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Midland Pages by sim1
Tips 1 - 10 of 12 Midland Local Customs
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Local Customs: The Murals of Midland
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In Midland you can find murals everywhere in the downtown area. The murals are really fun to watch. In these Cultural tips I want to show you some of these murals. There area over 30 murals portraying the history of Midland. Hahaha, I won't bore you with all of them, so here is a small selection.
This first mural is located at the corner of King Street and Elizabeth Street and was painted by Fred Lenz in 1991. The mural shows Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons at the time when Jesuit missionaries lived at the site among the Huron Indian people. The time period is in the mid 1600s. For ten years Sainte-Marie flourished. It would be the home of all the French in the area. In 1649, the Huron Nation was scattering fearfully before the encroaching Iroquois. Tribal warfare intensified as the rivalry for the fur trade grew. Five priests met their death before the settlement was abandoned and burned.
333 King St.
Fred Lenz
1991
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Local Customs: "The Wye Marsh" mural
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This second mural is actually part of three murals next to each other. All three are painted above some shops.
This mural is called 'The Wye Marsh'. It shows a view of the Wye Marsh at sunset, while looking towards the Martyrs' Shrine, which can be seen in the background. The foreground shows two groups of Mallard Ducks. One group is preparing to land in the marsh while the other is passing over the marsh. The Wye Marsh is a local wildlife center dedicated to preserving the marshlands and the wildlife that inhabits it. I've been to Wye Marsh myself, and it is really a nice place to visit! You can read all about it under my 'off the beaten path' tips.
317 King St.
Fred Lenz
1995
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Local Customs: Mural about Midland's bustling harbour
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The third mural depicts Midland's bustling harbour with an example of one of the many passenger and packet steamers the plied the waters of Georgian Bay at the turn of the century. Appropriately, the foreground 'Fishing in Midland Harbour', shows a young man fishing off the dock while a dog watches. This is appropriate since this mural was located on the front of the Midland Fish & Chips Restaurant. Hahaha, I like this combination of Mural and the sign of the shop right below it :-))
311 King St.
Fred Lenz
1995
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Local Customs: "Benjamin Moore Paints" Mural
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The next mural, the Benjamin Moore Paints advertisement, was appropriately located on the front of what was Tripp's Paint and Decorating Shoppe. It is a reproduction of the very first in-store advertisement for Benjamin Moore Paints. This mural blends the actual windows on the building so that they appear as part of the mural. The only 'fake' window is the middle one. This advertisement first appeared in 1919 and featured the tag line 'Quality forever-Moore.'
313 King St.
Fred Lenz
1995
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Local Customs: 'The Water Fountain' Mural
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On the corner of King Street is where you will find 'The Water Fountain'. This mural is called 'The Water Fountain' and shows a window into the past; a window that is in the shape of a maple leaf. Through this window it is the mid 1920s and we are looking at this exact corner. Located in front of where the mural is painted used to be a fountain where you or your horse could get a drink. Seen across the street was a well known landmark, The Georgian Hotel.
274 King St.
Fred Lenz
1997
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Local Customs: "The H.M. Schooner Bee" Mural
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This one of the H.M. Schooner Bee was the second painted by Dan Sawatzky. This twenty foot high mural depicts the era of sailing ships. The Schooner Bee is a working replica which currently sails the waters of Georgian Bay from its berth at King's Wharf at Penetanguishene's Discovery Harbour historic site. The original Schooner Bee was built in 1817 and sailed until 1831.
277 King St.
Dan Sawatzky
1991
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Local Customs: "The Playfair Mill" Mural
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Only a few steps away, on the same wall is the next mural. This next one is a zoomed in picture of a mural that was done by Dan Sawatzky in 1990 and depicts the Playfair Mill in 1890. It was the first lumber mill in the area and was built in the Fall of 1871. It operated successfully with lumber that was brought to Midland by ship. It was milled and then sent out again by water until 1882. That was when the mill was sold and subsequently went into receivership in 1886. It was then bought by James Playfair and D. L. Hoyt who turned it into a profit making venture until it was destroyed by a devastating fire in the Fall of 1916.
277 King St.
Dan Sawatzky
1990
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Local Customs: "The Midland Railway" Mural
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On the corner of Dominion Avenue you can see this next bug mural. This mural depicts the Midland Railway as it was. In November of 1871, Adolphe Hugel and George Cox of the Midland Railway Corporation of Peterborough and Port Hope selected this site for the western terminus of their railway. It was July 1st 1879 when the construction was completed and the station was officially opened for commercial and passenger service.
239 King St.
Fred Lenz
1995
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Local Customs: The lighthouse Mural!
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Hahaha, this one is by far my favourite! The lighthouse mural! It's on the corner of the lighthouse store, a store with only and all about lighthouses and everything that has to do with it (see m shopping tips)
This mural is a rendering of Brebeuf Lighthouse, originally built in 1900. It was built to guide ships on the range from Giants Tomb Light to the channel serving Midland Bay. The mural measures 50 ft. by 28 ft. high and incorporates a window in the apartment above as the light room in the tower. Amazing how big it is. You can see the telephone booth on the foreground to give you an idea about the height. On the intro of this page you can see a larger version of this picture, but than with me posing in front of it....
Aaah, and as you all probably now, I have something special with lighthouses. So this was one picture that I 'had' to take :-)) Interested in lighthouses yourself? Than take a look at my lighthouse page :
http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/1c048/2/6/#T
or
http://www.geocities.com/sim1themes1/lighthouses.html
239 King St.
Fred Lenz
1995
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Local Customs: "The General Store" Mural
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Okay, I got excited about the lighthouse mural because it is a lighthouse... but if I leave that factor out, this is the best mural I saw in Midland.
There are so many things to see on this mural, it is almost like looking at a real store, but it is all painted on the walls.
These murals actually take you back in time to show you what the building we are looking at was at that time. On this very site the Western Bank of Canada built Midland's first bank in 1882. In 1895, the building was sold to William Preston and James Playfair who operated a general store and wholesale business as depicted in the murals you see here.
205/207 King St.
Fred Lenz
1994
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 Comments for sim1 about Midland | | | | |
dr.firas Wed Mar 2, 2005 13:01 UTC
Beautiful wooden houses and nature ;-D | keeweechic Wed Aug 25, 2004 03:18 UTC
Wow I just love murals in a place, there is so much depicted in them. They are so cool - so much artistic talent here. Damm.. I missed out on my wax with wash before...lol. what a great place. | Simonneeddy Tue Jan 20, 2004 16:57 UTC
Excellent details and pictures. Very helpful as I will be there on June 27th, 2004 on a bus tour.In Louisburg they would not allow pictures of the actors here I see you got some pictures. Excellent work Thanks for sharing. | AndyRG Wed Mar 26, 2003 16:41 UTC
Fantastic murals! Next time, go there in the summer... |
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on Nov 28, 2002
