Director

Artist and date unknown. More information needed on this mural said to be painted over a mural "Stepping Out" by local artist Butch Lee. This mural, on the backside of Mainstage Morgantown and facing Lotsa Motsa, depicts a town scene, and is said to have been commissioned by Mainstreet Morgantown and painted in the late 1970s.

Mural created in the 1970s, sponsored by Mainstreet Morgantown.

Old Town Mural

walking tour for participants of the Folger workshop from May 26-28

Colson Hall was one of several university structures built during a period of campus expansion following the First World War. Clark Hall, Elizabeth Moore Hall, Stansbury Hall, and the Old Mountaineer Field all rose during this period to accommodate WVU’s rapidly expanding curriculum (which included the foundation of the School of Mines and College of Education) and athletics department. Prior to the 1970s, Colson Hall was known simply as the “Law Building.” It was in the Law Building that law students like Charles E. Price (first African American graduate of the law school), William Marland, Wally Barron, and Arch Moore (each governors of West Virginia), and Joseph S. Farland (U.S. Ambassador to four countries) took their classes. It was not until after the law school had moved to its current location in 1974 that the building was named for law school dean and university president Clyde L. Colson, who also served as a legal advisor to West Virginia Governor Matthew M. Neely in the 1940s. By the time Colson Hall had earned its new name it had become the home of the West Virginia &amp; Regional History Center, which remained there until the multimillion-dollar expansion to Wise Library across the street at the turn of the twenty-first century. Colson Hall and the buildings that rose in its immediate vicinity in the post-World War I era (Clark Hall, White Hall, and Wise Library) were intended to form a quadrangle that mirrored that of Woodburn Circle a short distance to the north. Like many of the other structures on campus, Colson Hall is an eclectic mix of architectural styles popular during the era of its construction. The two most prominently featured styles in the building’s design, however, are the Neoclassical Revival and Second Empire styles. Typical of Neoclassical Revival architecture are the four massive columns at the building’s front and the ornamented triangular pediment that tops them, features that deliberately imitate the design of Greek and Roman buildings from the Classical period. The structure’s mansard roof (flat top and sloping sides punctuated by dormers), on the other hand, is a reflection of its Second Empire influences, named for the era of the Second French Empire of Napoleon III during which such design characteristics became popular. While its architecture makes Colson Hall a can’t miss on WVU’s downtown campus, however, it is its role as the site of the university law school from 1923 to 1974 that has ensured its status as a site of historical interest. During the law school’s tenure at what was then known as the Law Building, it provided legal educations for several prominent graduates. Charles E. Price, the law school’s first African American graduate, earned his degree in law there in 1970, twenty-nine years after Kenneth James became the first African American to earn a graduate degree from the university in 1941. Price, who was from nearby Fairmont, West Virginia in Marion County, went on to a successful law career in the state capital of Charleston and received the law school’s Gavel Award (Alumnus of the Year) in 1975. The law school graduated a number of other prominent alumni during the same period of its occupation of what is now Colson Hall. Among them are West Virginia Governors William Marland, Wally Barron, and Arch Moore, as well as U.S. Ambassador Joseph Farland. The first two, Marland and Barron, were among the final Democrats to serve as governors of West Virginia prior to the realignment of party ideologies and politics that took place nationwide in the 1960s and 70s. After graduating from WVU’s law school in 1947, Marland went on to serve as the state’s attorney general for two years before being tapped for his party’s nomination for the gubernatorial race of 1952 as a fresh face that might wash away the organization’s growing reputation statewide for corruption. Marland did much to combat that reputation, imposing a tax on companies that removed the state’s natural resources and enforcing school desegregation after the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The next WVU law graduate to hold the governorship as a member of the Democratic Party, on the other hand, did much to unravel Marland’s legacy. Although he worked hard to develop a statewide response to the growing mechanization of the coal mining industry (and subsequent rising unemployment in West Virginia), Wally Barron’s tenure as governor of the state is remembered more for his conviction in 1971 on bribery charges. WVU law school alumnus Arch Moore, a Republican governor of West Virginia whose three terms were a reflection of state voters’ rejection of Democratic corruption, fared little better. At the end of his third term Moore was charged with several federal crimes related to fraud and corruption and wound up serving a little over three months in prison after his conviction. The three governors’ fellow law school alum Joseph Farland, U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Panama, Pakistan, and New Zealand, had a somewhat more illustrious career. It is for his service in Pakistan, however, that Farland is most remembered. During his time there, Farland arranged for U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to travel secretly to China through Pakistan for meetings with Chinese Premier Chou En-lai in 1971. These meetings set the stage for President Richard Nixon’s visit to China the following year, a journey that opened relations between the United States and that country after decades of hostility following Communist leader Mao Zedong’s establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Not only did Joseph Farland’s involvement in this process help pave the way for a loosening of trade restrictions between the United States and China that continues to this day, it also connected WVU’s law school and Colson Hall itself to the broader history of the nation during the Cold War that defined the better part of the twentieth century.

Built in 1923 as the new home of the West Virginia University law school, Colson Hall is one of the most eye-catching structures on WVU’s downtown campus. The building gained its moniker in 1975 in honor of former law school dean and two-time interim university president Clyde L. Colson, one year after the law school moved to its current location and the West Virginia & Regional History Center took its place. During its time as WVU’s law school Colson Hall witnessed the graduation of several prominent individuals, among them the law school’s first African American graduate (Charles E. Price of Fairmont, West Virginia), three West Virginia governors, and a US ambassador. Through its association with these individuals, Colson Hall serves as a unique window into the legal, political, and diplomatic histories of West Virginia and the nation at large. After the West Virginia & Regional History Center moved to its current location in Wise Library in the early twenty-first century Colson Hall became the home of WVU’s English Department, which continues to occupy the building and is open during regular university hours.

Colson Hall

WVU students came together in&nbsp;2013 to beautify the campus with public art, and after getting more students on board, created&nbsp;the&nbsp;WVU Art Movement student group.&nbsp; The project was approved by WVU administration though there was no immediate funding. So, they began painting using donations received and with the help of volunteer workers, they finished quickly&nbsp;Three drafts were presented to the board at WVU before the final design was prepared, an abstract design with symbolism. The waves represent the Monongahela River which flows right through downtown Morgantown alongside the campus.The center star, was created using the Fibonacci sequence of Art. Fibonacci is a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://41.media.tumblr.com/621a1bb95161a2b2ec060bb6300d35d4/tumblr_nok9rcesrF1qg20oho1_500.jpg">sacred geometrical mathematical</a>&nbsp;pattern, one that Da Vinci himself used to use. According to Valera, everything in nature has this pattern.Also among the recognizable symbolism is a woman holding a torch, commonly an icon of freedom and liberty. The torch alone is a well-known symbol for liberty, and the fire for hair on the woman represents freedom of expression in a non-academic sense. The bird on the left symbolizes of freedom.<div> </div>

The WVU Art Movement is a student organization at West Virginia University dedicated to supporting, promoting, and creating public art for the WVU and Morgantown community. They created the PRT Mural under the WVU Beechurst PRT station in the fall of 2015 using WVU blue and golds and river iconography to reflect the location.

WVU Art Movement PRT Mural

The name "Woodburn" was chosen by two of Morgantown's earliest advocates for education, Reverend John R. Moore, principal of the Monongalia Academy for boys, and Elizabeth Moore, principal of the Woodburn Female Seminary for girls. "Woodburn" is partly inspired by the main character in Sir Walter Scott's novel Guy Mannering. Woodburn also means "a streamlet by a shady glen," which reflects the beautiful wooded landscape and Falling Run stream near campus.West Virginia University (WVU) was established in 1867 through the The Morrill Land-Grant College Act, which allowed the state of West Virginia to purchase land in Monongalia County, including the properties of the Monongalia Academy and Woodburn Female Seminary. WVU was founded as an all-male, all-white institution with six faculty members, six college students, and 118 preparatory department students. When students first began their studies at WVU in 1867, the price of education was far cheaper than what students pay today. The tuition for just a 13-week term was just $8.00. After a fire destroyed the original Woodburn Female Seminary, the building that would become Woodburn Hall was completed in its place in 1876 for $41,500. It was named New Hall, then University Hall, before finally being named Woodburn Hall in 1902, to honor the former Seminary. The first women were admitted to the University in 1899, after a fire burned the Morgantown Female Seminary, which Elizabeth Moore opened after the Woodburn Seminary was sold to the state. It was a controversial move, as some argued women did not belong in a land-grant institution that focused on agriculture and technology. Female students formed a Women's League to advocate for their interests and share intellectual ideas. Although the University was coeducational by the end of the nineteenth century, it was still not desegregated. In the late 1930s and 1940s, the University accepted a few African American students into graduate programs not available at other Black colleges in West Virginia; the first undergraduate entered in 1950 under similar circumstances, seeking classes unavailable at Black colleges. After the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in May 1954, West Virginia's constitutional restrictions on race in higher education were no longer valid, and WVU accepted Black students into the summer session.At the turn of the twentieth century, Woodburn Hall expanded as WVU added new departments and increased enrollment. The building's north wing was constructed in 1900 and the south wing in 1911. Woodburn Hall is built in the Second Empire architectural style, a style popularized in the United States after the redevelopment of Paris in the mid-nineteenth century. The most distinguishing characteristic is the Mansard roof, a four-sided, steep-sloped roof with windows that disguises an additional floor, which was first used in the Louvre in Paris. This style also inspired the Erickson Alumni Center found on the Evansdale campus. Woodburn Hall underwent renovations in 1979 and 2010 to preserve the building's architectural character and  structural integrity for generations of future students to enjoy. Students have enriched their minds through a variety of programs within the walls of Woodburn Hall, including military studies, agricultural sciences, and music. Today, it is fittingly home to the Department of History, along with the Department of Political Science. Woodburn Hall has witnessed a number of historic events and traditions. The grassy lawn in front of the building has served as a space for countless outdoor class sessions, graduation events, military ceremonies, and political demonstrations. In 1970, for example, more than one hundred student demonstrators marched on Woodburn Hall in protest of the loss of life at Kent State University and invasion of Cambodia amid the Vietnam War. Between 1924 and 1987, Woodburn Hall also neighbored Mountaineer Field, WVU's football stadium, until the stadium was demolished. The Holiday Lighting Ceremony, which began in 1987, celebrates the holiday season and Woodburn Hall's beautiful architecture. With its bell tower found on promotional materials for WVU, including the 150th anniversary logo, Woodburn Hall stands as an icon to higher education.

Woodburn Hall is the centerpiece of West Virginia University (WVU). Constructed between 1874 and 1911, Woodburn Hall bears the name of the Woodburn Female Seminary, the first school for girls in Morgantown. Woodburn Hall is the second-oldest extant building on WVU's campus and has been a meeting place for the University community for over a century. The building was designed by renowned Morgantown architect, Elmer Forrest Jacobs, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Woodburn Hall 

The
two-and-a-half story brick structure now known as Martin Hall has held a number
of names over the years: first as University Hall when construction finished in
1870, then as Preparatory Hall after 1878, and finally as its current moniker
from 1899 onwards. It was during its time as Preparatory Hall (named for the
college prep school that occupied it at the time) that famous Oklahoma outlaw
Al Jennings convinced a number of his fellow students to aid him in the theft
of gunpowder from the university armory and subsequent firing of a decorative
cannon in Woodburn Circle. It was also during this time that Minnesota District
Court Judge James C. Michael participated in the placement of a live steer on
the building’s second floor, evidently a common occurrence given similar
stories surrounding the supposed existence of a bovine spirit that roams the
upper floors of nearby Woodburn Hall. It wouldn’t be until the building became
Martin Hall in 1899 and the university’s physics department took up residence
there that the structure earned a more substantive legacy. In the 1910s, the
department began experimenting with new radio technologies under the
supervision of Drs. Robert Colwell, Charles Jolliffe, and James D’Agostino.
Their experiments, both on their own and through Jolliffe’s later work with the
Radio Corporation of America (RCA), would ultimately contribute to the
widespread adoption of FM technology and color television. The building’s
current occupant, WVU’s Reed College of Media, has built on that legacy through
its ongoing educational forays into radio, television, and journalism.

