Don Knotts’s legacy continues as the City of Morgantown installs new Fife Avenue street signs as part of the Don Knotts 100th birthday celebration.
The sign depicts Knotts as Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show,” one of his most recognizable roles from his acting career. The sign also reads the words “Honoring 10 Years of Don Knotts’ legacy, July 21, 1924-July 21, 2024.”
Vincent Kitch, City of Morgantown Director of Arts and Cultural Development, said the Cultural Arts Commission wanted to commemorate Knotts’s birthday with several events, including the Fife Avenue sign.
“When we were in our planning stages, one of the things that came up in the biographies and the research is that Don Knotts, we think, had based his most famous television character, Barney Fife, off of Fife Avenue, which was a street in his hometown when he was a child,” Kitch said.
The City of Morgantown announced the new sign on July 16 in a Facebook post ahead of the Don Knotts Festival. The festival was from July 20-24 at the Metropolitan Theatre and showed some of Knotts’s well-known works and performances from members of the actor’s family.
“It was a great way to showcase Don’s life and to maybe introduce him to a younger generation of fans, because it’s interesting to find out all these kids who are really interested in Don Knotts and his characters,” Kitch said.
Knotts started his career performing during open-mic intermissions at the theater at nine years old, and later performed stand-up routines and plays. The Metropolitan Theatre also celebrated its 100th anniversary on Wednesday, July 24 with a free event to learn more about the history of the theater.
New and updated Don Knotts exhibits are available for viewing at the Morgantown History Museum as part of the celebration.
Knotts died on February 24, 2006 at the age of 81 and graduated from WVU in 1948. Besides Barney Fife, some of his other well-known roles include Ralph Furley in “Three’s Company,” Henry Limpet in “The Incredible Mr. Limpet” and Luther Heggs in “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.”
The new street signs are located at each intersection of Fife Avenue, including High, Spruce, Price and Willey Streets.
