Athens Ontario that is. This Ontario town has decorated its walls with murals for many years now. Some of the older ones have been painted over and some have been refurbished. Most tell stories about the history and people of the community.

below: Main Street in Athens, June 2023

below: A tribute to Joshua Bates and his founding of the community of Farmersville. Bates was a surveyor and an architect. He donated land and built schools, churches, and stores. The town was renamed Athens in 1888.

below: On the wall of the fire station is a mural titled ‘The Great Fire/Athens 1894’ –  “Dawn, May 19, fire broke out on Victoria Street but quickly spread to Main Street.  The new fire engine could not be used because its short hose brought it too close to the flames.”

“In an act of great heroism, Mr. J. Rosenbarker braved the flames to climb down into an unused well close behind the burning buildings to hand up water to a bucket brigade. 
Mr. Rosenbarker stayed at his post until the fire was finally conquered.”

below: The day that I was in Athens there were two large trucks parked alongside this mural so I couldn’t get any proper photos of it. It is a series of medallions showing local landmarks such as the House of Industry, Dr. Giles House, Quaker Meeting House, the mill, and the First Nations Market.

below: ‘The Gathering’ 2020 by Dave Sheridan. This replaces an earlier 1987 mural by Pierre Hardy which in turn replaced a small painting on canvas by Crawford Slack in 1927. The portrait in the oval frame, top right, is Crawford C. Slack. Crawford Chelson Slack was born in nearby Wiltsetown in 1855. He was a painter (and a poet and a musician).

“Needn’t talk ter me ‘bout livin’ in the city with its show,
Druther live ‘mong these surroundin’s where the folks are rather slow…
Where the golden summer sunset gilds the village church’s dome —
There among the slantin’ shadows, I would druther have my home.”
by Crawford Slack

below: A lazy afternoon by the lake, “Charleston Lake Picnic” by Noreen Mallory. Granite outcroppings, pine trees, and water, all very Ontario cottage country scenery.

below: Mallory’s family had a cottage nearby and summers spent there helped inspire this mural. Another inspiration was “Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe”, a painting by French Impressionist Édouard Manet (except there are no nudes in Mallory’s version).

below: Manet’s picnic painting of 1893

below: At the corner of Victoria and Main streets.

below: A pair of work horses busy on the farm, another mural by Dave Sheridan.

below: Paint cans – the mural was not quite finished the day that I was there. I’m sorry that I missed seeing it painted.

below: Brockville and Westport Railway. No signature. Former Athens railway station. The first train ran on B&W railroad in 1888 pulled by engines built at the Kingston Locomotive Works. The line was 45 miles long and had 16 stops.

It replaces an earlier 1987 mural by Lorrie Maruscak

below: Inside the Main Street Cafe is yet another mural, ‘Step into the Past’. It was painted by Sheila Ballantyne and Sergio Lopes.

below: A copy of an older mural that no longer exists is displayed on a fence. “This mural originally graced the hardware store on this site and was created in 1990 by Cathy McGuire. The border features alternating patterns of quilt squares and historic farm scenes. The center of the mural depicts farmers and a steam engine threshing the grain that separated the grain from the stem.”

below: Two large weathered photographs on display.

below: “Dedicated to the Canadian troops who trained in the Athens area and who served in the First World Ward (circa 1915).

below: Main Street, Athens, 1920.

below: Main Street is also represented by a mural that features some of the businesses that were established here.

below: The flag that the boy is holding is the version of the Canadian Red Ensign that was in use between 1922 and 1957.

below: Main Street 1910 (found on Wikipedia, original source Special Collections, Toronto Public Library. Photographer: H.R. Knowlton). The large brick building with the three awnings in front is home to three businesses, Thompson, Lamb, and Arnold like those in the mural.

below: A bit of whimsy, a faded rose bush