MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
Montgomery city officials are trying to solve a mystery: the story behind the gigantic mural in City Hall discovered earlier this month. They've made some progress in their search for answers.
They've found the mural is based on a portrait of Dexter Avenue that predates the Civil War.
"In 1857, this was on the front page of the pictorial, they called it a drawing room companion, which I guess in the 1800s that mean a magazine," said Steve Jones, Director of General Services for the City of Montgomery.
The city enlisted the help of a doctoral student in St. Louis, who made the trip over to the Lincoln Presidential Library in Illinois to find out more about the magazine and the artist.
While officials now know what the mural is based on, they still don't who the artist is or why the scene was re-created. A leading expert in the field is coming to Montgomery on Monday to provide his thoughts.
"We feel there is some significance to why somebody would take the time to do a 50 by 40 painting of this scene," Jones said.
The city hopes to have answers about the mural soon, perhaps in time for the grand re-opening celebration at City Hall, which is scheduled for September 30th. It was on that date in 1937 that City Hall re-opened after a fire heavily damaged the building in 1933.
The city plans to open a time capsule found during the renovations, and replace it with a new one.
"We had a little debate about what you put in a time capsule," said Mayor Todd Strange. "Obviously, a newspaper of the day, I want to put an iPhone, maybe a coin or two."
You can see the mural weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., just check in at the front desk.
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