ADDRESS: 111 West Main Street, Eaton, Ohio 45320
ARTIST: Roland Schweinsburg
TITLE: Van Ausdal’s Trading Post
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Eaton 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: 1936
As I was visiting this building a man observed me trying to crawl into the bushes to get a photograph of the cornerstone. However, this man did not know what I was doing or why I was there.
Once we started chatting, I learned that he is the postmaster for this building. I politely explained what I was doing and that I wanted a clear photo of the cornerstone. He said to come back in three or four weeks as he was going to have the bushes taken out. Dang! I’m on my road trip today and may not get a chance soon to revisit. But at least I know the bushes will be gone the next time I do visit.
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 10/25/2022 at 3:54 PM by David W. Gates Jr.
- United States Postal Service
- (affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
- Parma Conservation (https://parmaconservation.com)
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Van Ausdals Trading Post Mural Study (Van Ausdals Trading Post (mural study, Eaton, Ohio Post Office) | Smithsonian American Art Museum (si.edu)
