Welcome to the Greeneville Mural Trail... Happy Travels!
The 13 pieces include: "Greetings from Greeneville", David Crockett, Train, Buffalo Bill, Coca-Cola, Blind Pony, Austin Company Tobacco, PET milk, Andrew Johnson in Window, Magnavox, Sallie Rose Bohannon, Wings, and The U.S.S. Greeneville mural.
GREETINGS FROM GREENEVILLE
by Samantha Culbertson
115 Academy St., Greeneville TN 37743
The mural, painted by Samantha Culbertson, was created to celebrate
Greene County. The artist wanted to feature nods to local history depicted
in a modern style. The mural incorporates some of the old and some of
the new. From the well-known hat of Davy Crockett to a silhouette of our
17th president, the mural captures a spirit of reverence for the past while
taking "a positive look forward." It is located in the parking lot at the
Greene County Partnership and serves as the backdrop for an outdoor
gathering area and starting point for the new mural trail.
DAVID CROCKETT
by Joe Kilday
104 S Main St. Greeneville TN 37743
The mural of David Crockett, popularly referred to as "Davy" Crockett, was
placed near the Capitol Theater to recognize the significant historical
role of the pioneer-turned-politician, born in nearby Limestone, and it
commemorates the fact that the Walt Disney movie that made "Dav
Crockett" a household name premiered at the Capitol. In 1955, when the
Disney movie "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" was released, its
star, Fess Parker, visited Greeneville, as the film premiered both here and
in San Antonio, Texas, site of The Alamo, where Crockett died fighting in
support of Texas.
TRAIN
by Joe Kilday & Mike Durham
100 S Main St. Greeneville TN 37743
Local artists Joe Kilday and Mike Durham collaborated on the train mural
located on the side of the Laughlin, Nunnally, Hood and Crum law office
It represents the first train that ever came to Greeneville, which was
actually green. The mural also represents the founding of Greeneville
and shows some of the 17 train hotels that popped up along the railroad
tracks, including what is now known as the General Morgan lnn. The
railroad and railroad hotels were the heart of Greeneville's economy in
the mid 19th century. The rails reached Greeneville on March 20, 1858,
and the first depot was built at a cost of about $4,000. It served the
community until 1905, when the current depot at the end of Depot
Street was built.
BUFFALO BILL
by Sam Lane
148 W Depot St, Greeneville, TN 37743
The hand-painted mural by local artist Sam Lane is styled as an old-
time Opera House poster for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. The sign is
reminiscent of what Greene County residents must have seen when
the Wild West Show came through town in the 1890s. Lane also hand-
lettered a sign outlining a brief history of the Opera House building
which is commonly referred to as "The Wall," as part of the project. The
former Opera House, now a vacant brick building at the corner of West
Depot and Irish streets, has been touted as a place once visited by the
famous plainsman, U.S. Army scout, and Wild West showman: William
Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Cody, whose Wild West Show was seen by
multitudes across the globe over a 30-year span in the late 1800s and
early 1900s.
COCA-COLA
by Joe Kilday
227 W Depot St. Greeneville TN 37743
More than 125 years ago, Coca-Cola introduced its brand-new refreshing
soft drink with painted advertising wall murals in towns and communities
across the country, particularly in the rural South. By 1910, a quarter
of The Coca-Cola Company's advertising budget was dedicated to wall
murals with seemingly every town and crossroads having its own Coca-
Cola sign painted on the side of a building. Candler, founder of the Coca-
Cola Company, once famously boasted that a motion picture couldn't
be made anywhere in America without capturing the image of a Coca-
Cola wall mural advertisement. Thousands of these iconic advertising
murals remain but many have become faded 'ghost signs '. At one point
there were around 16,000 Coca-Cola wall murals across the country and
unfortunately, over the years, a lot of those signs faded away and that's
where they came up with term "ghost signs". Thankfully, more and more
are beginning to be restored to their former glory.
BLIND PONY
by Joe Kilday
114 W Summer St, Greeneville, TN 37743
The mural depicts the arrival of youthful future president Andrew
Johnson in Greeneville, leading a blind pony that pulled a small wagon
It is located on the side of the Leonard & Hensley law firm on Summer
Street. The historic building, for most of its near-century of existence
housed dry cleaning businesses. The mural is done mostly in silhouette
and painted by local artist Joe Kilday using a paint roller on an extender
handle. According to local lore, the young girl, Eliza McCardle, is shown
pointing to young Johnson as she tells her friends that he is the one she
will marry. Within the year, on May 17, 1827, Eliza and Andrew Johnson
were wed.