Prior
to the construction of Martin Hall in 1870, West Virginia University (known as
the Agricultural College of West Virginia in its first year, 1867) held its
classes in the former Woodburn Seminary (the current Woodburn Hall, to the west
of Martin Hall, replaced the seminary building after an 1873 fire destroyed
it). Within a few years of the university’s opening its needs had expanded well
beyond the space available to it, and the structure that became Martin Hall
quickly arose to meet those needs. Built in brick for a cost of $22,855 (almost
half a million dollars today), the new two and a half story “University Hall”
is typical of structures designed in the Second Empire style that arrived to
late nineteenth-century United States from Napoleon III’s Second French Empire.
The building’s mansard roof (flat top and sloping sides punctuated by dormer
windows) is particularly representative of the style. Its central, open belfry
is also notable. The iconic Seth Thomas clock now located on top of Woodburn
Hall rang out from Martin Hall’s belfry until 1911, when it moved to its
current position.&nbsp;

The
university purchased that clock from the Seth Thomas clock company (which
operated from 1853 to 2009) in 1884, the same year that the future Judge James
Michael and his friends (who Michael refused to name his entire life) persuaded
a local steer to climb the steps to Martin Hall’s second floor. When faculty
members discovered the animal the next morning, it had gotten its entire head
stuck in a window after destroying the room it was in. The student prank
committed the previous year, however, was far more damaging. In his first year
at the institution, cadet and law student Al Jennings convinced the fellow
members of his informal group the “U. of W.V. Guerillas” to steal four bags of
gunpowder from the university armory in the middle of the night, load it into
the decorative cannon that stood in Woodburn Circle at the time, top the barrel
with rags and bricks, and fire. The concussive blast their efforts produced
broke every window in Martin Hall facing the circle. It was yet another wild
adventure in what quickly became a lifetime full of them for Jennings, who at
the age of 17 had already killed a man in a gunfight and bore the scars of
another on his knee. When he entered the university on a scholarship secured
for him by Judge Virgil Armstrong of West Virginia’s Sixth Circuit Jennings had
no formal education, but quickly excelled in the school’s law program. Despite
this fact he never completed his studies, instead moving to the new state of
Oklahoma and setting up a law practice under falsified credentials. When
another Oklahoma resident killed his brother Jennings swore vengeance, a
vengeance that was never satisfied as Jennings was swept up in the allure of
the quick money to be made as a train and bank robber. By the end of his career
as an outlaw (during which he captured the public’s imagination by refusing to
rob women or children), he was Oklahoma’s most wanted man. After his capture in
1897, he was sentenced to life prison. He ended up serving five years in the
Ohio State Penitentiary with the famous O. Henry as his neighbor. O. Henry
taught Jennings to write, and he went on to fame as both an author and early
actor in silent films. He received a presidential pardon from Theodore
Roosevelt in 1904 and went on to campaign unsuccessfully for the governorship
of Oklahoma in 1914.&nbsp;

While
incidents like the ones involving Judge Michael and Jennings connect Martin
Hall to a long- and well-established history of student pranks at WVU, however,
it is its associations with the radio experiments of the university physics
department that connect it to historical narratives that have arguably been
more impactful. In the early twentieth century, the department began
experimenting with long range wireless radio technologies that influenced the
creation and widespread adoption of frequency modulated (FM) radio waves and
color television broadcast. Under the guidance of Dr. Robert Colwell, Charles
Jolliffe, and James D’Agostino and with the cooperation of KDKA out of Pittsburgh,
the department began work on the transmission and reception of long-range
wireless radio signals in Martin Hall’s basement. Eventually, their efforts
bore fruit, and the trio were able to hear the results of the 1920 presidential
election as KDKA broadcast them live. Jolliffe went on to become particularly
instrumental in the development of broadcast technologies as first the chief
engineer and later vice president of RCA’s laboratories division. During
Jolliffe’s tenure in these positions, he oversaw the development and release of
both RCA’s FM technology and its color television technologies. These
innovations rewrote the face of both wireless broadcast and American society,
and it started in the basement of Martin Hall.

Martin
Hall’s connections to Jolliffe and his compatriots Colwell and D’Agostino make
it an ideal location for West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media. As
the oldest building still standing on WVU’s downtown campus, Martin Hall has
connections to a long history that extends from the daily lives of its students
to the daring escapades of the criminally inclined. Today, through Reed
College, it extends that narrative into the future as students learn to utilize
the latest techniques and technologies defining the fields of radio,
television, and journalism. Anyone interested in that future (or the building’s
past) may visit Martin Hall during regular university hours.

Built in 1870 in the Second Empire style and named for the university’s first president, Alexander Martin, Martin Hall on Woodburn Circle is currently the oldest structure still standing on West Virginia University’s downtown campus. Early on in the university’s history the building was the site of a number of notable student pranks, most prominently the 1883 firing of a decorative cannon in Woodburn Circle by a group known as the “U. of W.V. Guerillas” (led by Al Jennings, later one of the most wanted criminals in Oklahoma history). The following year, another group of pranksters that included future Minnesota District Court Judge James C. Michael coaxed a steer into Martin Hall, where they left it to be discovered by faculty on the second floor the following morning. On a more serious note, the building was also the site of early radio tests in the 1910s and 1920s by Drs. Robert Colwell, Charles Jolliffe, and James D’Agostino, tests that ultimately led to the creation of FM and color television. The latter has made Martin Hall a particularly appropriate home for its current occupant, the Reed College of Media, which keeps the building open during regular university hours.

Martin Hall

A white pine
tree was chosen because it represents peace and democracy. According to Iroquois
tradition, the white pine symbolizes the unity of the five original nations of
the Iroquois Confederacy – Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Seneca, and Onondaga.1&nbsp;The famous painting by Onondaga Chief Oren Lyons, The Tree of the Great Peace, depicts this event and inspired the
planting of WVU’s Peace Tree. Chief Oren Lyons spoke at the Peace Tree Ceremony
in 1994, saying: <blockquote>It is the symbol of Peace, the Great Tree of Peace. In the Great Tree of Peace, there are Four White Roots of Truth that go in the four cardinal directions of Earth. And those people who have nowhere to go can follow those roots back to their source. And if they agree with the laws of the Great Peace, they can come under the protection of this Great Law that was originated here so many, many centuries ago.2</blockquote>The Peace Tree was designated as one of eight historic trees on the WVU campus in 1995. A Marker was placed near it, reading: <blockquote>WVU "Peace Tree," White Pine, Pinus strobus, Planted September 12, 1992 to commemorate the University's commitment to the "Rediscovery of America's Indian Heritage."3</blockquote>On August 8, 1996, the tree was chopped down by vandals. Mohawk Chief Jake Swamp was invited to plant a new Peace Tree shortly after on October 19, 1996. The new white pine was donated by WVU tree surgeon Daniel Brown from his tree farm. The second tree still stands today as a "healthy, visible sign of the indestructibility of peace," according to WVU Native American Studies Committee member Anna Schein.4 The Peace Tree Ceremony is held annually on campus and is open to students, faculty, and members of the community. The Native American Studies program invites prominent Native American leaders, authors, poets, artists, and other important members of the Native community to come speak at the annual ceremony. Past guest speakers have included&nbsp;Dr. Daniel Wildcat of the Yuchi Tribe, Modoc author Cheewa James, and Lakota Chief Arvol Looking Horse.5

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On September 12, 1992, the Native American Studies Department of West Virginia University held a ceremony for Chief Leon Shenandoah to plant a Peace Tree on campus to commemorate the five hundred year anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas and to reflect on the University’s commitment to studying Native American history. Peace Tree honoring ceremonies are held annually.

WVU Peace Tree

The U.S.S. West Virginia received its name through the sponsorship of Miss Alice Wright Mann of Mercer County, the daughter of Isaac T. Mann, a prominent West Virginian coalmine operator. Under the command of Capt. Thomas J. Senn, the U.S.S. West Virginia BB-48 was commissioned on December 1,1923. This was the last American Battleship to be launched prior to the restrictions imposed by the 1922 Washington Conference on Limitation of Naval Armament, and was the latest and most advanced "super dreadnoughts" of it's time. After training, repairs, and change in captains, the U.S.S. West Virginia became the flagship for the Commander, Battleship Divisions, Battle Fleet, on October 30, 1924. In the late 1920s, the battleship was armed with more artillery to keep up with technological advancements. <blockquote>"In the closing years of the decade of the 1930s it was becoming evident to many that it was only a matter of time before the United States became involved in yet another war on a grand scale. The United States Fleet thus came to be considered a grand deterrent to the country's most probable enemy Japan. This reasoning produced the hurried dispatch of the Fleet to Pacific waters in the spring of 1939 and the retention of the Fleet in Hawaiian waters in 1940, following the conclusion of Fleet Problem XXI in April."1</blockquote>Commonly referred to as "WeeVee," the U.S.S. West Virginia was one of the first ships engaged at Pearl Harbor.2 Slightly before 8:00am, the Japanese executed a well planned air raid on the fleet stationed on Oahu and managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. The first bomb that struck the U.S.S. West Virginia collapsed the superstructure deck, and caused the galley to catch fire which resulted in the detonation of the projectiles that were stowed in the casemates. The second bomb did not detonate, however it still managed to damage the battleship's artillery.The torpedo attack on the U.S.S. West Virginia caused the most damaged, as it tore through the ship's port side and caused flooding. Lt. Claude V. Ricketts and other crew members saved the ship from capsizing by utilizing their damage control training.1 The U.S.S. West Virginia was abandoned and sank to the bottom of Pearl Harbor, later to be resurrected and repaired to serve the rest of the war.  On January 9,1947 "WeeVee" was decommissioned and became part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet until 1959 when she was sold for scrap to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corp. of New York City. In 1961 numerous items from the ship were donated to the state of West Virginia. The mast of the ship went to WVU and was installed as a Pearl Harbor Memorial on May 11, 1963. Ceremonies honoring Pearl Harbor day and veterans have been held in front of the mast annually since the 1970s. The bell that is rung during these ceremonies was placed next to the mast on December 7, 1967, and is from the armored cruiser U.S.S. West Virginia.2 On May 19, 2016, Professor Satake of WVU and his class started a petition to Congress to create a permanent memorial honoring the USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor. You can find the petition at change.org. The link is provided below.3

On December 7, 1941, The U.S.S. West Virginia was struck by two bombs and seven torpedoes during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack sunk but did not destroy the battleship, and she went back into service after repairs until her decommissioning in 1947. On March 17, 1961 the mast of the U.S.S. West Virginia BB-48 arrived at West Virginia University to commemorate the perseverance of the battleship. This mast is one of many artifacts from the ship donated to the state of West Virginia. The mast was later installed in Oglebay Plaza in front of Oglebay Hall on May 11, 1963, as a Pearl Harbor memorial. In 2007, a commemorative bronze plaque was dedicated with the names of the 106 sailors who died during the attack on the USS West Virginia.

