ADDRESS: 1321 Swanwick Street, Chester, Illinois 62233
ARTIST: Fay Elizabeth Davis
TITLE: Loading the Packet
MEDIUM: Tempera (mural)
STATUS: The Chester post office is still an active, operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the public. It resides in the lobby on the wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1940
Sometimes when I’m in the zone I often think about other things. It’s about this time that I just become a machine and go through the motions during my visits. Often times I find myself on autopilot not thinking of the task at hand.
While I’m writing up this article, I have little recollection of my visit in Chester. I’m digging in the back of my mind to come up with what this visit was like or how it felt. I’m drawing a blank and the only explanation I can come up with is that I must have been so absorbed in my work.
It also appears I liked the lobby as I took several more photos that usual of the Chester building. What do you think of this mural? I’m guessing the Packet was the name of the boat? Can anyone confirm of dispute this?
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 5/2/2015 by David W. Gates Jr.
- Illinois Post Office Mural Guidebook
- United States Postal Service
- Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
- Parma Conservation
