Beauty in the mundane
Miscellany Mondays
ACHC #2003.307.1
Finding beauty in the mundane
Sometimes I go searching through the History Center’s collection for something beautiful to lift my spirits. Just the thing for a Monday afternoon during COVID-19!
Often what I find is something surprising...like this watercolor of an industrial building. The record on the History Center’s online database had a short description, “Watercolor, unframed, dated 1977, of the cement plant on Railroad Street,” artist Mary Jane Trumbore.
We have a number of paintings in the collection by this talented Andover artist. In fact, the largest artwork in the collection is by Trumbore. Do you know the large murals that hang in the hallway of the Town Offices on Bartlett Street? Those were painted by Mary Jane Trumbore for Stella and Tom Coravos for their Main Street restaurant, Ford’s Coffee Shop.
But back to Mary Jane Trumbore’s painting of the cement plant on Railroad Street.
A quick trip to the Andover Historic Preservation website uncovered that the Wilson Co. cement mixing facility was located at 22 Railroad Street where the Andover Condominiums are located today...in the middle of the Historic Mill District.
I'd love to know more about the Wilson Co. and their cement mixing business to uncover and share this forgotten history of Andover's Historic Mill District. Do you recall the cement mixing facility and the Wilson Co.? If you do, please let me know at eclements@andoverhistoryandculture.org.
If you haven't yet, be sure to check out these two amazing Andover resources. You never know what you'll find!
Just because it's Monday and it fits the theme of my email, here's a link to "Finding Beauty in the Mundane.”