Oglebay Plaza U.S.S. West Virginia Mast

The Negro Motorist Green Book was published between 1936 and 1967 as a guide for African American travelers to find accommodations during the Jim Crow Era. Due to segregation and discrimination it could be difficult, or even dangerous, to find food, lodging, and other services in unfamiliar places while traveling. To meet the need of the African American community, New York City postman Victor Hugo Green began his guide in 1936 only covering services in New York. It was immediately popular and the publication expanded to cover the entire United States. The Green Book was well-known within the African American community as a resource to find lodging, food, gas and car services, taxis, beauty parlors, and entertainment in a society where Black Americans faced lynching and segregation in their daily lives. Once the Civil Rights Act of 1864 passed, barring discrimination and segregation, the Green Book phased out by 1967.The Green Book accommodations in Morgantown, WV included the three tourist homes on Cayton Street, Cobb’s Restaurant on Kirk Street, and the American Legion on University Place (listed as a night club). Cobb's Restaurant and the American Legion are no longer extant.1046 College Ave was listed as a tourist home under the proprietor Okey Ogden between 1949 and 1952 in the Negro Traveler’s Green Book. Ogden was born in 1887 or 1888 and his family lived in Morgantown, WV by 1900. As a young man, Ogden played on an amateur baseball team managed by Morgantown barber Ralph Garner and also worked as a barber in the 1910s. He served in WWI (1918-1919) as Corporal of Company D, 542nd Engineers. After Ogden returned from overseas he worked for many years with the West Virginia University football team as a trainer, “rubber” (massaging and bandaging players), and equipment manager. Okey Ogden is mentioned several times in newspaper articles about the football program as one of the main staff members of the team. His mother, Flodie Henderson, lived at 1046 College Ave by the 1930 census with Okey Odgen living as part of the household. Odgen does not appear on the 1940 census under Henderson’s household; however, he lists 1046 College Ave as his place of residence on his WWII Registration Card with his mother as his contact. In the Morgantown City Directory for the 1930s and 1940s he is listed as a waiter or janitor at West Virginia University, Beta Theta Pi Fraternity House, and Hotel Morgan. Flodie Henderson died in 1948 and Ogden must have assumed ownership of the house. 1949 is the first year Morgantown, WV is listed in the Green Book and “Okey Odgen—1046 College Ave” is listed under lodgings. Okey Ogden died in 1953 and 1046 College Avenue was no longer listed in the Green Book although ownership of the property passed to Linnie M. Slaughter that year.2 Cayton and 3 Cayton Street were both listed as lodging between 1949 and 1964 as tourist homes. All three homes were run by members of the same family. Mrs. Jeanette O. Parker, proprietor of 2 Cayton Street, was Okey Odgen’s sister and Mrs. Linnie Mae Slaughter, of 3 Cayton Street, was Parker’s daughter and Odgen’s niece.Jeanette Ogden, Okey Odgen’s sister, was originally married to Charles Edwards and had three children from this marriage: Linnie May, Grace, and William. Jeanette Edwards later remarried to Hartley Thomas Parker in 1914. Between 1929 and 1941 Jeanette Parker worked as a cook for the Alpha Xi Delta and Kappa Alpha Fraternities and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at West Virginia University. She was a pastry cook at Woman’s Hall until 1950 when she retired from the University. Hartley Parker died sometime between 1947 and 1951. Jeanette O. Parker was a member of St. Paul’s A.M.E. Church and longtime member of the Morgantown chapter of Order of Eastern Star. Jeanette O. Parker died on August 12, 1972 at age 86.Linnie Mae Slaughter, one of Jeanette’s daughters, was born November 19, 1900. Like her mother, Slaughter was an active member of St. Pauls’ A.M.E. Church and the Order of Eastern Star. Between 1925 and 1927 Linnie Mae Edwards married Charles W. Slaughter and the couple moved to Cayton Street. Charles worked as a cook and janitor and Linnie Mae worked for about 4 decades as a cook for the Delta Tau Delta, Beta Theta Pi, and Kappa Alpha fraternities at West Virginia University. Charles Slaughter died in the 1960s and Linnie Mae Slaughter died in 1969. Slaughter was listed in the Dominion News as a patient at Hadley Hospital in Washington D.C., on August 27, 1969 and she died in the same hospital on September 9. After the passing of both her mother and sister, Grace Edwards Waters had all three properties in her name on the tax records.

1046 College Ave, 2 Cayton Street, and 3 Cayton Street were all listed as tourist homes in the Negro Traveler Green Book during the 1950s and 1960s. The Green Book was a travel resource for African Americans to guide them to safe accommodations during the Jim Crow and segregation era, and these three homes would have provided lodgings to travelers in the Morgantown area.

The Negro Traveler Green Book tourist homes in Morgantown, WV

The Sunnyside Superette was a fixture grocery store in Sunnyside, opened at 2045 University Avenue in the late 1940s. The first mention of a structure on the corner of University Avenue and 2nd Street occurs in the 1929-1930 Morgantown city directory. The directory lists Russos Shoe Repair, which remained until the plot became a Texaco Service Station between 1932-1935.263 With this change, the land plot also expanded, now encompassing both the 2045 and 2047 University Avenue, resulting in a double land lot. The Texaco Service Station was owned and managed by Nicholas Cacanis. However, sometime in 1942, the Texaco Service Station closed, and from 1943-1945 the lot was vacant.1After a few years of remaining vacant, 2045 University Avenue was converted into the Superette Market Grocery in the late 1940s. The business was originally owned by the De Biase family. The De Biases moved to Morgantown between 1929-1930. Shortly after their arrival, the De Biases opened the Sunnyside Fruit Market on 2031 University Avenue, where it remained until the move to 2045 University Avenue. The De Biase family not only changed locations of the market but also changed the name of the business to Superette Market Grocery. Upon Antonio’s death in 1949, Maria De Biase managed the market alongside her sons.2The Superette was among dozens of small, service-oriented businesses opened in Sunnyside roughly between the 1920s and 1940s. These businesses offered Sunnyside residents, primarily home to working class families and a few student renters, convenient places to buy groceries, service their cars, do their laundry, and have their hair cut. A number of these businesses were located along University Avenue, up the hill from the heavy industries and manufacturing companies along the Monongahela River and Beechurst Avenue.3The Superette business expanded and eventually encompassed a meat market in 1955, changing its name to Sunnyside Superette Grocery and Meats. In her older age, Maria stepped down from her managing role at the Superette in 1957 and passed away shortly thereafter. After her passing, the family business changed its name to the Sunnyside Superette Incorporated Grocery and Meats. The store remained under family management until August 1997 when the family sold the company. Although it was sold after three-generations of family ownership and operation, the Superette proved how small, local, and family-owned businesses evolved with the needs of the current market.4In 2014, the mixed-use University Place apartment complex opened just a stone’s throw from the Sunnyside Superette. University Place offered a popular chain convenience store, Sheetz, and a number of small eateries. In 2015, the Sunnyside Superette closed its doors after more than seventy years in business. According to the Superette’s last owner, Pat McGinley, the new Sheetz was one of the reasons for the Superette’s closure. While some see new construction like University Place as a welcome change, others see a loss of Sunnyside's historic character.5

The Sunnyside Superette was an independent grocery and convenience store located in Morgantown’s Sunnyside neighborhood. The business began in the 1930s as the Sunnyside Fruit Market, which moved down the street to 2047 University Avenue in the 1940s and opened as the Superette Market Grocery. The business name changed to the Sunnyside Superette in the 1950s. The Sunnyside Superette was popular among local families who lived in Sunnyside in the mid-twentieth century and remained popular among Sunnyside’s student residents in the late twentieth century. In 2015, the Sunnyside Superette closed, its owner and patrons citing the new Sheetz located at University Place. 

Sunnyside Superette (1930s-2015)

In 1979, 2129
University Avenue opened its doors as Mutt’s Sunnyside Place. This beloved bar
signified student influence over the neighborhood’s businesses and social
activities. Morgantown historically has been home to drinking establishments;
among the first businesses downtown were taverns and breweries, which served
immigrants heading westward. As Morgantown developed into a college town, an
enthusiastic market of students kept taverns in business
throughout the city. Drinking had long been associated with student culture,
and Sunnyside’s identity as a center of&nbsp;student life attracted more bars, pubs, and
taverns to the neighborhood in the mid-twentieth century.1

Mutt’s was
originally situated on Beechurst Avenue. Opened in 1935, the business was owned
by Mottie “Mutt” Pavone, the son of Italian immigrants, and his wife Rose
Poropatt Pavone, a Yugoslavian immigrant. After Mottie’s death in 1955 at age
51, Rose continued to operate the business independently. &nbsp;Their son, Mottie, who also went by the
nickname “Mutt,” worked in real estate, owning Hampton North Mobile Home Park
and Pavone Rentals. He acquired 2129 University Avenue in 1972 and rented the
property to students. In 1979, a fire destroyed Mutt’s original location on
Beechurst Avenue. The Pavones found a new home for Mutt’s in the house at 2129
University Avenue. Rose turned over operations to her son, who rented the
apartment above the pub.2

The
house at 2129 University Avenue, originally called 93 Beverly Avenue before the
street name was changed, dated back to the early twentieth century. Prior to
becoming a pub in 1979, the house was rented by a number of families, most of
whom were white, working class, and relied on Morgantown’s industries for
employment. Many of these families transitioned from farm work to industry at
the turn of the twentieth century and moved around frequently, likely
responding to broader changes in their respective industries. The Ireland and
Wharton families, for example, rented the house in the 1910s and had family
members working in the coke, tin, and glass industries. The first longtime
residents at the house, the Hamiltons, lived in the house between the 1920s and
1940s. The Hamiltons left their farm on the edge of Morgantown to live in
Sunnyside, where the father, Isaac, worked as a carpenter, and the sons worked
as carpenters or laborers in a local rubber factory. The Hamiltons also took in
boarders, which may have been an attractive form of supplemental income as
Isaac and Annie Hamilton’s sons found work in Ohio and Illinois. After Isaac
Hamilton’s death in 1945, the house received its next long-time residents in
Frank and Denise Pierre, glassworkers from Belgium who, according to Census
records, spoke French in their home. The Pierres also rented rooms to boarders,
including two women who worked in clothing manufacturing and at Seneca Glass, a
WVU student on the GI Bill after World War II, a WVU professor, and a clerk at
the MountainLair. The Pierres sold the house in the 1960s, when it was
purchased by a landlord who rented almost exclusively to WVU students.3&nbsp;

Beginning
in the 1970s, Sunnyside became a student-dominated neighborhood as West
Virginia University grew and local industry declined. Sunnyside offered cheap
rental houses and social spaces like Mutt’s. &nbsp;One student writer recalled in 1983, “A new
student may not know where his classes are, but he can find all the bars in Sunnyside.”4 Mutt’s
was known for its “all-you-can-eat” spaghetti lunches on Saturdays that served
students facing shoestring budgets and the fallout of indulgent drinking.5 For three decades, Mutt’s was an important
student institution. In the 1970s-80s, students in Sunnyside developed
traditions such as the Grant Avenue block parties and couch burnings, often
held after WVU football games, when student spectators would pour out of Old
Mountaineer Field into the streets of Sunnyside. However, the fun, when coupled
with alcohol abuse, was also met with instances of rowdiness, violence,
vandalism, and sometimes the injury or death of students due to drunk driving
or alcohol poisoning. These parties and the dilapidated conditions of
Sunnyside’s housing became known as the “Sunnyside problem” that put the
neighborhood under scrutiny.6

As
Sunnyside moved into the twenty-first century, WVU and Morgantown developers
looked toward the neighborhood to create a more inviting, attractive, and safer
place for students to live. On October 23, 2012, West Virginia University’s
Board of Governors approved acquisition of a five-acre plot of Sunnyside to
build University Place. This meant the end of Mutt’s Sunnyside and 38 of its
neighboring properties.&nbsp;WVU entered into a public-private partnership with
Paradigm Development Group, which said in a 2012 interview that University
Place “will expand student housing and retail options in Sunnyside – and will
revitalize an unattractive dilapidated area into a beautiful, safe and
affordable place for students, faculty, staff and citizens to live, work and
shop.”7 Mutt’s location on University Avenue was closed at the end of January
and the building demolished on April 4, 2013. The business moved to Beechurst
Avenue shortly thereafter. Yet the loss of Mutt’s signaled an end of an era for
a number of students and alumni who frequented the pub and Sunnyside’s social
scene.8 As the neighborhood undergoes change, Mutt’s represents the shift from
an industrial, working class Sunnyside to a center of student life.&nbsp;

Mutt’s Sunnyside Place, a pub in Morgantown, West Virginia, was once located on University Avenue in the Sunnyside neighborhood between 1979 to 2013. In this time, Sunnyside was a neighborhood with houses rented primarily to undergraduate students at West Virginia University. Mutt’s was among the pubs and eateries that catered to WVU students and the thriving party scene in Sunnyside. The business was originally opened in 1935 and moved to University Avenue after a fire destroyed their original location. The house it occupied was built at the turn of the twentieth century and was owned and rented by a number of working class families, individuals, and students over the decades. In 2012, Mutt’s and 38 surrounding properties were acquired by West Virginia University and a local developer to build the University Place apartment complex. 

