ADDRESS: 128 S., East St., Crown Point, Indiana 46307
ARTIST: George Melville Smith
TITLE: From Such Beginnings Sprang the County of Lake
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Crown Point post office is still an active operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested memebers of the pubic. It resides in the lobby on a wall above the former postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1938
Initially, I wasn’t planning on stopping at the Crown Point building. However, by the time I got here on a Sunday Morning at 6:11AM, the sun was just starting to rise. In addition when I checked the lobby doors, they were open. So low and behold, I spend a good amount of time here and photograph the mural, by the time I was ready to leave, I was able to get a few exterior photos of the outside. They are dark, but I also kind of like the mysterious look and feel to them.
Note to self: that cornerstone was hard to get. I had to hold back the branches using one hand and then try to photograph it with my other hands. When you revisit this one bring another set of hands or the kid to help out.
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 9/26/21 about 6:10 AM and 12/12/2021 at 4:33 PM and 3/02/2022 at 4:36 PM and 06/27/2023 about 11:28 AM by David W. Gates Jr.
- Indiana Post Office Mural Guidebook by David W. Gates Jr.
- Chicago Tribune, New Deal-era mural restored for Park Ridge Library – Park Ridge Herald-Advocate (chicagotribune.com)
- Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Indians Cede the Land | National Postal Museum (si.edu)
- United States Postal Service
- Indiana Landmarks, New Deal Left Its Stamp on Local Post Offices – Indiana Landmarks
- (affiliate link) Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
- (affiliate link) A Simple and Vital Design: The Story of the Indiana Post Office Murals
: John C. Carlisle
