The Past Revisited

 An old-time gas station

I discovered these murals in my archives, the photos taken four-and-a-half years ago. I have no idea if these murals are still there. The first is/was over a former garage door in Flesherton (Ontario, Canada) and was painted in 2001 by Allen C. Hilgendorf, an artist who created many murals across Ontario. Sadly, he died about  two-and-a-half years ago...but he lives on through his paintings.

Markdale Station

Sorry about the ugly shadows!  This mural on the side of Markdale's old fire station was painted in 2000 by Hilgendorf.  He seems to have had a passion for vintage trains because I've seen several of his works that include trains and stations.

Left-hand side of the second mural

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Jack Frost's Murals

Ice crystals on window

 It has been super cold here so Jack Frost has been painting "murals" on our sunroom windows.

Another window pane

Photo of another window and a little further away

Once the sun comes out, the frost disappears so I have to work quickly to capture the crystals.

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

I am also linking to Image-in-ing HERE 

Beaverton Train Mural

 Mural on a main street in Beaverton, Ontario

By now frequent visitors to this blog must be getting the idea trains are/were important to Canadians. Yep, you got that right.

On side of vintage building

 This mural is placed on the side of an old building that now houses a pharmacy but I don't know if Ben commissioned this work or if the town did.

Right side of mural

I had to squeeze in behind the tall spruce to get this shot.

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Midland Railway

 Engine 15

This is another wonderful mural on the walls of buildings in Midland, Ontario.

 The station

I like the way the artist has continued the mural as if we are looking through pillars at the train and station. Too bad about the parking meter and no parking sign though!

Rail cars

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Playfair Preston Company #2

 Mural under the sign seen HERE

This is the continuation of the mural I showed you last week.

Funiture

And as you can see, the Playfair Preston Company sold more than just clothing and dry goods.

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Playfair Preston Co.

 Left-hand side of mural

This mural is on the building that once housed the Playfair Preston Company, a Midland general store from 1895 to the 1950s.

 Right-hand side of mural

Sadly there was a car parked out front when I was there.

Sign above the door

I love this sign, especially the part about the all wool underwear.

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Canadian National Railway

 Right side of mural

Up from last week's mural and across the Street, Canada's other national train hangs high above a building. I was surprised to see a green engine. Today CN Rail is a freight train and the engines are orange.

 Left side

Whereas the CPR mural is depicted in summer, CN is shown in winter.

The entire mural

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CPR Train

 Canadian Pacific Railway mural

If you like trains, Parry Sound is a great place to visit! Trains have passed through this town since 1899.  This mural celebrates the Canadian Pacific Railway, important to the town since the days of steam engines.

Closer view of engine 

Flora and Fauna in bottom lefthand corner

I am joining Monday Mural HERE

Goofie Newfie

Taste of the Maritimes

Goofie Newfie is a pub and grill in Fergus, Ontario, and this relatively small mural is tucked behind the restaurant on its patio overlooking the Grand River.

For those of you who live outside of Canada, a Newfie is someone who comes from the southern part of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada's most eastern province.  Newfoundland is an island and, as you might expect, they eat a lot of seafood. YUM!

Many Newfies have a fantastic sense of humour who enjoy poking fun at themselves (and sometimes the rest of Canada too). The name Goofie Newfie is an example of their kind of humour.

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Orangeville Opera House

 Black & white photo of Orangeville Town Hall, 1930 (cropped a bit)

I'm a big fan of before-and-after photos so was delighted to find two vintage ones of the old town hall in Orangeville built in 1876. The photos have been enlarged into murals and hang on the outside of a business across the street from the now renovated building.

 Colour mural/large photo of Orangeville Town Hall, 1963 (cropped a bit)

On the same wall but just below the above B&W photo, hangs this colour photo, which was taken 33 years later than the one above - notice the cupola is missing.

Town Hall now an opera House

The third photo was taken by me in the fall, 2015.  After extensive restoration and renovation this building opened as a opera house/theatre in 1994.

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Canadian Guiding

By Fred Lenz 1996, restored by Ruth Hurdle 2007

On the right, you see two Girl Guides (similar to American Girl Scouts) - depicted as they looked in the 1920s - caring for an injured puppy. On the left you see the cover of the organization's magazine. Girl Guides of Canada sponsored the painting of this mural painted on the side of business on the main street in the centre of the Town of Midland.  Sadly there's a chip in the mural under the puppy's chin.

Some of you may remember this mural from 2011 when my then camera photographed the mural in two parts. My now camera has a wide-angle lens.

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Midland Harbour Mural

 Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons

This mural is said to be the largest outdoor historical mural in North America. Well, you do have to admit that 250-feet by 80-feet is BIG! The settlement depicted here is what the French Jesuit settlement would have looked like in the 1640s, the first European settlement in Ontario.

In Midland Harbour on Georgian Bay

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Orangeville Rail Station

 Canadian Pacific Railway train at the Orangeville station

This mural by Allen C. Hilgendorf is painted on four pieces of wood and hangs high up on the westerly side of a store (possibly a restaurant) on the main street in Orangeville.

The Barley Vine Rail co. - a restaurant, formerly the repurposed Orangeville Rail Station

Built in the late 1850s, this station sports a "witches hat" common in the Victorian era. It's one street south of the main street in Orangeville and has a good-sized parking lot.  I didn't see any rail tracks, though, so I'm thinking it may have been moved to this location. The chimneys are gone , the foundation is now concrete, and the building has a slightly different shape from the one in the mural.

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More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

Logging Mural

 Mural on Parry Sound business next to bridge on the Seguin River

The town of Parry Sound owes its beginning to the logging industry as depicted in this mural. Parry Sound had several mills, one of which was situated on Georgian Bay at the mouth of the Seguin River, which provided power for the mill as well as water to float logs to the mill.

Logs neatly piled on a skid to be hauled away over snow by horses

During the 19th and early 20th centuries  trees were felled and piled onto skids from September until the the snow got too deep. For the rest of the winter, logs were hauled out of the woods to frozen lakes and rivers.

The horses 

Once the ice thawed, the logs were pushed and rolled into the water to be driven driven to sawmills, each log marked with the name of the company whose workers had cut them down.

Logs moving over water

At each mill, logs were cut into boards then piled on docks to dry and to wait for ships to take the lumber to such cities as Toronto, Cleveland and Detroit.

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More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.