Historical Mural


Photo of Old Courthouse Mural
Image of the mural

In September 1981 artists David Blodgett, Linda Crimson, and Debbie Clark completed a mural depicting people and scenes from Johnston County history. The mural was painted on the side of the old District Court Building (former Smithfield Herald office), which was demolished in the 1990s to make way for construction of the Third Street addition to the Courthouse.

Mural with Legend Numbers
Items and personalities shown in the mural

  1. A Tuscarora Indian canoeing along the Neuse River.
  2. General Joseph Johnston and General Braxton Bragg who met in the Battle of Bentonville.
  3. Smithfield's historic Hastings House.
  4. C.S. Powell, a Confederate war veteran from Johnston County.
  5. William David Tomlinson in a horse-drawn buggy, 1914.
  6. Police Chief B.D. Creech of Benson (in top hat, circa 1902).
  7. Kemp Johnson family in a 1912 Buick.
  8. Turn-of-the-century portrait of Smithfield's Third Street (looking northward from Johnston Street).
  9. Movie star Ava Gardner, a native Johnstonian.
  10. Jessie Blackman of Smithfield cropping tobacco.
  11. Teacher and poet Cynthia DeFord Adams of Four Oaks.
  12. Educator M.L. Wilson of Selma.
  13. Smithfield native Barry Foote, a contemporary major-league baseball player.
  14. School students Lorren Eason of Smithfield, David Clark of Pine Level, Sara Barefoot of Benson, and Jimmy Daughtry of Smithfield.
  15. Johnston Technical College (now Johnston Community College).


Page last updated:  November 2, 2023