The Tobacco Heritage Mural, painted in December 2016, is 20-by-30-foot. The mural is painted on the side of 308 Craghead St. that faces Patton Street and is visible from the River District’s busiest intersection at Main and Craghead streets.
The mural includes a flue-cured tobacco barn at the top, a man in a bateau transporting tobacco and a tobacco auction featuring William Gentry Sr. as the auctioneer.
The mural was painted by artist Wes Hardin, who also painted the transportation and Wreck of the Old 97 murals in the River District.
The tobacco industry has changed over the years and the auction system no longer exists, but U.S. tobacco – especially tobacco from the region including Danville and Southside Virginia is the best-flavored tobacco in the world.
