Mural project tells story of Lincoln Highway

Armed with lawn chairs and cold drinks, many of the townsfolk of Stoystown, Somerset County, watched in fascination as artist Wayne Fettro hand painted a large mural on the side of Blanset Hardware in August.

The mural is one of 11 planned works along the Pennsylvania stretch of the Lincoln Highway. The goal of the mural project is to draw attention to the country's first coast-to-coast highway constructed in 1913.

"For nine years I have been trying to create a buzz about the historic Lincoln Highway along our six-county corridor in Westmoreland, Somerset, Bedford, Fulton, Franklin and Adams counties," said Olga Herbert, executive director of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. "We worked with PennDOT in placing colorful Lincoln Highway signs along the corridor. And while this helped, people still didn't understand the significance of the highway. It was the beginning of Americans love of their automobiles. The highway revolutionized the way people could travel."

Four years ago, LHHC hired a professional firm to develop an interpretive plan for marketing the Lincoln Highway. The result included three phases -- a combination of interpretive wall plaques and exhibits, fiberglass gas pumps and murals.

"Once the mural idea was born, we put the entire project out to bid. Fettro's work stood out. He had extensive experience painting murals and our board of directors liked his realistic style of painting," Herbert said.

Much of the project was funded by the federal Transportation Enhancement award and through the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Each mural costs $6,000 to $14,000.

Small committees made up of the borough or city manager, a representative from the local historical society, the local arts council, a member of the LHHC board of directors, the building owner, and Herbert conferred on the project details for each mural.

"Our discussions centered on what that community was proud of, what they wanted motorists passing through their community to know about them, or what some of their early memories of the Lincoln Highway were," Herbert said. "Of course, the mural had to have a link with the Lincoln Highway era. This often meant there would be vintage vehicles in the mural. It was also our goal to educate the community and visitors alike."

The Blanset Hardware mural features a Pierce Arrow wrecker, the model used by the former Horner Garage in downtown Stoystown.

"The top part of the mural has a picture of an old Atlantic Gasoline pump, which is the type of gasoline the owner of the garage sold," said Ralph Blanset, owner of Blanset Hardware. "There's also a picture of the front of my hardware store when it was Specht Hardware. The store probably goes back 100 years. I purchased the store from Harvey Specht's descendants in 1988."

The Hite Hotel, dating back to the early 1900s, is also featured on the mural. The hotel was restored recently to serve as housing for the elderly.

"The elderly people living in the Hite have told me that it makes for a nice view from their living rooms and their back porches. Instead of seeing a blank wall, they see a beautiful mural," Blanset said.

Somerset County is also the setting of a second mural on the Yaste barn near the junction of routes 30 and 219 and owned by sisters Thelma Yaste, Marlene Gindlesperger and Lois Wilson. The small farm has been in the family since 1951.

"We were contacted by the Lincoln Highway people two years ago about having the front of the barn painted," Yaste said. "It is a 10-year contract with them and they pay for the barn upkeep on the side where the mural is painted."

The barn is now known as the Abraham Lincoln barn due to the picture of ole Abe on the mural.

"People tell us they've never seen a picture of Abe Lincoln that's so realistic," Yaste said. "We met Wayne Fettro several years ago. We were so impressed with his artwork, that's why we decided to do this."

Along with 16th president's likeness is a picture of a Conestoga wagon and two men, a driver and a brakeman. The first woman to drive the Lincoln Highway from San Francisco to New York, Amanda Preuss, is also depicted.

"We've learned so much history since the mural was completed," Yaste said. "Amanda Preuss is driving a 1916 Oldsmobile and it took her 11 days, 5 hours, and 45 minutes to cross the Lincoln Highway."

The last picture, appropriately enough, is that of Henry Ford inside the 10 millionth Ford that was manufactured.

"People stop and take pictures all the time. We are really happy with the results. After all, where can you get a piece of art done by an artist of Fettro's caliber• And it's on our barn."

There are two completed murals in Bedford County -- a three-sided mural on a barn owned by Richard and Ann Darrow in Schellsburg and one on the side of an office building at 109 E. Main St., Everett, owned by Dr. Larry Kalp, a dentist.

The Darrows' barn is used for storing hay and as a corral for their 200 head of American bison. Richard Darrow has been raising bison since 1988.

"People stop and take photos of the bison and now they lock up their brakes to take pictures of the barn," said Darrow, who also owns the Bison Corral Gift Shop across the road from the barn. "At first we couldn't envision what the barn mural would look like, but it seemed like such a nice project that we decided to just go for it."

Fettro started the bison corral barn project in June and finished before July 4, Darrow said.

"He had to dodge the raindrops while he was working on it," Darrow said. "I couldn't believe how hard he worked. Once he got started, he worked all day long and all by himself."

The mural features a view from the top of a hill near the historic 1806 Log Church looking west over Route 30. Two vintage cars passing each other on the Lincoln Highway are pictured along with a herd of Jersey cows grazing in a field. Another circa 1930s car is shown with three men standing by it looking out over the expanse from the former Grandview Ship Hotel. Because Burma Shave jingles were so popular during the Lincoln Highway era, the catch phrase, "Times Square in the East, Golden Gate in the West, for east west travel it was the best, Lincoln Highway," is painted on the west side of the barn.