Mutt's Sunnyside Place (1979-2013 location)

The creation of the Seneca Glass Factory stems from an 1890s agreement made between the Seneca Glass Company and the Morgantown Building and Investment Company (MBIC). MBIC tempted the Seneca Glass Company to relocate from Fostoria, Ohio, to Morgantown with a rather lucrative legal agreement. The city of Morgantown offered resources such as natural gas and silica, both needed to manufacture glass, and a transportation network consisting of the Monongahela River and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In addition, MBIC made an agreement that stipulated they would pay $20,000 (about half a million dollars in today’s money) to “erect, build and construct…factory buildings” in the “Beechurst Addition” of Morgantown to be used by the Seneca Glass Company.1 The Seneca Glass Factory was constructed in 1896, and the production of glass began in 1897. The glass industry boom brought European immigrants to Morgantown, who settled in the Sunnyside neighborhood on the other side of Beechurst Avenue. In the early to mid-twentieth century, skilled men arrived from Germany, Belgium, France, and Britain, where glassmaking was a tradition dating to medieval times. Immigrants from Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Russia, and other southern and eastern European countries entered glass factories as unskilled laborers with hopes of making enough money to send back home. Census records indicate that Sunnyside residents spoke a wide variety of European languages in their homes.Glass factories were divided into two sections: the “hot end” of the factory, where molten glass was shaped and created, and the “cold end” of the factory, where glass pieces were etched, polished, wrapped, and packaged for sale. To make ends meet, the entire family, including children, would work in factories. Men typically worked in the hot end of the factory operating furnaces and blowing glass. Women were usually tasked with completing cold end jobs such as creating detailed etchings on the glass and packing the finished products for shipping. Until child labor laws were established, children’s jobs also tended to conform to the gendered division of labor. Boys assisted the skilled male glassblowers and ran glassware to the cold end of the factory for finishing. Girls assisted with the processes of glazing, etching, and packing.The first major event to significantly alter the Seneca Glass Factory was a fire in 1902. The fire was discovered in the packing room, before spreading to the rest of the building. Most of the damage was interior, although portions of the brick walls needed rebuilding as well. The Seneca Glass Company used the fire as an opportunity to expand their facilities. In addition to a replacement building, several new areas were added, including expanded cold end facilities. Renowned Morgantown architect, Elmer F. Jacobs, designed these reconstructions and additions. At some point following this redesign and before 1911, the eighty-foot red steel water tower bearing the words “Seneca Glass Co.” was erected and still serves as a defining feature of the site.To accommodate the demand for glass and American-made products during the Second World War and postwar eras, the Seneca Glass Factory was again expanded in 1947. Several small buildings and the main etching building, which was separate from other buildings, were removed and the plant was put under one roof. At its peak, the factory included an eighty-foot by eighty-foot blowing room with a furnace, lehr (cooling) room, a water tower, fourteen clay ovens, and a thirty-foot chimney. The original chimney displayed careful attention to detail in the geometric brick designs created by local masons. These designs were destroyed by a lightning strike and ensuing wind during a storm in 2015. The chimney has been reconstructed but lacks the original designs.In the early 1980s, the Seneca Glass Company went bankrupt due to a decline in demand for specialty glass and crystal. The building was deeded to Sanders Floor Covering Incorporated in December 1984. However, this enterprise was short-lived. The current owner of Seneca Glass Factory is Two Trees, Incorporated, who acquired the property in May of 1998. Since then, the Seneca Glass Factory has been renamed to the Seneca Center and adapted into small businesses and offices. The Seneca Center continues to display its original architecture to a remarkable extent. The walls are covered in historical information and artifacts, reminders of the influence the Seneca Glass Factory had on the fabric of Morgantown.

In 1897, the Seneca Glass Company began production of glass on the shores of the Monongahela River and continued to do so for almost a century. While more than a dozen glass factories existed in Morgantown by the early twentieth century, the Seneca Glass Factory is one of the few industrial structures that remains from this economic heyday. It was a key component of Morgantown’s economy and led to the development of the Sunnyside neighborhood. After the factory’s closure in 1983, the interior of the building was redesigned and turned into the Seneca Center, containing various local artisan businesses, antiques dealers and restaurants. The building remains extremely architecturally faithful to its original designs and historical objects are displayed throughout. 

Seneca Center

The West Virginia Mountaineer in the official mascot of West
Virginia University (WVU). Selected annually since the 1930s from the
university’s student body, the mascot is a popular tradition of the school.
There is a bronze Mountaineer statue in front of the Mountainlair, WVU’s
student center, which was dedicated in 1971.&nbsp;The bronze statue was commissioned by Donald DeLue, the renowned sculptor whose works also grace the Gettysburg battlefield and Omaha Beach in Normandy.

The Mountaineer is a member of
the student body chosen for outstanding enthusiasm, character, service to the
community, and academics. The mascot symbolizes the proud and rich heritage of
the Mountain State and its people.

The mascot appears at athletic,
community, and alumni events to promote Mountaineer spirit.

Candidates apply to become the
Mountaineer by writing essays about why they want the position. From there,
they are interviewed by Mountain (WVU’s secret honorary) members and
representatives of the athletic department and student affairs. The top
candidates are then invited to "cheer-off" at the next-to-last home
basketball event each season. There, the candidates are judged and the
Mountaineer is announced at the season's last basketball game that is played at
home.In 1934, Lawson Hill became the first official Mountaineer mascot. Boyd H. "Slim" Arnold,
a physical education major from Bayard in Grant County, was the first
Mountaineer selected to serve three years in succession (1937-38-39) and was
the longest tenured until Rock Wilson equaled it in 1993. (1991-92-93).

During Arnold's tenure, he became
the first Mountaineer to wear the now traditional buckskin uniform. Minutes of
Mountain meetings from the late 1930s indicate that a donor gave the honorary
several deerskins asking that a buckskin costume be made for the Mountaineer.
Prior to that, the Mountaineer wore overalls, a flannel shirt, coonskin cap, a vest,
and carried a rifle.

The post and tradition has
remained relatively unchanged since that time. The costume is tailored to fit
each year's winner, and male Mountaineers customarily grow beards during their
tenure. The rifle is a true flintlock that requires the user to become knowledgeable
in the amount of powder required to fire the charge.

In 1991, Natalie Tennant of
Fairview became the first female selected as Mountaineer. Tennant went on to serve as the Secretary of State of West Virginia from 2009 until 2017.

The West Virginia Mountaineer in the official mascot of West Virginia University (WVU). Selected annually since the 1930s from the university’s student body, the mascot is a popular tradition of the school. There is a bronze Mountaineer statue in front of the Mountainlair, WVU’s student center, which was dedicated in 1971. 

Mountaineer Statue

Born in 1906 in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, Robert Lepper graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1927. Lepper continued his studies in Europe focusing on Bauhaus design, a unique artistic approach developed in Germany that blended the fine arts, crafts, and architecture. &nbsp;He returned to the United States as an instructor at CIT, where he helped establish the country’s first industrial design program in 1934. Lepper It was also at CIT that Lepper taught a student by the name of Andy Warhol from 1945 to 1949. According to Carnegie Mellon’s archives, Lepper “believed in letting students be independent thinkers and use their own creativity.”Lepper created the mural at WVU in a turbulent time in American history, the Great Depression. Yet during this time, the United States saw a flourishing of the arts under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. To put Americans back to work, the federal government initiated a number of arts-related programs. The Federal Arts Project (1935-1943) under the Works Progress Administration is the best known of these programs, which produced some 200,000 works of art and established over 100 community art centers. The Federal Arts Project, however, was preceded by the Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts. Originally called the Section of Painting and Sculpture, the Section of Fine Arts (1934-1943) employed hand-selected professional artists to create works of art in federal buildings, unlike the Federal Arts Project, which served as a relief program. Lepper was among the artists chosen to create murals in Grayling, Michigan and Caldwell, Ohio post offices.From 1940-1942, West Virginia University had the honor of receiving one of Lepper’s murals. WVU commissioned Lepper to depict the state’s history of industry in the new Mineral Industries Building (now White Hall). Lepper’s mural is divided into five areas depicting coal and gas, trade techniques, glass and ceramics, operations that put the finishing touches on manufactured items, and the final commercial products.Lepper was instrumental in the field of industrial design and taught at Carnegie until his retirement in 1975. In 1989, the Industrial Design Society of America awarded Lepper with their esteemed Educator award. His mural at WVU was recently restored and is displayed in White Hall’s G-21 lecture hall. A copy of the mural also hit the big screen in 2004, when it appeared as a backdrop of Spider Man 2. A consultant for the film discovered the mural in the Brooklyn Museum’s book The Machine Age in America, 1918-1941 and found it to be the perfect WPA-style piece for a bank in the movie

Serving as a backdrop of White Hall's G-21 lecture room, you will find a beautiful mural that was produced from 1940-42, for the then Mineral Industries Building. Robert Lewis Lepper, prominent artist, designer, and sculptor from Pennslyvania, created “Study for the Mural at Mineral Industries Building, West Virginia University,” which abstractly highlights American industry. The mural incorporates Lepper's unique artistic approach while complementing the modern style of works created during the New Deal. 


Robert Lewis Lepper's Mineral Industries Mural 

First seen sweeping the nation in 1914, these Coca-Cola murals brightened walls of the most popular, historic, and influential buildings throughout the smallest towns in America. Most of the murals were placed in the rural southern parts of the country, showcasing the reach of the company as well as its publicized values at the time. Hand painted murals were the billboards of the time and became embedded in urban landscaping.&nbsp; <blockquote>"The signs are a part of an old town and an old city. When you can bring them back, you bring back part of that time to today. It instills a lot of pride. It makes you smile. It makes you remember the days of the old soda fountains where you would go in and they would mix it up right there in front of you. You would sit there with your mom or dad or your friends and have a cold coke. It sure makes you feel good." -Jeff Miller, Hendersonville, NC City Counsel.&nbsp;1</blockquote>This 1953&nbsp;mural not only&nbsp;promoted the national Coca-Cola brand, but also promoted local businesses including&nbsp;Comuntzi’s restaurants and the Plaza Hotel. Opened in 1911 at 368 High Street, the downtown Comuntzi’s was a cherished local diner. The Plaza Hotel was located across the street from&nbsp;the building on which the mural was painted. Neither businesses exist in Morgantown today, but their memories are preserved through this mural. The mural was hidden and forgotten when the Farmers &amp; Merchants Bank building was later erected in the adjoining lot. This “ghost-mural” was rediscovered when the bank building was demolished for new construction in early 2014. <blockquote>"It is part of our history at Coca-Cola, definitely, but what we discovered is it is a part of the history and the tradition of each one of these towns where these signs once existed and are now coming back to life." -Lauren Steele, Sr. VP of Coca-Cola1</blockquote> Coca-Cola Consolidated began a nationwide restoration project to unveil multiple "ghost murals" across the country.&nbsp;They generously funded this mural’s restoration in the fall of 2015. Many local and state&nbsp;officials participated in the October 2015&nbsp;ribbon cutting to celebrate the mural's restoration. Coca-Cola refreshments&nbsp;were served to commemorate the products for which this mural was created.

As an introduction to the brand, the Coca-Cola Company began painting murals across buildings in America in 1914. Today these murals represent not only the unique advertising history of Coca-Cola, but also the history of the communities these murals were placed in.   Local Coca-Cola employee, John D. “Jack” Courtney, painted this mural along Morgantown’s High Street in 1953. The mural was covered up and forgotten for many years by a building placed next to what once was Comuntzis' Downtown restaurant. This ghost sign saw light again just a few years ago when the adjoining building was torn down, and successful efforts were made to restore the mural in 2015.

