research notes.
Explore all 8 postal recordsRecord dates are not necessarily office opening or closing dates. Applications and proposed moves retain their original qualifications.
National Archives · M1126, roll 651 · NARA pages 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, 589. View the original collection.