Post Office Mural – Blissfield MI

Description

In 1824, the village of Blissfield was established along the River Raisin in what is now the state of Michigan. At one time in history, this village was the largest shipping port for livestock on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. In 1837, the first railroad built west of the Allegheny Mountains was constructed through Blissfield and the surrounding area. This was the Erie and Kalamazoo railroad which was also the first to operate as an interstate railroad that would carry mail between states.

Fast forward to the New Deal era, and Blissfield is fortunate enough to have a new Post Office under construction. In 1938, funded by the Federal Emergency Construction Fund, construction was completed on the village’s new post office. That same year a mural was commissioned by the Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts. These murals were chosen on a competition basis and artists were paid hourly as well as for materials and travel costs. The wining artist for the Blissfield Post Office mural was Jean Paul Slusser who was chairman of the Department of Drawing and Painting in the College of Architecture at the University of Michigan. The subject of the mural is “Laying the Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad.” As previously stated, this railroad held great significance to the community. Still viewable today, the mural is located within the Blissfield Post Office above the door to the Postmaster’s office.