Description: Photograph of "The Crossroads – Crestline, Ohio" painted by Clifford Beal in 1943. The painting is located at the post office in Crestline, Ohio in Crawford County. Photographed by Connie Girard in 1988. The photo is from the Ohio Post Office Artwork Collection, AV 48. The collection represents thirty murals or plaster reliefs installed in twenty-five Ohio post offices between 1937 and 1943. In 1988, Connie Girard photographed the artwork. Photos were published in the article “Not By Bread Alone, Post Office Art of the New Deal.” Timeline. June-July 1989, p. 2-19 by Gerald Markowitz and Marlene Park. In 1932, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President he promised Americans a "New Deal" and created public works programs to provide jobs for the millions of unemployed people, including artists. Ten thousand unknown and established artists were commissioned by the government to create murals, paintings, photographs, posters, prints and sculpture. The goal was not only to employ artists, but also to bring fine art into the daily lives of all people. The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was funded for six months in 1933 – 1934. The PWAP was succeeded by the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture. Organized in 1934 the Section of Painting and Sculpture operated until 1943. Under the auspices of this organization sixty-six new Ohio post offices received artwork. The majority of the post offices were located in small towns. Post offices were chosen as a location for artwork because, particularly in small towns, they were centers of community activity. Most of the painted murals or murals in plaster relief created are realistic images reflecting the history, common activities or major industries of the communities in which the post offices are located. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: av48_b2_f16_01
Subjects: Post office stations and branches--Ohio--Photographs; Public art--Ohio--Photographs; Public Works of Art Project (United States); New Deal art
Places: Crestline (Ohio); Crawford County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photographic reproduction of a print depicting the McCoy House, located in Bucyrus, Ohio. This image is a detail from "Map of Crawford County, Ohio/Drawn and Published by M.H and J.V.B Watson," a map that is part of the Library of Congress (LOC) map collection. According the LOC's description, the map "includes views of public, residential, and commercial properties, distance table, statistical table, insets of Galion, Bucyrus, and Crestline." An inset with a street map of Bucyrus shows the location of McCoy House to be at the southwest corner of Sandusky Avenue and the public square. Given the image's context, the McCoy House likely was a hotel. The 1875-1876 Bucyrus City Directory shows this location as the site of the Alcorn House, which was advertised as a hotel and restaurant that served liquor. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06088
Subjects: Crawford County (Ohio); Maps--Midwest--Ohio; Ohio Economy--Economy--Business
Places: Bucyrus (Ohio); Crawford County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reproduction of a photograph depicting men and several children gathered on the sidewalk outside of P. J. Moffit in Bucyrus, Ohio, ca. 1885. P. J. Moffit is listed in the Bucyrus, Galion and Crestline Directory for 1875-76 as an auctioneer. Also visible are signs for a shooting gallery, Donnenwirth's Lager Beer, and what looks to be a billiard hall and saloon. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03346
Subjects: Streets--Ohio; Bucyrus (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works; Ohio Economy--Business;
Places: Bucyrus (Ohio); Crawford County (Ohio)