Winter Mural

Ohio History

Winter in the Alps

Here's another of Tom Miller's murals in Sugarcreek. This one was on the local hardware storefront if I remember correctly. Did you spot the ponies in the background hauling a wagon of logs? An animated feature, they 'trotted' all the way along the snow ridge and disappeared to circle around again. Believe me, I even got a movie on my camera of them!

Tom Miller became prolific with his murals and adorned many buildings, both inside and out. Well-known mural sites include Heini's in Bunker Hill, the Walnut Creek Der Dutchman, Charm's Guggisberg Cheese, Lehman Hardware in Kidron, and even an Amish dairy in Indiana. Animated features range trains, horses with wagons, and a herd of Swiss dairy cows to skiers and even snowmobiles! His largest indoor mural was in Grandma's Alpine Homestead, filling most of the walls and even the ceiling of the restaurant. What an amazing painter!

Sugarcreek Murals

Ohio History

Bank Mural

Let's have a quick stop in Sugarcreek, a few miles east of Berlin, before concluding our trip. My favorite attraction in the little town also features a bit of history: the storefront murals. The one above is on the bank downtown. The scene from the Swiss Alps is complete with an tiny animated train chugging in and out of a mountain tunnel. Can you spot it on the left?

This is just one of the murals painted by native Ohioan Tom Miller. In fact, he spent his entire life in the Walnut Creek area (in Holmes County). After starting a successful interior decorating business in the early 1950s, Tom Miller was able to pursue his dream of bringing Switzerland into Sugarcreek, which had an ethnic Swiss heritage. Inspired by a trip to Switzerland, he painted his own storefront and was soon adorning many Sugarcreek business fronts with Swiss scenes. Most of his murals were painted during the 1970s and 80s.