EVANSVILLE — The “Five Ladies” have returned.
Dan Yoder, right, owner of Sign Art Studio in Mount Horeb, and Eric Prehn, left, install on to the side of Lake Ridge Bank in Evansville painted portraits of five women who were instrumental in the city’s history. The portraits of Mary Ewing, the first female doctor; Marilla Andrews, a former newspaper publisher and postmaster; Mabel Hall, who trained and performed with horses and elephants in her father’s circus; Sally Hardy Eager, a 1970s historic preservation advocate; and Jean Guidone Wyse, an entrepreneur, were painted in 2022 by Evansville artist Lacy Shotliff and originally hung on a building to the east that was recently razed. The portraits were put into storage but then cleaned up and put into frames by Yoder’s company before being rehung on May 7.
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Nancy Nelson, mural coordinator for Evansville, spent many Friday nights of her youth at the Rex Theatre in the city’s downtown. The theater closed in 1961, but its history is preserved in a mural on the side of the building that once housed the theater.
Roger Berg bought The Grange building in the 1980s, sold it 20 years ago and recently bought it back. The 50,000-square-foot building completed in 1904 was once one of the largest retail centers in Wisconsin.
The Grange, once home to a bank and a large department store in downtown Evansville, now houses a pharmacy, a fitness center, hair salon, a sports card and memorabilia store, the offices of the Evansville Chamber of Commerce, a mustard company and an event and meeting space for Oak Grove Church, a staple in the community since 1856.
An illuminated sign is scheduled to be installed in October on the façade of The Grange building in downtown Evansville. Preservationists are rallying in the Rock County city to bring back murals and historic signs in an effort to promote history and draw visitors.
Roger Berg, owner of The Grange, stands inside the lobby of the 50,000-square-foot building constructed in 1904 for $35,000. Berg wants to use history, revitalization and more affordable housing developments to attract more residents to the Rock County city.
Portraits of Marilla Andrews, left, a former newspaper publisher and postmaster in Evansville, and Sally Hardy Eager, a 1970s historic preservation advocate in the city, are prepared to be hung recently on the side of Lake Ridge Bank in downtown Evansville by Dan Yoder and Eric Prehn of Sign Art Studio in Mount Horeb.
A mural in downtown Evansville tells the story of the Hall Circus, founded by Col. George W. Hall in the 1800s. It traveled the world with Hall purchasing exotic animals he used in his shows. They included elephants, lions and large snakes.
