Don Knotts Statue

Before he was ‘Don Knotts’⁠—Emmy Award-winning actor and TV personality⁠— he was Jesse Donald Knotts, born on July 21, 1924 in Morgantown, WV. Knotts grew up in the heart of Mountaineer Country, living in the boarding home owned and operated by his mother, and later attending Morgantown High School. Knotts would then go on to enlist in the Army and serve during World World II.

Returning to Morgantown after the war, Don Knotts would go on to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Education from West Virginia University in 1948. Knotts also earned a Minor in Speech and maintained a very active campus life as a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and Alpha Psi Omega Honor Society. The history of Don Knotts is felt everywhere throughout Morgantown; from Don Knotts Boulevard, named in 1998, to the Don Knotts Statue, unveiled on High Street in 2016 after a 10-year fundraising effort by the town.