ADDRESS: 130 West Main Street, Mount Sterling, Illinois, 62353
ARTIST: Henry Berstein
TITLE: The Covered Bridge
MEDIUM: Tempera (mural)
STATUS: The Mount Sterling 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: 1941
Sometimes it rains when I’m out trying to photograph post offices. I took a chance during this road trip, I knew there was a slight change of rain before I headed out for the day. I was hoping the weather would cooperate but alas it did not. Just part of the challenges in this line of work.
It really excites me when I discover a building has artifacts on display. Mount Sterling is lucky enough to have several old photos of the building when it was constructed. There is also a nice letter inside the bulletin board case. Not every building is has this so it is a real treat to see. This is also one of the delightful things we doing site visits.
My experience reveled it’s usually a postal worker or local historical society that takes and interest and works to get these artifacts on display. What is your experience? Have you assisted in getting old artifacts on display in your post office? I’d love to hear about it. Please comment and share below.
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 4/03/2015 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