Downtown Morgantown Coca-Cola Mural

Don Knotts was born Jesse Donald Knotts to William Jesse Knotts and Elsie Luzetta Knotts. Don Knotts was the youngest of four sons. His father passed away when he was thirteen and he and his brothers were raised by their mother in Morgantown. Knotts attended Morgantown High School, where he first became interested in acting. His first gigs involved performing as a comedian and ventriloquist at local Morgantown churches. Immediately after graduating high school, Knotts went to New York City in hopes of landing a career as a comedian. However, he was only gone a few weeks before returning home to enroll at West Virginia University (WVU). After a year in college, Knotts joined the army. During WWII, the aspiring comedian was able to practice his trade touring the Pacific as part of the GI variety show "Stars and Gripes." Though he was an awarded serviceman, Knotts elected to return to WVU rather than pursue a military career.Knotts completed his bachelors degree in education between 1946 and 1948. In addition to the education degree, Knotts also acquired a minor in speech. He was active on campus and belonged to the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and the Alpha Psi Omega theater honors society. After graduating from WVU in 1948, Knotts returned to New York City. With his experience in the army entertaining troops, he was more successful the second time around and soon found jobs appearing on a variety of radio and television programs. In 1955, Knotts made his Broadway debut and was introduced to future co-star Andy Griffith in "No Time for Sergeants," a theatrical production that was later produced as a movie.Knotts joined Griffith again in 1960 for the first episode of the Andy Griffith Show. Playing the role of hapless but eager deputy Barney Fife, Knotts won three Emmy Awards for outstanding performance in a supporting role in a TV series. Knotts reprised this role many times over the years in various spin-offs and special episodes. He also made frequent appearances on shows such as The Cosby Show and Here's Lucy. Though in 1970 Knotts received his own television variety show, The Don Knotts Show, it was relatively unsuccessful and short-lived. His next big role was in 1979 when he was cast as the landlord Ralph Furley on Three's Company. Knotts continued to appear in television shows and movies up until the end of his life, often playing Barney Fife or a transparent homage to the character. In 1998, South University Avenue was renamed Don Knotts Boulevard in honor of the comedians 74th birthday. The effort to rename the road began with Monongalia County Commissioner John Pyles who initiated the campaign to change the name of the roadway after watching reruns of the Andy Griffith Show. At the same time, the Monongalia County Sheriff's Department named Barney Fife an honorary deputy sheriff. Knotts passed away on February 21, 2006 after contracting lung disease. Efforts to construct a statue to honor Knotts in Morgantown began immediately when local residents started raising funds. The statue is located at Morgantown's Metropolitan Theater where Knotts performed as a boy. Sculptor Jamie Lester made it his goal to capture the warmth of the local comedian and the statue also depicts Knotts holding Barney Fifes hat while a prop from "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" can also be seen in the work. Fans, friends, and local residents attended the statue's dedication in 2016 as the statue was unveiled by the late comedian's daughter Karen Knotts. Don Knotts' legacy as an accomplished actor hailing from Morgantown continues to be a source of pride and inspiration for the local community.

Dedicated in 2016, this statue commemorates the life and career of Don Knotts, an actor and comedian from Morgantown. Knotts is best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show from 1960-1968. Knotts also starred in films like "The Ghost" and "Mr. Chicken and The Shakiest Gun in the West." His career and legacy influenced many other comedians and he was a beloved figure among his fellow West Virginians for both his success in Hollywood and the way that success did not change the kind and open person who was raised here. 

Don Knotts Statue

There were a number of prominent taverns scattered across Morgantown in the community’s early years but among the most prominent was that of Captain William N. Jarrett, who in 1805 took over Hugh McNeeley’s tavern after his death and subsequently married his widow Polly. Such establishments served a number of purposes during the era, attending not only to the demands of thirsty locals but to those of weary travelers looking for shelter on their way through town as well. They also often opened their doors to gambling, a choice that made them a frequent target for religious reformers but reliably attracted regular customers looking to strike it rich by fleecing their neighbors. Jarrett’s enterprise was no exception the games of whist, high end liquor, and lively conversation offered there brought in some of the area’s most prominent residents, among them town founder Zackquill Morgan (who, according to Jarrett’s accounts, drank only upon occasion and in moderation). The site served in a similar capacity after the American Civil War, this time as the location of the Wallace House, a hotel and restaurant established by James C. Wallace in 1870 that continued in operation until the early twentieth century. The original Wallace House consisted of two adjoining red brick buildings, the slightly taller one to the north containing guest accommodations and the shorter one to the south holding the dining room. Wallace also owned and operated a livery stable where guests could house their horses on the corner of Maiden Alley (Wall Street) and Spruce Street where the Aull Center for Local History and Genealogy Research now stands. The first Wallace House (which came to be known by locals as the “Old” Wallace House) remained under Wallace’s control until 1898, when John G. Lantz purchased the property, refitted it with hot and cold running water, and reopened it as the “New” Wallace House. Lantz in turn sold the property in 1905, when C.D. Matthews purchased it and upgraded the facilities to include toilets. While the southern section of the Wallace House with the dining room (which could seat up to 150 people) continued in operation into the 1920s, the taller section to the north remained in its location for only two more years. Then, in 1907, local developer John Wiles purchased that section of what was once Lot 71 and constructed an office building there that came to be known as the Wiles Block Building. Wiles, who was responsible for much of Morgantown’s growth into the suburbs of South Park and Westover in the twentieth century, located his own office in the building and rented out the remainder of the space to a variety of other business establishments. While the Wiles Block Building would have its fair share of excitement in the coming decades, the Wallace House next door was soon to entertain by far its most famous guests in the almost half a century in which it had existed. Those guests were Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone, the famous “Vagabonds” who traveled the countryside of the United States on annual camping trips to advertise the utility of new technologies like the Ford automobile for long distance travel. From 1915 to 1920, the Vagabonds had been known as the “Four Vagabonds,” counting among their number the famous American naturalist John Burroughs. With Burroughs’ death in the spring of 1921, however, the Vagabonds sought a replacement, settling upon the current President of the United States, Warren G. Harding. Harding accompanied the Vagabonds for a portion of their trip through Maryland, but returned to Washington, D.C. prior to their arrival in Morgantown, an occurrence that took place by sheer happenstance. Once entering West Virginia, the Vagabonds’ plan had been to travel from Elkins to Fairmont before turning north toward Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Heavy rains made the roads in that direction impassable, however, and they chose instead to detour through Morgantown on August 2, 1921. Once there, the Vagabonds lunched at the Wallace House before touring the town and surrounding area. According to the Morgantown Post, when “questioned about the paucity of Fords” in the area by the Vagabonds locals responded that they had “too much respect for the flivver to use on West Virginia roads.”<a href="#_ftn1" target="_blank">[1]</a> While the Vagabonds’ visit to Morgantown certainly brought the old Lot 71 a fair share of attention, it was an event next door at the Wiles Block Building that cemented it in local memory. Less than five years after the Vagabonds had come and gone, on April 15, 1926, the area’s residents once more crowded around the corner of High Street and Wall Street, this time to rubberneck at the scene of one of the town’s most notorious murders. That night, Georgia Ridgeway, nurse of local physician and Scotts Run coal mine company doctor William Bruce Borror, stabbed her employer with a butcher knife in the apartment of Borror’s secretary Rose Hastings. Hastings’ apartment, which adjoined Borror’s offices in the Wiles Block Building, was soon overrun by curious residents who ignored police instructions to cordon off the scene of the crime. In the weeks and months that followed, the case received attention in local newspapers throughout the United States in areas as close as Pittsburgh and as distant as Utah and South Dakota. According to those outlets, which based their coverage on reports from local authorities, Ridgeway had attacked Borror out of jealousy after the doctor was visited by a female patient several times over the course of one day. Ridgeway herself appears to have remained relatively silent on the matter, and when Borror’s widow (and mother of his four children) visited her in jail shortly after the incident their conversation remained private. During the trial Ridgeway claimed as her defense that Borror was intoxicated on the night in question, had in fact regularly hosted drinking parties at his office in Morgantown and out at Scotts Run in defiance of nationwide Prohibition. According to Ridgeway Borror had in his state of inebriation attempted to disarm Ridgeway when she threatened with the butcher knife, and in the ensuing struggle fallen upon the blade by accident. Unconvinced, the jury found Ridgeway guilty and she was ultimately sentenced to twelve years in prison for second-degree murder. Eventually, she faded into obscurity. Borror’s funeral, on the other hand, had over a thousand attendees. Among them was an unnamed miner from Scotts Run who, according to the Charleston Daily Mail “sobbed” openly saying “I owe my life to him and would gladly have given it could he but have lived.”<a href="https://www.theclio.com/editEntry/84724#_ftn1" target="_blank">[2]</a> Through such events, the southeast corner of High Street and Wall Street shares connections to some of the most profound historical processes in the both the local and national pasts. Among them can be counted the history of travel in the United States over the course of two centuries, the expansion of Morgantown into the suburbs of South Park and Westover, and sensationalism of American media’s coverage of crime in the early twentieth century. These histories make the site a unique location in the area, despite the fact that no historic building remains there to be seen by passersby. <a href="#_ftnref1" target="_blank">[1]</a> "Ford-Edison Party Here," The Morgantown Post, August 21, 1921, 1. <a href="https://www.theclio.com/editEntry/84724#_ftn2" target="_blank">[2]</a> “Funeral of Slain Physician Is Held.” The Charleston Daily Mail, April 19, 1926.

The southeastern corner of the intersection between High Street and Wall Street (formerly known as Maiden Alley) in downtown Morgantown, West Virginia has been a focus of community activity since the town’s inception in the eighteenth century. Originally listed as Lot 71 when Zackquill Morgan laid out his plan for the town between 1783 and 1785, the area has since served in a number of capacities, most notably as the site of the Jarrett Tavern, then the Wallace House, and later the Wiles Block Building. Over the course of this history, Lot 71 has played host to a number of prominent individuals and events, most notably welcoming Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone during their brief visit to Morgantown in 1921 and serving as the backdrop of a 1926 murder that received nationwide attention. Through its association with these events and others Lot 71 represents a connection between the town and much broader processes, among them the histories of travel, technology, crime, and suburbanization. The site is currently occupied by a number of local businesses, all of which are open to the public.

