ADDRESS: 201 N. Main St., Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, 38474
ARTIST: Eugene Higgins
TITLE: Early Settlers Entering Mount Pleasant
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Mount Pleasant 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: 1942
WOW! check out post office and mural. I couldn’t help myself I ended up spending some extra time here admiring the mural and taking lots of pictures. I took several close up detailed photographs so you could really get the feel of this great mural. And now that I’m looking at my these pictures I’m wondering why I didn’t get a close up of that wonderful eagle above the front entrance. “Kicking myself” oh well. may someone out there might like to send me one. 🙂
So we’re just going to dive in July, normally I only like to showcase one mural or artwork per week. But hey I have a lot of material to share. Plus I wanted to dive right into my Tennessee collection. So on this very last day of June let’s get started with those unique and wonderful buildings in Tennessee.
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 4/01/2013 by David W. Gates Jr.
- Tennessee Post Office Murals by David W. Gates Jr.
- Tennessee Post Office Mural Guidebook
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
- (affiliate link): Tennessee Post Office Murals
: Howard Hull
by David W. Gates Jr.
David, My name is Robert Wakefield and I am the Postmaster for the Mount Pleasant Post Office. Your pictures look great! The Mount Pleasant Post Office is like a step back into the 1940’s. Many features are remain the same as they were in 1940. The mural painted by Eugene Higgins is certainly a highlight. Mr Higgins got the idea to paint the mural from a lady he had met at an art show. She told him how her ancestors had settled in Mount Pleasant and they brought their slaves with them. The idea sounded so good, that he painted the mural and got paid 750.00. However, there is a twist. After the mural was completed, the lady said the Eugene had misunderstood her. Her family settled in what is called Brentwood TN, not Mount Pleasant! Still factually correct in its setting, just not what you would have thought. The mural just celebrated its 70th birthday last November 17th.
David, let me tell you about the eagle. For the last 72 years, this eagle has adorned the front of the Mount Pleasant Post Office. It has endured the coldest of nights and hottest of summer days. When I became postmaster two years ago, the eagle looked horrible…it was black – where decades of dirt and smog and attached itself and it was also tarnished badly. My employees helped get the eagle down and we thought it needed just a good cleaning with brasso. (we thought it was brass) Turns out it was brass plated. So, we got a local powder coating company to powder coat it and the wall sconces on the either side of the door and your pictures show the dramatic results. The eagle will never tarnish again.
An eagle of this majesty needed a name. So we named him “Mumford” after the longest serving postmaster of Mount Pleasant, Mumford Stewart. Mr. Stewart was the postmaster when this building was built in 1940. During WWll, Mumford Stewart would come to this post office on Sunday’s and sort the letters. If he found a letter from a soldier serving overseas, he would personally deliver this letter to the family on Sunday. He was quite a character.
So the eagle’s name is Mumford. Please visit Mount Pleasant Post Office anytime.
I can send you some before and after pictures of “Mumford”
Robert Wakefield, Postmaster
Mr. Wakefield,
Wow, Thank you so much for the personal and informative background on the Mt. Pleasant Post Office. I absolutely love this building and the uniqueness of the windows, the eagle the mural etc. It really is a great building.
I’m really delighted you took the time to share this with me. My hat is off to you and your staff for taking the time and most importantly the interest in restoring the eagle that adorns your building. I would love to see more before and after pictures.
I’d be more than happy to visit again. I have more work in Tennessee and when I schedule this will certainly inform you and stop in for a visit.
Thanks again,
David
Looking forward to your visit David. Just give me a call. I will send you some before and after pictures of the “Mumford”.
Thanks,
Robert