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The Texas Post Office Murals: Art for the People |
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The Triptych
Mural Restored and Reinstalled
Click on image to enlarge
Photo courtesy Jo Payne – Pierce |
The Mural:
Confederate Company Leaving McKinney, 1934
The triptych mural
depicts a scene in 1864 that was witnessed by the artist’s grandmother
on the McKinney Courthouse Square – a block from the museum. Klepper
painted his grandmother into the foreground of the main panel.
In the mural the mounted men were volunteers for a Confederate spy
unit - a group formed by orders from Brigadier General Ben McCulloch.
As the men leave – a casket containing the remains of the same General
McCulloch is being transported to Austin
from Little Rock.
McCulloch had been killed in action at the Battle of Pea Ridge in
Arkansas in 1862 and his remains exhumed and sent to the State Cemetery
in Austin.
It is one of the few post office murals based on a particular event.
The painting was moved to the 1960 post office, but after restoration
it was placed back in the foyer of the original 1911 post office building
– back in its former place.
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Center panel
of the post office mural
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, 2009 |
The Artist
Frank Earl Kleppler, 1890-1952
Frank Kleppler,
born in Plano,
Texas, in 1890, entered The Art Institute of Chicago in 1914.
His studies were cut short when he enlisted in the Army in 1917. His
artistic talents were put to use painting camouflage for the 36th
Division in France.
Note: Another U. S. Army camouflage painter was Grant Wood – the
Iowa-born artist who painted the ultra-familiar American Gothic.
In 1920 Kleppler opened an art museum in McKinney,
Texas and taught art and ceramics in the Dallas County school
system for 20 years.
In 1934 he was commissioned to paint a mural for the McKinney post
office through the auspices of a Treasury Department program which
was later administered by the WPA.
His work was also shown at the Texas
Centennial in 1936. A bronze bust of Klepper is displayed in the
museum next to the mural. |
The 1911 Post
Office building as it appeared before the sparkling restoration.
TE Photo 2000 |
The 1911 Post
Office building
Now The North Texas History Center
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, 2009 |
The North Texas
History Center
(Formerly McKinney Post Office),
McKinney, Texas
The 1911 post office
building sat vacant for many years, in danger of meeting the same
fate that befell so many other noble buildings. While it may not have
been accessible to the public - it was certainly saved by members
of the Collin County Historical Society who fought hard to preserve
it.
The building, after many years of use as a storeroom is now The North
Texas History Center
300 E. Virginia St. McKinney, TX 75069
Phone: (972) 542-9457
The various collections on exhibit include Native-American artifacts
from the tribes that inhabited the vicinity of what is now Collin
County, relics, tools and equipment from the county’s once-important
dairy industry, and even a display of items from the post office itself.
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The Civil War
display in the museum
Photo courtesy Jo Payne-Pierce |
1911 McKinney
Post Office Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, 2009 |
1911 McKinney
Post Office Historical Marker
Designed by architect
J. H. Suttle, the 1911 McKinney Post Office is a characteristic and
well-preserved example of an Italianate post office. The tile roof,
ornamental columns, eaves and window configuration are common to the
American post office after 1910. These elements and the three-bay
arched recessed entry define the facade. The fourth post office to
serve the area, the structure was deeded to Collin County by the federal
government in 1959 and in 1982 became a Collin County museum. |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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