Lot 71

The Colonel Zackquill Morgan statue on Spruce Street does not, in fact, depict the actual image of its subject but instead the artist’s rendering of a typical “Mountaineer” from the colonial period of American history. Indeed, even the image most often characterized as a portrait of Colonel Morgan is of uncertain origin. The portrait, of a middle-aged man in a suit with a mustache and sideburns, was simply one found among the personal effects of Morgan’s wife Drusilla and may depict one of her male relatives. The uncertainty of even the colonel’s appearance hints at the much broader lack of information regarding his life and activities more generally. Much about Zackquill Morgan’s life prior to the outbreak of the American War for Independence remains unknown, and even his activities during and after that war continue to be surrounded by layers of mythology and misinformation. What is known, however, is that he played a pivotal role in that conflict, was involved in and with significant events and people prior to that period and opened the way for dramatically increased white settlement in the Appalachian area afterwards. Zackquill Morgan was the penultimate son of Colonel Morgan Morgan, an individual that was long credited as the first white settler in what became West Virginia (a claim that has more recently been discredited in light of the existence of other white settlers in the same area prior to the Morgans’ arrival). Zackquill Morgan grew to maturity in his father’s large home in what was originally Orange County, Virginia but became Frederick County in 1738 (and later Berkeley County in 1772). The Morgans had significant influence in the area and Morgan Morgan played a key role in the creation of Frederick County from Orange four years after his arrival in the area from Delaware. Morgan Morgan was not only a local magistrate but also a commander in the local militia (hence his rank of colonel). The Morgans also appear to have known George Washington as a young man while he served as a surveyor and commander of provincials in the area in the 1750s. Later, when he briefly settled in what was then Bedford County, Pennsylvania (now Fayette County) from 1769 to 1771, Zackquill would even be nominal neighbors with Washington, who had purchased the land adjacent to Zackquill’s because it included the site of his ill-fated Fort Necessity. There were even rumors in the Morgan family that Zackquill had served alongside Washington in Edward Braddock’s expedition against Fort Duquesne. Research into the available muster rolls for that expedition reveals, however, that Zackquill was most likely not present in that campaign. According to an affidavit by Jacob Prickett he was present in a later western expedition, that of Colonel Henry Bouquet against various members of the western Indian confederacy during Pontiac’s War in 1764. As mentioned above, after his involvement in Bouquet’s expedition in 1764 Zackquill remained in Frederick County a further five years before pulling up stakes and traveling west. He settled briefly in Pennsylvania before migrating southwards in 1772 down the Monongahela and staking claim to the land between the Monongahela River and Deckers Creek where the town of Morgantown eventually rose. For much of the 1770s Zackquill spent a considerable portion of his time traveling between what became Morgan’s Fort, nearby Prickett’s Fort in what is now Marion County, West Virginia, and settlements around Fort Pitt (later Pittsburgh). Zackquill did much of his traveling during the events of the American War for Independence. In that conflict, Zackquill aligned himself with the rebels and was appointed County Lieutenant of Monongalia County (formed in 1776) and elected a colonel in the local militia. In 1777, Morgan proved instrumental in quelling a suspected Loyalist plot against rebel authorities in the Fort Pitt region. A group of British-leaning colonists in the Redstone area twelve miles south of Fort Pitt swore oaths of loyalty to the Crown in August of that year, prompting Zackquill to rally the militia and march to arrest those of questionable loyalty to the cause of independence. Shortly after doing so, Zackquill was tasked with transporting one of these men (a Loyalist named Hickson) to Williamsburg from Fort Pitt for trial. While crossing the Cheat River Hickson fell into the water in his chains and drowned, leading to charges of murder against Zackquill that were eventually dropped. After the war, Zackquill continued to promote his settlement at the convergence of the Monongahela River and Deckers Creek. In October of 1785, he received a charter from the Virginia Assembly to lay out half-acre plots of land for the settlement of a town. By 1790, however, only four houses had been constructed in the town despite many of the plots being purchased. It would take the cessation of hostilities with the western Indians in what is now Ohio after the 1795 Treaty of Greenville (following the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers) for settlement in what became Morgantown to grow more steadily. Zackquill never lived to see his town take off. He died on New Year’s Day of 1795 with little wealth to his name and was buried at his request in Prickett’s Fort.

The Colonel Zackquill Morgan statue erected on Spruce Street in Morgantown in 2016 was cast by Vandalia Bronze after five years of planning, design, and construction. Founded by Jamie Lester, Vandalia Bronze created the piece in part from Greek bronze dated to 7,000 B.C. The statue commemorates the role of Colonel Morgan in the foundation of his namesake town after receiving a charter from the Virginia Assembly in 1785. Morgan was influential in regional affairs long before that, however, and in fact played a pivotal role in the events of the American War for Independence in the area. The statue is accessible at all hours, every day of the year.

Colonel Zackquill Morgan Statue

The Appalachian Gallery was founded in 1987 by Laurie Nugent and Penelyn Van Orange, who pulled together their experiences in professional framing and art. Their gallery includes two floors of arts and crafts created by West Virginia artists. The breadth of work featured in the gallery includes paintings, drawings, glass, pottery, woodwork, metalwork, jewelry, textiles, and toys. A number of these works feature West Virginia scenes or symbols. Other items like books and puzzles are also for sale. The gallery offers custom framing for pictures, paintings, diplomas, and other heirlooms.The art in the Appalachian Gallery is not all that visitors will see. The gallery is located in the historic Price House, built circa 1902 by Morgantown furniture store owner W.E. Price. It is the prototype or "sister" of the Garlow House on Spruce Street, today the home of the Aull Center for Local History and Genealogy Research. Both the Price House and Garlow House were designed by local architect Elmer Forrest Jacobs. A graduate of West Virginia University and the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), Jacobs designed a variety of structures in northern West Virginia and Pennsylvania ranging from factories to government buildings to schools. In Morgantown, he is best known for adding the side wings on Woodburn Hall, part of the Seneca Glass Factory, and the Beaumont Glass Factory (now demolished).The Price House was designed in the popular Queen Anne style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The house's recognizable stone tower was added after Price saw the tower Jacobs incorporated in the Garlow House. The tower is often why the house is referred to as the "Sandcastle house." The building originally featured custom-made Tiffany windows, one of which is still extant and depicts a woman playing a harp. The Price House later served as the Sigma Nu fraternity and as a branch of the Fraternal Order of the Eagles. The Appalachian Gallery moved into the house in 2011.

The Appalachian Gallery is an art gallery, gift shop, and framing studio that promotes the work of West Virginia artists. Opened in 1987, the Appalachian Gallery features a variety of arts, crafts, and gift items. The gallery is located in the historic W.E. Price house, designed by famed Morgantown architect Elmer Jacobs. 

Appalachian Gallery

The "All Hands on Deckers" mural is part of the Friends of Deckers Creek's public art initiative. &nbsp;A spin on the phrase "all hands on deck," the mural suggests that all hands are needed to help Deckers Creek be habitable for animals living in the creek and people enjoying the creek for recreation. Deckers Creek is polluted by abandoned mine drainage and runoff in the city of Morgantown, where it meets the Monongahela River.&nbsp;

The "All Hands on Deckers" mural features footprints and paw prints from various animals native to the Deckers Creek watershed, as well as members of the community. It is sponsored the Friends of Deckers Creek, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving this tributary of the Monongahela Rive. The mural is located underneath the Walnut Street Bridge abutment along the Deckers Creek Rail Trail at Stanley's Spot Dog Park.

All Hands on Deckers, Friends of Deckers Creek Mural

The plans to renovate the Monongalia Courthouse Plaza were first discussed in 2016. The square prior to the update had been concrete and the Monongalia County Commission thought that it would be wise to renovate it in order to make it ADA accessible and to show a county pride and dedication to perception. As commision president Tim Bloom stated in May of 2018:“One of the things we needed to do, besides make it ADA accessible, was to show prospective business owners who were coming down here that we take care of our property."1In July of 2016, the Monongalia County Commission chose the local architect firm Mills Group to begin designing the renovations, citing safety concerns as the first priority. 2 Falling the initial planning the Commision held discussion with residents in November of 2016 to see what they would like to see incorporated into the design. The same month the plans were first presented to the public. 3, 4 These plans included an outline of the Monongahela River in the patio surrounded with LED rights, plaques honoring the counties fallen, armed forces members, a metal timeline of major events since 1800, and if possible incorporating a fountain to the front of the Courthouse as had been present prior to a modernization attempt in the 1960s.1,4,5 A contest was also issued for a new county flag to be hanged above the plaza open to the school children of the county, which was won by high school senior Andrew Riley. 6 The original fountain was thought to be lost when renovations began and was very difficult to redesign based on the fragmentary surviving evidence of it from old and blurry photographs from decades ago when Phil Cole, a designer on the project, stumbled upon during a run in a park in nearby Westover.5 This was the final piece of the project and added running water to the plaza to signify the role water had played in the development of the county.5 With the fountain added and all the construction completed, the plaza was rededicated on May 2, 2018. 1

Just outside of the Monongalia County Courthouse lies the Monongalia Courthouse Plaza which features memorial plaques, a glass outline of the Monongahela River, and other features design to showcase the local history and beauty of the area in an outdoor and accessible location.  It also fountains a restored historic fountain, Planned by Mills Group, a West Virginia based architecture, planning, and preservation firm, after the Monongalia County Commission sought to improve the existing courthouse square, this site was rededicated in May of 2018 after approval in 2016.  The site is open to the public and is ADA accessible.

 Monongalia County Courthouse Plaza

The presence of a courthouse at this location predates even the existence of Morgantown itself. In 1776, the Virginian District of West Augusta was split into three counties; Ohio, Yohogania, and Monongalia. At the future site of Morgantown, a simple wooden frame courthouse was erected to serve Monongalia County in 1784. This attracted businesses and residents eager to take advantage of close proximity to the court. In turn, the influx of residents spurred the establishment of the city of Morgantown in 1785. A brick courthouse replaced the original wood structure in 1804. Another new brick building replaced the prior structure in 1848. This courthouse was built in a Greek revival style to imitate a classical temple. It was two storied and capped by a box gabled roof and decorative rotunda. In 1851, a statue of Patrick Henry was added to the top of the rotunda. Henry was the first governor of Virginia and is famous for his statement “give me liberty, or give me death!”By 1884, the county courthouse was in a state of severe disrepair and was declared dangerous. The Monongalia County Court hired Pittsburgh architect James P. Bailey to draft plans for a new building, but local residents heavily opposed building a new courthouse, opting instead to repair the old one and striking down bonds for a new building. In 1890, the issue of the building came to a head. On September 13th, county officials removed vital records under cover of darkness and ordered demolition to begin. When incensed residents awoke and realized what had happened, they sought an injunction to prevent the demolition. Unfortunately for them, the court officials had all fled town and local lawyers refused to take the case. Demolition concluded in early 1891 and the court operated from a Methodist Protestant church on Walnut Street.The Monongalia County Courthouse which still stands today was built in 1891 by the George L. W. Mayers contracting firm. The Victorian Romanesque brick structure cost $53,478 – approximately $1.5 million adjusted for inflation. The eclectic mix of styles and elements found in the Monongalia County Courthouse was typical of United States civic buildings in the late nineteenth century. The flat-planed red brick exterior with cut stone windows are especially emblematic of the Victorian Romanesque style. The building itself is two stories with three-story tower and a five-story clock tower. The statue of Patrick Henry that graced the roof of a prior courthouse now resides on the ground floor of the smaller tour. Though the inside has been remodeled several times and a 1975 addition was added, the façade of the courthouse has changed extremely little since its construction in 1891.One major change to the Monongalia County Courthouse has been the evolution of the plaza. Until 1818, this space hosted the public whipping post, stocks, and pillories. After this it served primarily as a meeting place and market site. In the twentieth century, several war memorials and a drinking fountain were erected in the courtyard. A major project to completely redesign the plaza began in 2016. The primary concern was improving safety and appearance. A local architectural firm, Mills Group, was contracted to complete the renovations for about $2 million. The veterans memorials were restored and an LED-lit glass scale replica of the Monongahela river was added to the pavement. Initially, the drinking fountain that once graced the plaza was missing. Extensive efforts were made to recreate it based on a few poor-quality pictures, though this enterprise failed. However, a landscape designer for the project noticed the exact fountain tucked away in Westover Park while he went for a run one day. The cities of Morgantown and Westover collaborated, and the fountain was restored and added to the courtyard.The Monongalia County Courthouse is significant architecturally, historically, and culturally. It is an excellent representative of the Victorian Romanesque style of architecture. It is historically central to the political history of northern West Virginia and Morgantown. It has also been a crucial cultural aspect of Morgantown by providing a meeting place and social space. The renovations made in 2016 breathe new life to the courthouse space while maintaining the authenticity and tradition associated with the building.

The Monongalia County Courthouse was built in 1890 and is the fourth courthouse to occupy this space. The first three were built in 1784, 1804, and 1848. The construction of the extant building was a somewhat clandestine affair, as opposition from local residents necessitated the destruction of the prior courthouse during the night. The courthouse is built in a Victorian Romanesque style drafted by Pittsburgh architect James P. Bailey. The building itself has changed relatively little since being constructed in 1890, though the courtyard in front of it was heavily renovated in 2016. The courthouse is a hub of Monongalia County and Morgantown, hosting civic, political, and social events.

