MIDDLEFIELD — Nearly three dozen people gathered outside the Middlefield Tavern on Tuesday afternoon for the unveiling of a mural commemorating the village.
The mural, which is 9-feet tall and 57-feet wide, first was painted during the summer of 2000 by a group of students entering the ninth grade at Cardinal High School in honor of Middlefield’s 100-year anniversary. It was touched up by students in 2012.
The decision was made to have the whole mural redone because of rotting wood underneath it. Village resident Bill Mast was commissioned to paint the wall exactly as it had been done in 2000. A whole new wooden wall was built and it was done in an acrylic with a clear sealant.
Mast is a self-taught artist. He loved art as a child and always was drawing and painting, but when he got older, other things took precedence.
A number of years ago, he was able to get back to painting, and he was featured on the news with a snow sculpture in his front yard in 2021. Mast said outside murals generally last 10 to 12 years, but he is hopeful this one will last longer.
Members of village council were present for the unveiling and Mayor Ben Garlich introduced Corey Wright, one of the artists who worked on the original mural in 2000. Wright has been president of the Middlefield Historical Society for the past two years.
The mayor said when he was mayor in the 1990s, he was all for “new and improved,” but now he sees the value in preserving the history of the village.
Rick Seyer gave a talk on the history of the buildings in the mural taken from five original photos taken by him. The mural’s centerpiece is a train with 1948 on its engine. The painting covers the entire side of the tavern.
Middlefield Township actually was settled in 1789, but the village wasn’t formed until 1901. Only six original buildings left that are over 100 years old remain in the village, Seyer said.
Middlefield is home to one of the largest Amish communities in Ohio.
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