Reedsburg and Park Falls Post Office Murals

Thanks to my new job I've knocked 2 more New Deal Post Office murals off my list for Wisconsin.

It doesn't get any more Wisconsin than the one in Reedsburg.  It is a oil on canvas entitled "Dairy Farming" painted by Richard Jansen in 1940.

Mural was covered in what appeared to be plexiglass to protect it from curious, oily hands

The one in Park Falls was definitely different than all the others I have seen.  James Watrous depicted a river fight said to have taken place in 1888 at the junction if the North Fork and South Fork of the Flambeau Rivers.  Two rival logging crews fought savagely for days for the privilege of driving their logs into the main river ahead of the other.  Stories of this fight have been told and retold by the old "River Pigs" as the log drivers were then called until it has become a legend of the North Woods.  Or so the plaque says!

Historical "Main Street" mural in downtown Park Falls

Park Falls has a long history from the Native Americans to the 17th and 18th centuries when the river became a highway to fur traders carrying pelts from the forests of the north.  And then in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Flambeau was one of the great Wisconsin rivers that carried the white pine logs downstream to the mills of America.

Currently downtown Park Falls is under a bit of road construction, hopefully that is good news for the small town.  Once up to 4,000 people it is just over 2,000 citizens now.

For over a hundred years Flambeau River Papers has produced quality paper products including art paper and has recently made improvements to their mill so business must be good still in this digital age.

I see piles of trees that were logged all over the place in Wisconsin and trucks loaded up with them as well but it is often hard to get a picture so I couldn't pass up this opportunity at the paper mill.

Linking up to Monday Mural.