Post offices with dedication plaques.

ADDRESS: 1720 Market Street, Saint Louis, 63155
TITLE: The Territory of Missouri
ARTIST: Mitchell Siporin
TYPE: Mural
STATUS: The mural resides on the wall in the lobby.
YEAR: 1942

Welcome to part 4 of a 10 part series featuring the Saint Louis main post office. For the past few days we have been showcasing the murals inside this mammoth building. Since there are over 9 murals I’ve decided to highlight them each individually.  Today’s mural is titled “The Territory of Missouri” and was done by Mitchell Sporin.

This panel begins with the first United Sates Post Office established in St. Louis in 1804. Colonel Rufus Easton, the first postmaster, is portrayed receiving bags of mail from across the river. Arriving on the same flatboats are settlers and their slaves from Virgina and Kentucky to the Missouri territory.

To the right is Captain Amos Stoddard, presiding at the famous ceremony of the purchase of the Missouri territory by the United States. The Spanish flag was lowered, and the flag of France was raised and lowered; and the American flag was then raised to symbolize the passing of the territory from Spain to France to the United States.

Tune in tomorrow for the next mural tilted “George Rogers  Clark and Daniel Boone”

Thanks for stopping by, please comment and share below.

David W. Gates Jr.

“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”

Sources

• Personal visit on 8/10/2012 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.

ADDRESS: 1720 Market Street, Saint Louis, Missouri, 63155
TITLE: The Postwar Period
ARTIST: Mitchell Siporin
TYPE: Mural
STATUS: The mural is on the wall of the lobby and viewable to the public during business hours.
YEAR: 1942

Because there are more than 9 separate murals at the main post office I’ve decided to highlight each mural separately. To be honest I started to combine all 9 murals into one very long post. It became very clear this was too much material for one article.

So sit back grab a cup of coffee or tea and relax as I highlight the amazing murals of the Saint Louis Main Post Office.

Today’s featured mural is titled “The Postwar Period. It’s 29 feet by 9 feet and was painted between 1941 and 1942.

The first group at the left of this panel portrays the famous “Order Number Eleven. “This proclamation ordered all those living in Jackson, Cass, and Bates counties to leave their homes in fifteen days. In the background is the wreckage of a locomotive, a symbol of the destruction of the war.

In the center, the reconstruction is symbolized by two figures of railroad workers. the last group at the right side are portraits of eminent Missourians of the 1880’s and 90’s. Those portrayed are Mark Twain; George Caleb Bingham, the Painter; Carl Schurz, the Statesman; James S. Rollins, the “Father” of the University of Missouri; and Joseph Pulitzer, the Publisher.

Tune in tomorrow for the next mural in our series “Commerce and Trade”

Thanks for stopping by, please comment and share below.

David W. Gates Jr.

“Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.”

Sources

• Personal visit on 8/10/2012 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.