Monongalia County Courthouse

In 1922, the Morgantown Hotel Company was formed and immediately began plans for a new luxury hotel in its namesake town. Construction on the building near the end of high street began on January 15, 1925 and was completed October 16 of the same year. The Monongalia Historical Society was responsible for the name of the hotel. They requested that it be named after Morgantown’s founder and first lodging provider, Zackquill Morgan. The request was honored, and the new building was christened the Hotel Morgan.When the doors were opened in October, the Hotel Morgan was considered one of the grandest hotels in all of West Virginia. The tiered structure is seven stories near the entrance, rising to nine stories at the back. Even today, the Hotel Morgan towers over the rest of downtown Morgantown’s buildings. A steel frame supports the primarily brick and concrete structure. The construction of the hotel made it largely fireproof, a point of pride touted in advertisements. Albert Pick and Company – a Chicago based interior design firm specializing in hotels – took care of all interior decorating. No expense was spared and the hotel was decked from floor to ceiling in imported materials and fixtures. In addition to 152 guest rooms, the Hotel Morgan also included a beauty salon and barbershop, coffee shop, and dining room. 320 phone lines allowed for easy long-distance communication, and mailing facilities were also available on each floor. The Warner and Metropolitan Theatres were in close proximity to the Hotel Morgan, providing upscale entertainment to match the accommodations. The hotel was known for local community gatherings, such as the Lion's Club, the Kiwanis, high school dances, various fundraisers, and business conventions. In 1934, the Hotel Morgan hosted the first of several particularly famous guests when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited. Roosevelt stayed in the hotel during her visits to Scotts Run and Arthurdale. In 1954, former President Harry Truman visited the hotel shortly after the end of his term. Finally, John F. Kennedy visited Morgantown in 1960 while serving as a senator and democratic presidential nominee hopeful. He attended a brief reception in his honor in the Hotel Morgan ballroom and addressed the gathered crowd of supporters.By the 1980s, chain motels had spelled the demise of many grand hotels all over the country; likewise, the Hotel Morgan had suffered from a lack of maintenance and upkeep despite its illustrious pedigree and famous previous guests. In 1999, the hotel was sold to R. Ted Brant and went through a complete remodel and restoration process. The ballroom's two-story ceilings and the balcony overlook were restored. The smaller original guest rooms were combined and converted to suites with the color scheme of gold and blue. The renovations incorporated a full-service restaurant on the 8th floor, The Montmartre, offering beautiful panoramic views of the downtown Morgantown district. Another restoration of the Hotel Morgan occurred in late 2019 through 2020. All original furnishings, items, and furniture were sold in preparation for the redesign. In addition, the entire hotel was completely rewired. The Montmartre closed at this time, though plans for a new rooftop space are being made. Despite the inside of the Hotel Morgan being renovated, restored, and renovated again, the exterior has changed extremely little. Even the current redesign plans to keep the iconic “Hotel Morgan” neon sign that was added circa 1965-1975 and is visible from all over Morgantown. The Hotel Morgan is one of the most instantly recognizable buildings downtown Morgantown and an important piece of local history.

The Hotel Morgan made its debut on October 16, 1925, as one of the most opulent hotels of its time. Its offerings included a grand ballroom and panoramic view of the downtown Morgantown area. Upon completion, the Monongalia Historical Society insisted that the new luxurious hotel be named after Zackquill Morgan, the founder of Morgantown. The Hotel Morgan has hosted many notable names, including Eleanor Roosevelt in 1934, former President Harry Truman in 1954, and was a campaign stop for John F. Kennedy during the 1960 presidential election. Hotel Morgan was renovated in 1999 by replacing the outdated 1970s decor and restoring the hotel to its former 1920s glory. A more recent renovation in 2020 has attempted to modernize the hotel. Despite numerous changes, the exterior of the Hotel Morgan has changed extremely little over the years and is an iconic fixture of the Morgantown skyline.

Hotel Morgan 

The Neo-classical building that houses the Monongalia Arts Center was constructed in 1913 and was a federally owned post office until it was purchased in September 1975 by the Louis F. Tanner family. The post office was designed by Oscar Wenderoth in Classical Revival style and referred to as the Old Morgantown Post Office. The building itself was the first in Morgantown, WV to be federally built and federally owned by the U.S. government.  When the building opened in 1914 there was an open house to show off the new post office to the community. Citizens scrutinized one attribute to the building, and it was the "lookout" feature. This lookout was a narrow passageway at ceilings' height that ran through the work areas. The postal inspector used the lookout to secretly watch employees while stopping at "Black shutters" along the lookout and wearing a Black mask so he couldn't be detected.1 Mabel Tanner was a founder of the Morgantown players and local art critic for over 40 years. Tanner had long since envisioned a facility complete with a theatre, art gallery, exhibit area, classrooms and workshop space. The facility would house the performing and creative arts and provide a central point from which to foster the arts and encourage their growth. After Tanner's death in 1974, her family purchased the building in 1976 and then established the Monongalia County Arts Association, Inc. to begin work upon a community arts center, thus giving birth to Tanner's reverie.  In 1978, after two years of planning and development, the Monongalia County Arts Association officially opened the MAC to the public. In 1979, the MAC was added to the National Register of Historic places as "Old Morgantown Post Office". It is located in the Downtown Morgantown Historic District, listed in 1966. The Benedum Gallery, made possible through funding Benedum Foundation, was established in 1979; It is located on the first floor of MAC where the gallery displays monthly art exhibits from a variety of cultural and artistic backgrounds. The gallery is handicap accessible and open during weekdays and Saturday afternoons, information on each month's gallery is available on location or online at the center's website.  The Robert M. Davis Gallery is MAC's second floor gallery. The Benedum Gallery, established in 1979, was named after the Benedum Foundation for their donation to the MAC. This gallery was the first commercial gallery in the region and the first community controlled gallery of its type to allow artists submissions. The gallery was created out of a grassroots effort in 2004 as a means to showcase emerging artists and cutting-edge art forms. In 2007 and 2008, the Davis Gallery experienced several upgrades and was doubled in size due to a grant from the Hazel Ruby McQuian Charitable Trust and community volunteer efforts. The Robert M. Davis gallery uses a gallery track hanging system and covers over 800 square feet on the second level.  The Mabel DeVries Tanner Theatre was dedicated in 1981, and the room serves as MAC's space for the performing arts. Originally a federal building, this 1913 Neo-classical structure was donated in 1976 to be developed and maintained as a cultural center for Monongalia County. Over the years, the theatre has hosted everything from plays and classic theatre productions to music performances. The theatre also functions as multipurpose space, available to the public for reservations for events such as wedding receptions and other private parties. In 2008, the MAC began regularly booking local and touring bands for shows and concerts in the space.  The MAC offers classes and workshops in a variety of fields, including classes in Zumba, Yoga, and Kindermusik. The center also hosts two free sewing circles and MACKnitters. Ongoing artists studio sessions for figure drawing are offered all year featuring multiple models and body types. MAC offers the most affordable private music and art lessons in the region as well. Another ongoing program is MAC Improv which meets every Tuesday from 7-9 PM.

The Monongalia Arts Center, or MAC, is located in Morgantown, West Virginia near the campus of West Virginia University. The MAC opened to the public in 1978 as a non-profit arts and culture center to showcase local artists and performers. The MAC's mission is to provide the materials needed to build interest in the arts through ongoing educational programs. Located in a former post office building, the MAC has two galleries, a theatre for the performing arts, and is undergoing production on other projects including an internet radio station and the establishment of the Tanner Theatre as a regular venue for touring bands. 

Monongalia Arts Center

Lucian Philip Smith was
born on August 14, 1887 in Dawson, Pennsylvania to Norval Preston Smith—a former Union
private who had served in the 3rd Regiment, Maryland Infantry, Potomac Home
Brigade during the Civil War—and Anne Houston Smith (née
Cochran), whose family had been heavily invested in the coke industry
of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Additionally, Lucian had two siblings.
Together the family moved to Morgantown, West Virginia where Lucian spent his
childhood.

According to his 1909 passport application,
Lucian stood at 5’7’’, had blue eyes with brown hair and was a student at West
Virginia University. He attended the school from Fall 1904 to Spring 1906 and studied music. He was also a member of the school’s Pennsylvania Club. By
1912, Lucian was living at 76 High Street with his sister, brother-in-law,
their child and two servants.

Sometime in early January 1912, 24-year-old Lucian heard
about 18-year-old Mary Eloise Hughes, a Huntington, West Virginia socialite and
the daughter West Virginia congressman James A. Hughes, who was being presented
to Washington society after having just returned to the country following a
year spent in Europe. Following a whirlwind courtship, their wedding was set
for Thursday, February 8 at Central Christian Church in Huntington with a
reception to follow at the Hotel Frederick. The wedding was described by a
local newspaper as “one of the most brilliant wedding functions” ever held in the
city. They departed for their honeymoon across Europe onboard the White Star
Line’s Olympic manned by Captain Edward John Smith. By early April,
however, the couple was yearning to return home to West Virginia.

In a letter written to her parents Eloise said: &nbsp;<blockquote>'Lucian is getting so anxious to get home
and drive the car and fool around on the farm....We leave here Sunday....By
boat to Brindisi [Italy], by rail to Nice and Monte Carlo, then to Paris and via
Cherbourg either on the Lusitania or the new Titanic….’</blockquote>

The Smith’s decided upon booking a first class ticket (#13695) on
the RMS&nbsp;Titanic’s maiden voyage. They boarded the ship in Cherbourg, France
on Wednesday, April 10 and stayed in cabin C-31 on the starboard side.

On the night of April 14, Eloise Hughes Smith left her
husband with some friends outside of the Cafe Parisian before returning to her
cabin around 10:30. When the ship struck the iceberg at 11:40 p.m., Lucian had
been playing a game of bridge with three Frenchmen: Alfred Omont, Pierre Maréchal,
and Paul Chevré. He quickly went to wake his wife but found
her already awake and curious as to why it seemed the ship had stopped. He
calmly informed her:&nbsp;&nbsp;<blockquote>"We are in
the north and have struck an iceberg: It does not amount to anything, but
probably delay us a day getting into New York. However, as a matter of form,
the captain has ordered all ladies on deck.”&nbsp;</blockquote>Not aware of the danger,
Eloise took her time getting dressed. Once on deck the couple noticed that
there was no commotion, nor panic and no one seemed to be “particularly
frightened”, only interested in the unusual occurrence of the ship’s North
Atlantic crossing. In fact, when the first lifeboat was lowered on the port
side of the Titanic Eloise refused to leave her husband behind, and no
one particularly urged her to get in. The second lifeboat to leave the ship had
a friend of Eloise’s in it and Lucian attempted to convince his wife to join
her. Once again, however, Eloise refused unless her husband would go with her.

Captain Edward John Smith—the same man who had been the
captain onboard the Olympic at the beginning of the couple’s
honeymoon—was standing on deck nearby holding a megaphone. Eloise approached
him and asked if Lucian might accompany her as she was all alone. The captain
ignored her personally, but shouted into his megaphone:&nbsp;<blockquote>“Women and children
first.”</blockquote>&nbsp;Lucian responded with,&nbsp;<blockquote>“Never mind, captain, about that; I will see she
gets in the boat.”</blockquote>&nbsp;He then turned to his wife and said,&nbsp;<blockquote>“I never expected to
ask you to obey, but this is one time you must; it is only a matter of form to
have women and children first. The boat is thoroughly equipped, and everyone on
her will be saved.”&nbsp;</blockquote>He truly believed it and was then able to convince
Eloise to get into lifeboat number 6 under the command of Quartermaster Robert
Hitchens. As the lifeboat was being lowered Lucian yelled to his wife:&nbsp;<blockquote>“Keep
your hands in your pockets, it is very cold weather.”&nbsp;</blockquote>That was the last she saw
of him.

In a lifeboat built to hold 65 people but only filled
with 24—including
one Margaret Brown who would come to be known as the “Unsinkable Molly
Brown”—Eloise watched as the ship slipped beneath the water at 2:20 a.m. She
assumed the cries for help coming from the water were from the officers or
possibly steerage passengers who had overslept. Unaware that her husband and
friends had still been onboard the ship when it foundered, she looked into the
nearby lifeboats for any sign of him.

During the early morning hours of Monday, April 15, 1912,
the survivors were first spotted by the Cunard Line’s RMS&nbsp;Carpathia. A
woman on board was kind enough to give up her own berth for Eloise. In her
affidavit read by Congressman Hughes on the eighteenth day of the United States
Senate Inquiry into the disaster, Eloise stated that it was shameful how many
women had been relegated to sleeping on the floor in the Carpathia’s dining
saloon while J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line, was given the
“best room” in the center of the ship with a sign on the door saying, “Please
do not knock.” She also mentioned that “the whole thing seemed to have been a
monied accident” by the White Star Line company.

