The Methodist Episcopal Cemetery, also frequently referred to as the M. E. Cemetery and more informally as the "cemetery near campus," was a 19th century burial ground located at the present-day corner of University & Prospect in Downtown Morgantown, West Virginia. Current documentation shows this cemetery was used as early as 1824 when the property for one of the earliest-erected temporary churches (built circa 1801) was acquired, and then "converted to a cemetery for all denominations." Over time the cemetery fell into such marked disrepair that by 1878 it was called "a disgrace, a burning shame, and a reproach to the friends having loved ones interred there." Ultimately the cemetery and its contents were fully removed by 1897 when the property was sold to the State. The University purchased the land and built Stewart Hall circa 1900. The remains of 240 persons were reinterred as the first burials in East Oak Grove Cemetery. I haven't found any documentation naming those reinterred, but if an East Oak Grove tombstone is 1897 or older it should be considered a possibility that this person was originally at M.E. (although this could also apply to nearby Presbyterian Cemetery, Cemetery ID: 2498025)

The M. E. Church presently located at the corner of Willey & North High, now known as the Wesley United Methodist Church, was built 1903-1904. There was another M.E. Church further South at the corner of Pleasant & Chestnut and included a parsonage at the corner of Pleasant & Spruce. This location, called Long Alley Church or Pleasant Street Church, was constructed in 1819 and rebuilt in 1849 after being destroyed by fire. Additionally, there was yet another Methodist Church located on Chestnut simply referred to as "the Colored Methodist Church" which can be viewed on the Sanborn Fire Maps collection.

I have not yet discovered any clear photographs of the M.E. cemetery, but it's location can be observed as a patch of evergreen trees in many pre-1897 photographs just South of the Commencement Hall/Reynolds Hall (built circa 1890), the Agricultural Experiment Station Gardens, and distant views of Woodburn Circle.

No trace of the cemetery remains today at its location.

-Nicolas Laraway, 2024