The Fairhope History museum was on our "to-do" list and today we finally made it when they were open. It was our opportunity to learn more about this pleasant little town.
A nice looking fountain was home to a sculpture entitled "Mullet Run". It was surrounded with custom fired brickwork walkways. I really liked the variety of colors.
To the left of the main entrance doors was a full-scale sculpture of Craig Turner Sheldon. Who was Craig Turner Sheldon you ask, (at least I did) - as it happens, he was one of the town's more famous and interesting folks. He was Fairhope's Master Wood Carver.
Some of the strangest, most imaginative sculptures we have ever seen were on display upstairs. The wall was filled with accolades to the life and works of Mr. Sheldon. Two display cases were filled with some of his fantastic works of art.
Fairhope was founded with the radical idea of minimizing taxes. The Single Tax Corporation still owns some 4,400 acres that are leased to residents for 99 years. One of the museum docents tried to explain how the taxes worked on her leased land. I can't say I understood it, but she, at least, thought the taxes were pretty reasonable.
No longer single tax because Federal must now get their cut, but at the time it was a unique idea proposed by economist Henry George.
A natural phenomenon that seems a little sad. A sudden lack of oxygen in the water drives the crabs and fish to clamor to the shore where they are easily scooped up.
The parade of flying mowers was a mystery until I learned one of the early factories in Fairhope manufactured the three-wheeled machines. They even had a self-propelled model which, I suspect, was ahead of its time. They have long since gone out of business apparently due to safety issues with the design.
One of the museum docents, Larry, spent many years traveling in an RV and was happy to share some of his experiences. He said he had retired in 1975 and it was much later that I did the math and realized he had been retired 41 years! I suspect he "retired" very young and did not count work as he traveled to be a real job. It was a real pleasure talking with Larry.
Larry was very nostalgic about the years he spent traveling the country in his motorhome as a consultant.
The town has a very impressive library across the street from the museum. It looked like they had a lot of programs to engage with their patrons and they even had a couple racks of books by the door that were free for the taking.
Outside of the Eastern Shore Art Center was this sculpture that I found extremely intriguing. It looked different from every angle making it difficult to decide on my favorite perspective.
Larry had told us where to find, Sheldon Castle, the home Craig Turner Sheldon had built. Next to it, he helped build a home for his daughter and son-in-law. We were not sure if anyone was currently living in these homes, but I boldly snapped pictures while trying to maintain a respectable distance. There was so much detail I would have liked to explore much closer but we will have to see if that might be possible next time.
Craig Sheldon started building this house in 1946. It grew over the years to accommodate a growing family.
It must be wonderful to grow up in a home that oozes whimsy. So much so that Sheldon's daughter grew up and married a man (Dean Mosher) that...
...built her (Pagan Sheldon Mosher) an even larger castle (under his father-in-law's tutelage) on the same property. The Mosher castle carries on the tradition of incorporating a wild imagination and whimsy. What is life without whimsy!
Instead of trespassing, we deferred to the internet to see the back of the castle.
Now I will also be on the lookout for the artwork of Dean Mosher hanging in museums.
Wednesday nights a crew from the Escapee park head to the Foley Elks lodge for Trivia. Two weeks ago our team included Bob, Sondra, Paul, Lisa, Cecil, Maryann, Andy, Muffy, Connie and me. Tonight we had to pull four tables together for eighteen hopefuls (maybe more) thinking we might have a chance.
The serious looks lets you know that the last question was a toughie.
We made a respectable showing, but nobody ever beats the "Barflies" and tonight was no exception. I think we missed four of twenty questions while they missed only two. But it's not about winning or losing it's really just all about the fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment