Concrete, Washington

On a road trip we took early in October we drove through the little town of Concrete along the Cascades Highway and Skagit River. Concrete is a town in north-central Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 732 at the 2010 census.

St. Catherine Catholic Church.

Community Bible Church

Mount Baker Presbyterian Church

Concrete Assembly of God. This is one of three oldest wood structures in Concrete that survived several fires prior to 1921. After all the fires the city decided to use their ample supply of concrete for future commercial buildings.

How Concrete Got Its Name

Early settlers came to the Baker River in 1871, originally calling the settlement on the west bank “Minnehaha.” In 1890, the townsite was platted by Magnus Miller, a post office was set up, and the name “Baker” was adopted. On the east bank of the river, the community that sprang up around the Washington Portland Cement Company (1905) was named “Cement City.” After the Superior Portland Cement Company plant (1908) was built in Baker, it was decided to merge the two towns, and in 1909, after much discussion, the new community settled on the name “Concrete.”

The Concrete Fire Dept. and Police Dept. stand side by side sharing a mural on the front of their buildings.

I’m linking up to InSPIREd Sunday with Beth and Sally and to Monday Mural at Oakland Daily Photo.

We are having a quiet Saturday as predicted. All outdoor surfaces are wet but not puddly. The rain is just a mist so far. Have you started shopping for Thanksgiving day? I haven’t yet since we are going to friends for the big meal. We are thinking of making our own turkey after Thanksgiving on the Traeger grill this year. Time will tell. Hope your weekend is going well.

Monday Mural Swiss Amish Style

Sugarcreek Ohio was originally settled by immigrants from Switzerland. It has a rich blend of Swiss culture and Amish heritage wrapped into an experience all its own. These first two murals are on buildings on Main Street in Sugarcreek, Ohio. The mural above had moving skiers coming down the slope.

With Swiss-style architecture, famous Swiss cheese and an annual Swiss Festival, Sugarcreek has become a top tourist destination in Ohio. It’s called the Little Switzerland of Ohio.

The next series of shots are from a mural in Heini’s Cheese Chalet in Millersburg, Ohio.

Heini’s Cheese Chalet is a required stop on any cheese country tour so you can see this indoor marvel, sixty feet long, painted by hand. It provides a unique perspective on the rise of Civilization. Come with us, to a time before there was cheese….

The mural begins on the left with a huge wedge of Swiss — before there was a Switzerland — crossed by nomads on camels. The mural charts evolving cheesemaking processes, consumption, and its impact to the present day, circa 1980. “Mutiny on the Bounty was partly over cheese,” explains the accompanying text, also painted by hand. The illustration style is reminiscent of a child’s guide to the Bible; though an elfish, round-faced boy with a half-eaten cheese morsel makes an appearance.

The mural concludes with a tiny billboard promoting the world’s largest wheel of cheese, a ten-ton cheddar that was here until someone accidentally kicked the plug out of its refrigerated kiosk in the 1990s.

The entire mural was painted by local artist Tom Miller. “His work,” according to Heine’s promotional literature, “is now considered to be of collectible worth with increasing value.”

ht: RoadsideAmerica.com

I bought a basket made by four year old Amish child from this shop. Seriously…four years old, I was blown away. There were long aisles of refrigerated cases with so many cheeses that you could sample. There were other goodies, too. These large Cheese shops in Amish country were really amazing. Makes all of the food stores I frequent seem cheese challenged and sausage challenged, too.

Linking with Oakland Daily Photo for Monday Mural.

City of Murals

In late September when traveling from Shipshewana Indiana to Sugarcreek Ohio we stopped briefly in Ligonier, Indiana.

The murals all depict historical places, businesses, and events. No tax money has been used for the murals. All money and time has been donated by local foundations, individuals, businesses, and industries, even to the bronze plaques on each mural.

Mier Carriage

Tyler Tank Oil Company

Mier Car

Blazed Trail Garage

Ligonier 1835. (I took this one from our moving car)

There are now a total of 31 murals. Artists have been chosen from Bronson, Mich.; Winona Lake, Ind.; Goshen, Ind.; Butternut, Wis.; Kendallville, Ind.; and Albion, Ind. from the Dept. of Corrections at Chain O’ Lakes State Park.

It would have been fun to go on a hunt to spot all 31 but we were in a time crunch to get to our destination for the night. They offer a map on the city web page showing where the murals are located.

I’m linking up to Monday Mural hosted by Oakland Daily Photo.

Hope your Monday is going well.

La Grange, Indiana

I tried to get some information on this mural on line and couldn’t really find anything. There were some references to Corn School.

La Grange Methodist Church?

1st Presbyterian Church in La Grange, Indiana.

On our way to Shipshewana, Indiana from the Detroit airport we stopped in La Grange on Highway 20 a few miles from “Shipshe” for dinner and saw these churches and mural while scoping out our dinner options. It didn’t take long to decide on one of the two spots that were open. The barn was spotted on the road before we reached La Grange.

Linking up with Tom the Backroads Traveler for The Barn Collective,

InSPIREd Sunday with Beth and Sally,

and Monday Mural at Oakland Daily Photo

Combining these three memes since all these photos are from La Grange, Indiana.

Kenmore City Mural

This mural was just unveiled and celebrated on Labor Day in the city of Kenmore, Washington.

It is painted on the side of the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store.

Kenmore is located on the Top of Lake Washington in Washington State.

You see the blue heron on the bottom left photo in this mosaic? Very close to St. Vincent de Paul at the rear area of the Kenmore Park and Ride there is a nesting area of Blue Herons. The nests high up in the trees are something extraordinary to see. You can see more on my post here. All the dark patches in the trees are Blue Heron nests on this next photo.

We’ve enjoyed many of the services these local businesses offer during our years living close to and in Kenmore. Ostrom’s pharmacy, Kenmore Lanes (for birthday parties), Kenmore Camera, Tai Ho (great lunch specials) and others. All three of our kids graduated high school from Inglemoor. We’ve also found great bargains from St. Vincent de Paul thrift store over the years and donated many things there. Some of the images are historical and not current.

It was nice to see the business and community effort that made this mural happen. I’m glad for once I have the signatures of the mural artists.

I’m linking up with Oakland Daily Photo for Monday Mural and

Mosaic Monday with Maggie from Normandy Life and

ABC Wednesday for K is for Kenmore Mural.

Monday Mural

When we were in the Northeastern part of Washington state I took a solo country roads drive to see what I could see. This is a mural on highway 395 between Chewelah and Colville in Addy. Definitely country as opposed to rock an roll…

I’m linking up with Oakland Daily Photo for Monday Mural.

Courthouse Mural~

This mural is at the entrance to the Stevens County Courthouse in Colville, Washington. I broke it down into sections so you could see it better.

I took these photos in the middle of August and this was a very mild beautiful day.

Linking up to Monday Murals at Oakland Daily Photo.

Our electricity is off for I don’t know how long whilst Dear tries to find out what’s going on with some dead outlets. Hopefully there hasn’t been any critters chewing through wires. I’ll be late in visiting.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Murals