In Middleport, mural celebrates canal life
Photos by Tom Rivers
MIDDLEPORT – The tugboat and a barge rest in front of a canal bridge. That is dominant image of a mural on a Middleport building. The artwork was added to the community just west of the Orleans County line in 2007.
Albion native Stacey Kirby created that mural and two others: a train depot between Main and Vernon streets that was torn down in the 1960s while the other scene depicts the building (in a different era) at the corner of Main and State streets, where the mural is painted.
Above the three scenes Kirby painted the community’s motto: “Middleport, NY a friendly community.”
I was in Middleport last evening to do a story on the Lake Plains Players’ production of Les Miserables. I had a few minutes to spare and wanted to check out Kirby’s artwork. She has some others in this canal village as well.
I’m hoping we can come up with a project for her in Albion. She said she wants to do one in her hometown.
