Monongahela’s founder depicted in large mural

The image of Joseph Parkison is displayed on the side of Main Street Barber and Supply.

Residents and visitors strolling down Main Street — or those seeking a haircut — have an opportunity to have a look into Monongahela’s past.

A mural depicting Monongahela founder Joseph Parkison and his original log house adorns the side of the Main Street Barber and Supply at 105 W. Main St. The artwork was made possible by a joint effort among a Pittsburgh artist, Rivers of Steel and the Monongahela Main Street Program.

“With his image, I was trying to bring back what this place looked like,” MMSP Executive Director Terry Necciai said. “We were trying to show that there was only one house in the first 22 years that Joseph Parkison lived here. And that’s about what it looked like along the river.”

Parkison’s log house was the sole home in Monongahela’s second ward from 1770, when he arrived, to about 1792.

The mural is part of the MMSP facade project. Necciai went to Ashley Kyber, who oversees the Rivers of Steel Creative Leadership Program and has worked with MMSP on past projects. Kyber tapped Julie Stunden, an artist and teacher, to create the painting of Parkison.

It was created on a small canvas and enlarged as a 9 by 14 feet vinyl surface. The blown-up version was applied to the side of Main Street Barber that faces NovaCare Rehabilitation on Main Street two weeks ago.

While the exact location is uncertain, Parkison’s log house stood near Main Street Barber’s location today.

“Well, it was somewhere in the middle of the block,” Necciai said. “There’s a fire insurance map that they would update every five or six years. They started the first draft of it in 1886, and it shows a house in the middle of the block.”

MMSP and Rivers of Steel have plans for future murals and other artwork that will be placed throughout Mon City. Necciai views art as a way to beautify the city and add another dimension to the downtown area.

“You realize these bigger towns, they have murals, they have artists, they have art galleries and this is part of what makes them click,” he said. “And isn’t it cool that we’re catching up with that?”

“We were trying to show that there was only one house in the first 22 years that Joseph Parkison lived here. And that’s about what it looked like along the river.”

TERRY NECCIAI

MONONGAHELA MAIN STREET PROGRAM