"Jazz Murals in Richmond, Indiana" Richmond Things to Do Tip by deecat

Jazz heritage is important in Richmond. Few people know anything about it; I was one of those people. In 1997, the city of Richmond, to "advertise" the part Richmond played in the heritage of Jazz, had several murals painted on buildings in the community. Local artist, Pam Bliss Ferguson, did them.

1. Celebrating a number of the recording artists who recorded at the Gennett Recording Company & Fred Gennett himself is located on the west side of the Adam H. Bartel building (911 North "E" Street. To view it, you need to be on the railroad overpass on North 9th Street, U.S. 27 North.
You probably recognize Louis Armstrong. Go clockwise & you come to Lil Hardin-Armstrong, Lawrence Welk, Gene Autry (the singing cowboy), Jelly Roll Morton, & Bix Beiderbecke.

2. Painted on Paulee's Restaurant on the corner of South 8th and Fort Wayne Avenue, you'll the mural of Louis Armstrong and Hoagy Carmichael.

3. Another mural that located on the north side of the building on Fort Wayne Avenue between North E and North D Streets (seen by looking to the right when heading south over the railroad overpass on North 9th Street, U.S. 27 North) is about Charles Mosey (president of Mosey Manufacturing and he made "record dies in 1945).

4.The most famous & oldest of the murals , "Remembering the Immortals", is at the corner of South 9th & South "A" Street. Musicians on the mural are Tommy Dorsey, Tommy Gargano, Paul Mertz, Bix Beiderbecke & his Rhythm Jugglers, Don Murray, & Howdy Quicksell. This one dates to 1925.

How sad that many Americans are so totally ignorant about the existence of these murals, the fact that Jazz was recorded in Richmond, Indiana, & the importance of Gennett Recording Company.

Directions: The specific directions in the text I took from a pamphlet