Early newspaper reports stated that the couple had been
saved and family members traveled to New York to meet Lucian and Eloise when
the Carpathia docked. Eloise
returned home to Huntington by train a week later with her parents where
hundreds of residents awaited her arrival. Due to the size of the crowd, five
policemen had to escort the family to Westmoreland where Eloise’s grandmother
lived. Meanwhile, James Smith travelled to Halifax, Nova Scotia in search of
his brother’s body in the makeshift morgues that had been set up for recovered
bodies. Eloise, hopeful that Lucian’s body would be found, had been planning a
lavish mausoleum for her husband, but gave up hope when it became known that
Lucian’s body was either unidentifiable or simply had never been recovered.&nbsp;

Ironically, the friends Lucian had been playing bridge
with the night of the sinking had all survived by leaving the ship in Lifeboat
No. 7, which had been the very first lifeboat to leave the ship and held men
and women occupants. 

A memorial service for Lucian was held on Sunday, May
12, 1912 at 3 o’clock in the afternoon in Huntington’s Central Christian
Church—the same church the couple had been married in two months prior—and was
overflowing with mourners.&nbsp; One of the
hymns sung at the service was ‘Nearer My God To Thee’, a song that numerous
survivors reported the Titanic’s orchestra to have played during the
ship’s last hours. Following the funeral, Eloise and her brother-in-law
traveled to Morgantown where the settlement of Lucian’s estate was held.

On November 29, 1912, Eloise gave birth to Lucian’s son, Lucian
Philip Smith II, in Cincinnati, Ohio. If she knew about her pregnancy at the
time of the sinking, she never mentioned it.

Eloise
married again twice before her death at the age 46 of a heart attack in a Cincinnati
sanitarium. One of those men was Robert W. Daniel, another Titanic survivor who had been standing with Lucian at the rail
watching lifeboats pull away from the ship and was the last to see him alive.
He claimed that as the ship went under, a great wave rolled over the railing
knocking Lucian back onto the deck while Daniel dove into the water. Before her death&nbsp;she once again took Lucian’s name and was
interred with her father and mother in Huntington’s Spring Hill Cemetery as
Eloise Hughes Smith.&nbsp;

Located in downtown Morgantown, West Virginia, 76 High Street is a Queen Anne Revival that was built in 1895 as a home for the West Virginia University dean of the School of Engineering. With the exception of an addition on the back of the building, it has retained its original facade. The building is currently home to Bel-Cross Properties, a property management and real estate firm. Beginning in the fall of 2001 and lasting through June 30, 2016 the building was the location of Cafe Bacchus, a local restaurant that was known to host a Titanic dinner in honor of former resident, Lucian Philip Smith, who died during the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Before that, it was home to the Demanielis—descendants of Greek immigrants to Morgantown—who had decided to transform their home into The Flame Steakhouse, a restaurant that operated for over 30 years.

76 High Street

The Morgantown History Museum is&nbsp;a nonprofit institution and the first city-sponsored museum in the Morgantown area dedicated to&nbsp;historic records and&nbsp;artifacts from the city and&nbsp;surrounding region.&nbsp;The Grand Opening on the museum&nbsp;was held on December 16, 2011. Since then, the museum&nbsp;has featured exhibits on and including the Monongalia River, local celebrities like&nbsp;Morgantown native Don Knotts, and the recognition of the 100th anniversary of the HMS Titanic's demise, which Morgantown has ties to.&nbsp;Visitors to the museum are welcome to tour the exhibits although&nbsp;tours must be made within a week advance.&nbsp;Tours include a film documentary on glassmaking and other activities.&nbsp;The museum also provides educational programs for children and adults through a variety of&nbsp;programs and thematic lectures. In 2011&nbsp;for the museums&nbsp;grand opening, hundreds visited "The Way We Worked" exhibit developed by the National Archives. It used demographic and labor data to explore how work became a central element of American culture. In 2014,&nbsp;A traveling&nbsp;exhibit called&nbsp;"Hometown Teams" was&nbsp;brought to the Morgantown History Museum by the West Virginia Humanities Council. "Hometown Teams" examined the role of sports in American culture, past and present. The museum was also&nbsp;part of an effort to build a replica of one of the flatboats that traveled the Monongahela River. These flatboats transported goods and&nbsp;were an essential economic lifeline&nbsp;in the early years of the region's development.&nbsp;

The Morgantown History Museum is a city-sponsored museum of history that collects, preserves, and interprets the history of the city and region. The museum offers a permanent exhibit which includes historic artifacts and displays about prominent residents and institutions within Morgantown and the surrounding area. The museum also sponsors a variety of traveling and temporary exhibits dedicated to a more in-depth look at certain topics related to local history. Although they are not affiliated, the Morgantown History Museum is located directly behind the Morgantown Arts Center.

The Morgantown History Museum

The Jones-Imboden Raid consisted of two main contingents. The first, under General John D. Imboden, marched from Staunton, Virginia on April 20 to what is now Beverly, West Virginia on April 24 before proceeding onwards to Buckhannon two days later for an intended rendezvous with the second column under General William E. Jones. While Imboden faced relatively little resistance along his intended route of march, Jones seemed to encounter nothing but difficulties. After setting out from Cootes’ Store near his headquarters at Lacey Springs, Virginia on April 21, Jones found the waters at his intended crossing point of the southern branch of the Potomac River in what is now Moorefield, West Virginia too high to ford. Marching from there to Petersburg, Jones discovered that the water level was, while low enough for his cavalry to cross, too high for his infantry and artillery. Ordering his infantry and artillery to return to Lacey Springs, Jones proceeded across the river. With the loss of his infantry and artillery and the deaths and desertions of some of his cavalrymen during the crossing, Jones’ effective strength had gone from 3500 to 2200 men. With this much depleted force he went on to his next objective, the crossing of New Creek Mountain at the Greenland Gap, where he again faced difficulties on April 25, this time from a small force of Federal soldiers that caused the Confederates yet more casualties before winning the day. After the skirmish at the Greenland Gap, Jones split his forces on April 26. The main body under himself would move on to destroy the railroad bridge at Rowlesburg in Preston County while other contingents under Colonel Asher Harmon and Captain Edward McDonald would target the railroads in Oakland and Altamont, Maryland. Afterwards, they intended to rendezvous at Morgantown in Monongalia County. For his own part, Jones encountered stiff resistance in Rowlesburg and was ultimately forced to withdraw his men from the area without destroying the bridge there. Likewise, while they faced relatively little difficulty in sabotaging the rails in Altamont on April 26, Captain McDonald’s small squad men faced a gauntlet of Unionist guerillas as they marched from there to Morgantown. The several hundred troops under Harmon, meanwhile, were able to progress relatively unopposed. After rounding up the company of Union soldiers guarding Oakland on the same day McDonald’s men reached Altamont, Harmon’s troops destroyed the turnpike bridge and railroad bridge over the Little Youghiogheny River there and proceeded westward to Cranberry Summit (now Terra Alta, West Virginia). There they encountered a defensive line manned by twenty local militiamen, which they easily overwhelmed, and moved on to Kingwood in Preston County on April 27. Harmon found the town of Kingwood largely deserted. Many of its citizens stayed in their homes and went into hiding but a sizable portion fled on to Morgantown to warn residents there of the coming horde of Confederates, which they claimed numbered in the thousands. In response, many of the town’s most prominent citizens fled. Senator Waitman T. Willey left for Washington, D.C., while the president and cashier of the local bank together carried off their institution’s store of cash and hard currency. Much alarmed by these stories and their leaders’ flight, the remainder met to determine the best course of action, finally deciding that if there were less than 100 raiders they would make a stand to defend the town. Colonel James Evans of the 7th West Virginia Infantry, who was home on leave, offered to take ten volunteers and scout out the size of the invasion. He could only convince six men to accompany him, and with this group rode out southeast on the Kingwood Turnpike. One of his men, sent ahead, was quickly captured by an advance party of Harmon’s men, who then gave chase to the rest but failed in their attempt. Two of the Evans’ men, who had not actually seen the main body of Confederates, returned to town to warn their neighbors that the rebels were “numberless.”<a href="#_ftn1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> The advance party of Confederates reached the outskirts of town soon after and sent two men in with a flag of truce, to whom the town promptly surrendered on April 27. The eighty men of the advance party held the town until Harmon’s arrival at 5 PM, after which the Confederates began to search for food, supplies, and horses. Throughout their trek from April 26 to April 27, Harmon’s men had found particular difficulty finding the last item in particular, and Morgantown was no exception. Most often, the local residents from whom they attempted to requisition horses had received advance warning of their arrival and hidden their stock in nearby valleys and forests. Finding Morgantown similarly devoid of suitable mounts, Harmon’s men turned instead to their other wants and needs. The most sought-after item was boots, many of the rebels being barefoot. Discovering that most of the stores in the town had been closed and could not sell them that particular item, however, they rooted out the stores’ owners from their chosen places of hiding and forced them to reopen and accept worthless Confederate scrip for their troubles. Those owners the Confederates could not find had their stores broken into regardless. The rebel troops looted those establishments and sold anything they did not want at a reduced price to those of the town’s citizens who were willing to do business with them. After waiting several hours for word of his commander’s approach to the appointed rendezvous, Harmon chose to evacuate the town at 2 AM on April 28. Throughout that time, the Confederate battle flag had flown over the Monongalia County Courthouse. As soon as Harmon’s men left, however, it was removed and the next morning the town’s residents proceeded to the trial of one of their neighbors accused of collaborating with the rebels. They were interrupted by the Confederates’ return, this time in the company of the soldiers under Jones and McDonald. The two commanders had met Harmon in the town of Independence in Preston County and Jones had chosen to advance once more on Morgantown to destroy the suspension bridge that crossed the Monongahela River there. Upon their return, the Confederates found that the residents had recovered their horses from their hiding places and promptly confiscated the lot. While Jones issued strict orders to prevent looting and even forced one of his men to return items paid for in U.S. currency, a number of his men managed to get their hands on some whiskey after his departure across the river. This no doubt complicated their own crossing of the river in Jones’ wake, since the bridge slipped off its supports and began to sway back and forth on its suspension cables as the last of the Confederates made it over. Considering the bridge sufficiently damaged, Jones ordered his men to put out the fire they had started on the structure and left Morgantown in the direction of Fairmont in Marion County. <a href="#_ftnref1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> Collins, 96.

The historical marker at this site commemorates Morgantown’s role in the Jones-Imboden Raid of 1863. Meant as both an attempt to prevent the formation of the new state of West Virginia and damage the infrastructure of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the region, the raid arrived to the seat of Monongalia County on April 27, 1863 in the guise of a troop of Confederate cavalrymen led by Colonel Asher Harmon. Harmon left early the next morning to reunite with his commander General William E. Jones in the town of Independence twenty miles down the road in what is now Preston County, West Virginia. Their combined forces then returned to Morgantown with the intention of destroying the bridge over the Monongahela River. The Confederate capture of Morgantown prompted a more concerted Federal effort to counter the raid’s progress through the counties of western Virginia, an effort that culminated in the Battle of the Bridge on April 29 (the largest Civil War battle in what is now northern West Virginia). The marker commemorating Morgantown’s part in the raid is in Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park, which is open from 7 AM to 9 PM every day of the week.

Occupation of Morgantown during the Jones-Imboden Raid

Summer campers in the Morgantown Board of Parks and Recreation (BOPARC) program "Arts in the Park" designed this colorful mural at the Hazel Ruby McQuain Park. Campers were asked to consider what Morgantown meant to them and draw images of what was most significant to them about Morgantown. Each camper made a small mosaic out of cardboard, then instructors and artists assembled the piece. Artist Debora Palmer helped coordinate this project.

This mosaic created by local children and artist Debora Palmer depicts a variety of downtown scenes. It is located along the Caperton Trail restroom building, in between the amphitheater in Hazel Ruby McQuain Park and the roundabout before the footbridge across Deckers Creek.

Historicizing Heritage

Old Town Mural

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context