Mural painting underway in downtown Morganfield
MORGANFIELD, Ky. (WFIE) - A mural depicting historical figures and scenes is being painted in downtown Morganfield.
Officials with the Green River Area Development District say the project was first conceived in 2019 as a dream of Morganfield Mayor Randy Greenwell after meeting with artists Steve Kindrick Lane and Rebecca Vincent.
The mural is on the wall of a building adjacent to property owned by the city at 115 East Main Street, which will be developed into a public park within the next few years.
Included in the mural are four individuals and three scenes.
President Abraham Lincoln, who was born in Kentucky, gave his only political speech in Kentucky in Morganfield in 1840, while he was campaigning for presidential candidate William Henry Harrison in Shawneetown, Illinois, across the Ohio River.
Thomas Lyle Williams, the founder of Maybelline Cosmetics, and his sister, Mabel Williams, are depicted. The Williams family lived in Morganfield until 1912. Thomas was inspired to create the first commercial mascara in 1915 after watching his sister applied a mixture of petroleum jelly and coal dust to her eyelashes and eyebrows.
Jackie Robinson, the first Black baseball player in Major League Baseball, was a lieutenant in the United States Army. While stationed at Camp Breckinridge in Morganfield in 1944, he met a former player for the Kansas City Monarchs who encouraged him to try out for the team, which launched his professional baseball career.
Union County has long led the state in coal production and corn harvested, so the mural will include scenes depicting coal mining and corn farming. The mural will also depict Camp Breckinridge, one of the largest German Prisoner of War (POW) camps in the southern United States during World War II and now houses the Earle C. Clements Job Corps.
The estimated cost of the 35′x75′ mural is between $38,000 and $40,000. The project received a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Local businesses have also donated significant funding towards the project, including $5,000 from Old National Bank, $5,000 from Big Rivers, and $5,000 from the Beverage Barn.
Mayor Greenwell has offered to donate funds from his own salary if the project costs run over the funding that has been raised.
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