New Mural on Washington’s Square

The Washington Historical Society, in conjunction with private donors, is happy to announce that it has brought another historically-themed mural to Washington! After successfully commissioning two murals for Washington in the last two years, the Historical Society this time has created a mural on the south-facing wall of its own building, 128 Washington Square. Anat Ronen, the artist responsible for last year’s mural, painted this mural as well. 

The theme of this year’s mural focuses on the connection between one of Washington’s first landmarks and the creation of the Historical Society itself. It shows a beautiful round barn that sat on property on Eldridge Street from the 1910s until 1980. The dairy barn, originally built by local dairy farmer Fred Zimmerman, was based on the round barns that Mr. Zimmerman had seen in use at the University of Illinois. The barn was used from the time of its construction until 1972 when it was taken out of operation. It sat abandoned and neglected until 1980 when a group of local citizens banded together to try to purchase and save the round barn. The group was ultimately unsuccessful in saving the barn, but the effort had a silver lining: those citizens decided Washington needed a Historical Society that could educate people about Washington’s history and protect the physical items of Washington’s past. Thus, the Washington Historical Society was formed.

For more history of the round barn, please click here.