"Some people have asked me why we didn't get any bison painted on the barn. I tell them there were no bison in western Pennsylvania in the 1930s," Darrow said, laughing.

The Karns car, the Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroad, the former Everett elementary school, and the Union Hotel, are well represented in postcard-style forms on the east wall of Kalp's building. Other postcard scenes depict downtown Everett during the 1920s and a section of the Lincoln Highway and the Juniata River where it cuts through the mountains.

"This mural was completed in the summer of 2003," Kalp said. "We have a very active historical society in town and we wanted something on the mural that would represent our town. The postcards that were used to inspire the artist came from the historical society."

The Karns car was the first automobile built in the county by W.C. Karns of Everett in 1905. Karns, who wanted to mass produce his hand-built car, petitioned the federal government for a grant to build an auto plant in Everett.

Henry Ford also petitioned the government for funding at the same time. The rest, as they say, is history.

"Karns later became mayor of Everett. At some point, his car was stolen and sold," Kalp said. "A local high school girl who was related to Karns did an Internet search and actually found the car. She tracked it to a gentleman in Ohio who had legal ownership, so the Karns family couldn't get the car back. But she did learn that the car still runs."

Kalp's mural project took Fettro approximately two weeks to complete.

"He had drawings on 8 1/2-by-11 (inch) sheets of paper that he used to do each section at a time," Kalp added. "He'd sketch part of it on the wall and paint that part in, then move across to another section using a hydraulic scaffold. It's pretty amazing, especially since the mural measures about 30 feet high by 40 feet wide."

Fettro, 43, of Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, began his career painting signs and billboards after he graduated from high school. The Lincoln Highway project is very dear to him.

"The amount of history involved along the highway is great and the people are very receptive to that history," Fettro said. "It's visual communication. People can pick up on it right away."

Once the LHHC has located an appropriate site for a mural, Fettro meets with each community's committee for their input. He then makes a sketch, which goes back to the committee and the LHHC for approval.

"The fun part of the project is the communication with the public," Fettro said. "If you kick back and listen to the people and are observant to the community and know what to look for, then you have a workable sketch. Each mural tells a different story."

In addition to the historical background research and sketching, Fettro must prepare the surface of the building by scraping off old paint when necessary. He then uses artist-grade oil-based paint and seals each mural with two coats of acrylic latex.

"This project means so much to me," he said. "Whenever I do a project I'm in my own little world. I am blessed to have such a job where I get such a great welcome from people."

The mural at 202 Lincoln Way East, in McConnellsburg, Fulton County, has brought a lot of attention to the Green Leaf Gifts and Things store. Owners Kathy and Daniel Fester and Nancy and Marlin Harr have been in business for over two years. The building used to house a Dollar General store, H & P Discount, and an ice cream shop called the Greenleaf.

"When my father (Marlin Harr) took out some windows and blocked them shut to have the mural painted, we uncovered the original H & P Discount Store sign from many years ago," Kathy Fester said. "We now have that sign displayed in our store."

Their mural was completed in September. While Fettro painted, people sat in the adjoining parklet to watch.

"People just totally enjoyed him doing the mural and watching him work," Fester added.

The theme of the Green Leaf store mural is "Early autos at the summit rested because their engines were sorely tested, Lincoln Highway."

"When we met with the McConnellsburg committee, they kept talking about how automobiles overheated and broke down after climbing up the mountain," Herbert said.

And while the Green Leaf doesn't stock Lincoln Highway memorabilia, Fester believes the mural will help tourism in their small town and sales in the family's shop.

In Westmoreland County, the Lincoln Highway ran through downtown Greensburg past 112 W. Pittsburgh St. Fettro's mural shows a Pennsylvania trooper aiding a motorist with a map. Greensburg was one of the first cities in the Commonwealth to have a state police force. Men for the force were enlisted on Nov. 1, 1905, and assigned to troops at Greensburg, Punxsutawney, Reading and Wilkes-Barre. It wasn't until 1938 that the highway patrol combined with the police force to form the Pennsylvania State Police.

"We wanted a scene that depicted the Greensburg area and be in harmony with the entire Greensburg renovation," said Scott Brown, owner of the building. "We wanted to have something that went with the highway and Troop A was certainly consistent with that idea.

"The mural adds so much to the building and serves as a contribution to this worthwhile project. It celebrates Greensburg's history and the history of the state police."

Fettro will finish up 2004 with a mural at 75 Pennsylvania Ave., Irwin, in the building that houses Remote Control Systems Inc., a manufacturing company owned by Robert and Betty Smith.

"We had a lot of photographs from different sources and we were able to select some that represented the community and that were part of the Lincoln Highway," Robert Smith said. "We settled on a view of the street and the intersection that shows the building from the 1930s and the trolley cars. I've been involved in the transportation business since 1964, so I knew of the trolley activity on this street."

Smith is also hoping a second mural on the west wall can be completed next year.

"The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor is on line with having a second mural done," Smith said. "The pictures would be something with coal mining, the first airmail drop at Jacktown Hill, and the first traffic signal in downtown Irwin."

Fettro said he plans to finish the remaining four scheduled murals in Saint Thomas and Fayetteville in Franklin County, and Gettysburg and Abbottstown, Adams County, in the spring.