‘Old street’ mural is removed from Springfield scene

An old street scene in Springfield, bit the dust last week.

Spanning half a city block, and including three separate walls, it was the painting of a main street scene of a typical country village in the early 1900s, that was painted on the south wall of the State Bank of Springfield (now First National Bank) building. It was painted in celebration of the Springfield Centennial in June 1981. The mural project was financed by the State Bank of Springfield.

The stucco on which the mural was painted had to be removed for safety’s sake because large cracks compromised the integrity of the wall. 

The wall is being covered with expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation and will then have stucco reapplied and repainted, but there will be no mural scene.   The “Teller” sign above the bank drive-up window will be touched up and will remain.  The stagecoach scene and the train rounding the bend on the wall of the Springfield Museum will be retained.

The south wall of the bank was once a common wall between the bank and a grocery store operated by Gust Nuessle at the turn of the century, then later George Miesen, and, finally, Harry Peichel.  The building was removed in June,1952,when Peichel moved his grocery store to much larger quarters to a new building on North Marshall Avenue, now the home of NAPA Auto Parts.

When the stucco was removed from the bank building last week, the roofline of the old grocery store, and the line of the stairs leading to the upper level were still outlined on the wall.  For more about this story check this week's Adavance-Press.