A small selection from a mock-up of the mural showcases local history. Courtesy | The Heritage Association of Hillsdale
The Heritage Association of Hillsdale will install a mural detailing the history of Jonesville in a downtown alleyway this spring.
TreeTown Murals, the same company that illustrated the “Welcome to Historic Hillsdale” mural that went up downtown on the north face of the Wedge near N. Broad Street and N. Howell Street last May, will paint the 10-by-64 foot mural in Jonesville.
“It’s going to look like you’re looking at pictures on a table, or in a scrapbook,” said Connie Sexton, Executive Board Director and founder of THA. “Each one’s going to be like a picture with descriptions hand-written out like people used to do with pictures.”
The images will include Sauk Trail fur trading with Chief Baw Beese, the Underground Railroad with the Munro House, the Grosvenor Museum, the American flag with four military service people from the town, and the Sauk Theater, alongside other pieces of Jonesville history.
“The first sketch had our original building that was built open in 1905, which unfortunately had a fire and burned to the ground,” said Trinity Bird, executive director of the Sauk Theatre. “But the current building is the same one as the picture on the mural. Same foundation, same layout. A lot of what’s cool about Jonesville is that a lot of the things have been around for quite some time, including the theater. It’s nice to know that they are included in that history.”
The project began before the COVID-19 pandemic, but after facing problems with location changing, inflation, and a change in artists, THA finally settled on a new mural location in the alleyway beside the Edward Jones building, owned by Don L. Toffolo.
“The original location was supposed to go across the street on a building that was a better spot for driving by, but that didn’t work out,” Toffolo said. “Looking for other locations, they approached me. I thought that was a really cool idea.”
Instead of being visible from the road like the murals in many other cities, including Quincy, the Jonesville mural encourages viewers to get out of their cars.
“This one will be a little unique from what I gather because people are walking by it versus driving by,” Toffolo said. “It’s very conducive to more detail, and you can have smaller pictures. It’ll be a history walk that people can check out when they’re downtown.”
The THA has plans to place a protective roof over the mural, and bring lighting and small tables and chairs to the alleyway to make it a place people can use in the future. Since the alleyway leads into the north side of downtown Jonesville, it will act as a history walk for locals and tourists alike to explore the local businesses that surround it.
“We’re the Heritage Association,” Sexton said. “We’re all about educating and preserving our history for future generations with visual reminders.”
