What is the widest, tallest, largest of the Murals of York, Pa.? And the smallest?
Lewis Miller drew this scene of old Schreck trimming his wife’s two-inch toenails with a saw in 1799. “But save my toe,” she told her husband, as reported by Miller. Justine Landis and Mary L. Straup adapted this humorous scene into a mini-mural, one of more than 15 small murals along Cherry Lane credited to this mother-and-daughter team. This mini-mural, part of the Murals of York, is a favorite of third-grade students at Roundtown Elementary School, who are drafting a Wikipedia article on the paintings. Also of interest: Don’t know much about York County history? Part I, Part II and Part III and and Civil rights heros stand out at Bradley exhibit.
I explained in my York Sunday News column (1/16/11) Students documenting York murals for Wikipedia about how a Roundtown Elementary student stumped me with a question about the Murals of York.
What is the smallest mural? the student asked.
So that set me the figuring about the square footage of each of the 18 large-scale murals, something I never worked out before… .
The largest wasn’t a surprise – because it was the widest at 120 feet. The York Fair Mural measures in at 2,880 square feet.
And the smallest came in at a tenth of that.
“Made in York” on the side of Sam & Tony’s Restaurant on West Market Street was by far the smallest.
And it’s one of the murals that is weathering. Paints is peeling at the foot of the Chamber of Commerce guys standing around the Pullman automobile.
So here they are, never before published, the square footage of the Murals of York.
Made in York: 289
Dr. George Holtzapple: 400
The Articles of Confederation: 420
Community Contributors: 496
The Four Chaplains: 552
William C. Goodridge: 552
The Power of the Printing Press: 560
Muscletown USA: 594
York County 250th Anniversary: 600
Gen. Jacob Loucks Devers: 768 (2 panels at 384 square feet each.)
From Farm to Market: 832
Harley-Davidson tradition: 884
York Manufacturing Company: 1,120 (the tallest at 35 feet.)
York in the 1800s: 1,200
Children’s Home of York: 1,440
The History of Pottery: 1,680
York Goes to War: 2,240
The York Fair: 2,880
Also of interest: Amy Masone’s third grade class at Roundtown Elementary is doing its homework in preparation of posting a Wikipedia page about the Murals of York. Here’s a pencast of my presentation to the class on the topic. Here’s more by Yorkblogger Angie Mason on the project.
Roundtown Elementary School’s third-graders explain the Murals of York here.
The York Daily Record/Sunday News site about the murals can be found here.
Also:
All York Town Square posts from the start. (Key word search by using “find” on browser.) You can also search via Google. For example, if you want to find more posts on the Murals of York, google: Yorktownsquare Murals of York.
Drawing courtesy of York County Heritage Trust; Mural dimensions from the York Daily Record’s 2000 booklet, “The Murals of York.”
