Morgantown WV... what is this tower like thing that I see on my commute every day

July 18, 2009 2:31 PM

Morgantown WV Land mark Question.. Driving on I-79 North toward the Westover exit across the horizon you can see a white tower with a Red Band in the distance. Its to the right but much further away than the Coliseum. Any idea what it is?

This tower appeared probably about a year ago. And it is very tall. it appears to be taller than any smoke stack or radio tower that I have ever seen. I'm pretty sure that the Ft. Marting power plant is that way but it doesn't really look like a smoke stack or a cooling tower to me. I see this every morning on my commute and every morning I wonder what in the heck is this thing. Used to be the first thing you saw coming down the Westover hill was the coliseum now this (whatever the heck it is ) is the first thing that catches my eye.

posted by jmsta to Travel & Transportation around Morgantown, WV (3 answers total)

Best answer: Perhaps it's the smokestack at the newly built Longview Power Plant to the northwest of the Fort Martin plant? See here. Also, here's a map that purportedly illustrates locations from which the stack is visible. I'm assuming the location you're describing is somewhere just south of the word "Westover" on that map, which is marked as a spot where the entire stack would apparently be visible.

And, no, I don't live in the area... I just enjoy this sort of geographic detective work.
posted by jal0021 at 3:51 PM on July 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

I remember there being some sort of tower on the Engineering campus (I just moved from Morgantown! Imagine my shock at seeing it here on the green!) but I can't remember the colors. That tower at Engineering isn't new, and jal0021 is right that Longview is one of the few more recent structures I can think of...
posted by miratime at 7:31 PM on July 18, 2009

Response by poster: I believe it is the long view smoke stack
posted by jmsta at 7:58 PM on August 17, 2009