When you step foot into the Middleburgh Post Office to purchase stamps or ship packages, you are also taking a leap into American history. Looking above the Postmaster’s entrance, you spot a beautiful mural named the “Dance of the Hop Pickers.”
According to Living New Deal:
The historic post office building in Middleburgh, New York houses an example of New Deal artwork: “Dance of the Hop Pickers,” an oil and tempera mural painted by Mary Earley and installed in the post office lobby in 1941. The work was sponsored by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts.
Painted by Mary Earley as part of New Deal era sponsored arts projects, the mural has been in place for over eight decades in the Middleburgh Post Office. She also painted another in the Delhi Post Office – named the “Down-Rent War, Around 1845” – that resulted in her winning an art award.
History is everywhere in the Village of Middleburgh if you take a close enough look. Although the one-time agricultural cash crop of hops has receded with time, hops continue to be grown every summer at Timothy Murphy Park as part of our annual Oktoberfest Celebration, which keeps the hop dance alive in the 21st century.
