Post Office Murals
I first became interested in this art last summer when the post master in the Jackson, GA, post office caught me staring in wonder at the unusual mural in the post office in downtown Jackson. I had already decided it was “local” and something special with a history. The cotton fields and the railroad running through the fields were the give aways. He told me the story of the Depression Post Office murals, which I later researched.
Wikipedia has a list of the artwork by state. The list is going to travel with me on my book trips. My new on-the-road hobby, besides photographing court houses, cemeteries and reenactments, is now to see how many of these murals I can find. The artwork is story, so I look at it as inspiration for settings in books. You know, field work.
They all have a story to tell about that place, about the people and their circumstances and customs; how they looked, what they did at that moment in time; a pictorial history lesson for those who take the time to see what’s in the mural. Check out the list, maybe there’s one close to you. Or maybe you see one every day and hadn’t ever noticed it was anything special. Time for a closer look.