AUSTIN COMPANY TOBACCO
by Joe Kilday & Mike Durham
100 W Summer St. Greeneville TN 37743
On Summer Street, behind Main Street Place are two murals which
depict the tobacco industry Tobacco was the money crop for many
Greene Countians from the early 1800s through the 1900s with
warehouses "on every corner". The Austin Company led the state and
region in the processing and selling of Burley Tobacco, trading in seventy
countries during the 1960s. Most of the big warehouses stood along
busy Greeneville streets within just a few blocks of the center of town-
huge, of course, but very familiar to just about everyone, usually closed
and empty, and hardly given a passing glance most of the time. Except
from October to February each year, when the wide doors opened, the
bright lights inside came on, the giant buildings came alive with farm
trucks and people - and just about everyone in the county paid close
attention to what was going on within the walls. By the early 1990s, loca
tobacco sales often accounted for more than $20 million in pay-outs
10 and sometimes more than $25 million.
PET MILK
by Sam Lane
100 W Summer St. Greeneville TN 37743
Artist Sam Lane paints the mural of the first farmer bringing in milk
to the new Pet Milk Condensery in 1928. A photograph was taken of
G. H. Thomas carrying in two cans of milk across the back of his horse
Pet Milk came to Greeneville at a critical time and began producing Pet
Evaporated Milk along with other products, such as canned milk and ice
cream, at the Greeneville plant for decades. When the Pet Milk Company
came to Greeneville, James H. Rader, of State Farm Insurance Agency
and Edith O'Keefe Susong, publisher of The Greeneville Sun, were asked
to pour out the first can of milk because of their efforts to bring the new
company to town to give the area farmers additional income for their
products. The plant closed in the 1980s as the dairy business shifted
away from family farms and small regional dairies.
ANDREW JOHNSON IN WINDOW
by Joe Kilday
100 W Summer St. Greeneville TN 37743
Located on the corner of Main and Summer Streets is the mural of
Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States. He is looking
out of a window of his Land Office building. He is wearing his Masonic
uniform and the Masonic Lodge was located on the upper floor of this
building. Johnson was an active Mason throughout his his life and remained
a member of Greeneville Lodge No, 119 until his death. He frequenty
participated in Masonic functions and ceremonies such as cornerstone
layings and was a mentor for the Greeneville Lodge. His funeral was
conducted by its members, This mural showcases the talents of local
artist, Joe Kilday.
MAGNAVOX
by Joe Kilday
101 E Summer St, Greeneville, TN 37743
The shield shaped mural was painted using the original 1953 master
mold of the symbol. In 1947, Magnavox opened a plant in Greeneville
Tennessee shortly after the conclusion of World War ll. The company
announced plans to begin production of televisions, and in 1948, the
first Magnavox television was created in Greeneville. As the popularity
of the television grew over the next two decades, so did the company's
workforce. At its high point, almost 5,000 people worked at the Greeneville
Plant. The fact that a small town in East Tennessee became the epicenter
for one of the largest and most respected electronics companies in the
worid is little known outside of the region. Magnavox was to Greeneville
what automobiles were to Detroit, The mural was painted by local artist
Joe Kilday on the side of the building that was once Brown's Furniture.
=
SALLIE ROSE BOHANNON
by Joe Kilday
129 S Main St. Greeneville TN 37743
This mural is painted by Joe Kilday on the backside of the Bohannon
Building. The scene depicts Sallie Rose Bohannon, holding the Crown
of Thorns Quilt made by her mother, Bettye Howell. Sallie, an early
prominent businesswoman, was the first of five generations of the
Bohannon family to operate a business downtown. The building is still
owned by the same family today. Miss Sally Bohannon, one of the richest
women in Greeneville in the 1920s, moved here with her widowed mother
to be near several uncles who were local potters. After teaching ceramic
painting at Tusculum College, she opened a millinery store that sold hats
and ready-to-wear piece goods that she purchased in New York.
WINGS IN GREENE
by Joni Parker & Dana Wilds
115 Academy St., Greeneville TN 37743
Wing murals have become popular in many cities over the past few
years from LA to New York, even around the world. One of the first wing
murals was painted by artist Colette Miller in Los Angeles in 2012. Miller
says, "| created the interactive street art angel wings project to remind
humanity that we are the angels of Earth." Without prompting, people
began posing with the wings and shared the photos on social media
The angel wings paintings have since taken flight. In 2014, artist Kelsey
Montague painted a wings mural in New York. Taylor Swift Instagrammed
a photo of herself in front of the wings, then had her come to Nashville
and paint yet another pair right across the street from the Gulch wings.
The wings murals come in all different colors, sizes, and designs. Check
out Wings in Greene for a great interactive photo.
THE U.S.S. GREENEVILLE
by Joe Kilday
115 Academy St., Greeneville TN 37743
asdfasf
Physical Books Available for the Greeneville Mural Trail
