Main Street

Downtown Elkin Mural Hike

Home Departments Main Street Visit Downtown Elkin Mural Hike

In 2012, the Main Street Advisory Board wanted to add public art to downtown. They created a mural grant program encouraging building owners to add murals to their buildings. Have fun exploring our downtown and feel free to photograph and spread the joy of art! We continue to add more each year... some are also on the interiors of businesses, and although most are new, some are as old as the 1930s!
#exploreelkin #elkinmainstreet #NCMainStreet #downtownelkin #elkinnc

1. 102 E Main Street. This mural celebrates the Yadkin Valley Wine Region, showcasing the old (tobacco) farms now becoming vinicultural assets in our area, the vineyards. Since Elkin sits directly between 2 state parks, the artist depicted Stone Mountain and (way in the distance) Pilot Mountain State Parks as well. This mural was a public/private partnership project.

Mural artist: Murals by Michael Brown. Sponsored by: Elkin Main Street Advisory Board (MSAB), Yadkin Valley Heritage Corridor, Surry Wineries, and owners of the building.

YVWR mural

2. 115 W Market St. This building's owner moved here in 1980 and fell in love with the license plates on everyone's car stating "ELKIN - The Best Little Town in NC". Those plates had been circulating on Elkin cars since the 1920's. This mural showcases businesses from the past, that are no longer open in Elkin, but made their mark: Chatham Blankets, Elkin Canning Company, Brendle's Department Store (headquartered here), and the McNeill Bottling Company. There is also a bus token depicted (for employees who worked at the mill) and a shout out to Home Furniture, which was in this building prior to the current owner's purchase.

Mural artist: Murals by Michael Brown . Sponsored by: Chris Mahon, owner ACM Agency and MSAB.

3. Corners of S Bridge St and E Standard St. This sepia-toned mural honors the memory of Elkin's famous Hugh Chatham Memorial Bridge, which used to stand proud one block east of this mural's location. The mural also provides an image of the old train depot that was just north of this mural, on the north side of the railroad tracks. Both were torn down with much dismay; the bridge by the DOT when it was deemed unsafe, and the depot removed by the railroad (supposedly during the middle of the night!).

Mural artist: Murals by Michael Brown.
Sponsored by: Elkin Antiques & Collectibles Mall (Ricky & Teresa) and the MSAB.

Mural 1 sepia Depot and Bridge in progress

4. Elkin became a trail town during the past decade, and this mural was added to 111 W Market St as the building owner wanted to honor the hard work along the Elkin & Allegheny Trail groomed by our volunteer trails group, the Elkin Valley Trails Association, as well as show the numerous trails that intersect in our downtown. Some of the trails in downtown include the NC Mountains-to-Sea Trail (along Main Street), the Overmountain Victory Trail (at the west end of downtown along the Big Elkin Creek), the Yadkin River Blue Trail, and the Daniel Boone Trail (the marker stands in the lot in front of this mural along Hwy 21, also called Bridge St. It was once an old Indian Trail Boone would have used to access Virginia.

Mural artist: Murals by Michael Brown. Sponsored by: Dennis Myers (building owner) and the MSAB.

5. Van Hoy Jewelers added a mural to the side of their wall at 111 E Main St in 2019. The building was originally the Bank of Elkin, which opened in 1921. This image is what the building originally looked like, until sometime in the mid-1900s when previous owners changed the front facade to accommodate retail display windows.

Mural artist: Murals by Michael Brown . Sponsored by: John Van Hoy (building owner) and the MSAB.

6. The Sample Store (103 E Main St) Pepsi Co and the Elkin/Jonesville Pepsi Company partnered with the Main Street Advisory Board to install two murals in the downtown. We had this ghost mural designed and installed on the wall here, and it was so well done, people who hadn't seen it painted asked us, "Was this mural always here??!" In the past century, downtown Elkin had numerous Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, and a Sprite Boy mural throughout town, so we wanted to bring back the feeling of an old ad uncovered.

Mural artist: Michael Brown of Murals by Michael Brown.
Sponsor: Pepsi Co/ Elkin-Jonesville Pepsi Company

7. This new trail mural was completed in summer of 2021 and can be found on East Main Street, across the street from The Liberty building, tucked back a little from the street. This wall was an eyesore for years, and when new mural artists moved to Elkin, they inquired about doing something special on it. Explore Elkin and the Main Street Advisory Board teamed up to fund the project, and this new trail mural along the MST transformed over the next two months depicting the unique Forest Bathing Trail groomed in 2021 at Grassy Creek Vineyards, about 10 minutes north of downtown Elkin. On this trail, you disconnect with technology and re-experience nature's sights, sounds, smells, and beauty.
Mural artist: Hand in Hand Creative.

Sponsored by: Explore Elkin and the MSAB.

8. Elkin Antiques & Collectibles Mall at 131 S Bridge St. Full of colorful images, and best seen up close, this new Pepsi Co sponsored mural was completed in 2022. The images show old Pepsi signage we had in downtown over the last century, and is named 'Cruisin' Capital of the East' honoring the days when Elkin's cruising was known up and down the east coast as the place to go. USA Today even featured Elkin in an article in the 1980's, as depicted in the letter "L". Weekend cruisin' came to an end, but the town still has a monthly scheduled cruise at the Heritage Center on the 4th Saturday of each month, April thru October where hundreds of beautiful cars pull in for the afternoon, and folks enjoy checking out classic cars and making friends.

Mural artist: Joey Dill of Studio 73 Carolina. Sponsored by: Pepsi Co.

9. The Main Street Board has started a series of Back Alley murals along East & West Depot Alley. This is a before/after view of one on West Depot Alley, but there are about 5 others at this time. The project will continue until 7 murals are completed. If you are an artist interested in submitting a design, please let us know! communitymanager@elkinnc.org.

Mural artist: Karen McEachin Breit (local artist)
Sponsor: Creative Economic Development Consulting

OVT mural Heritage Center, Elkin, part 1

10. At the Heritage & Visitor Center, located at 257 Standard St, step inside and see the display showcasing the Revolutionary War's Overmountain Victory Trail that started in Elkin. The mural shows the men preparing to cross the Yadkin River as they head southwest from Elkin's Mustering Field (now Elkin Municipal Park) toward King's Mountain, South Carolina. Learn more at the display panels underneath.

Mural artist: Murals by Michael Brown . Sponsored by: The National Park Service.

11. Take a trip back in time at 125 W Main Street (currently REMAX Realty). During a recent renovation in 2014 the building's owner decided to take the paneling off the interior walls and bring it back to its original brick. As the workers chiseled away, one yelled for everyone to stop! Underneath layers of wallpaper, paint, and other wall coverings that were painstakingly peeled away, they noticed there was art of some sort painted into the plaster. The renovation halted, and various fresco paintings were uncovered, depicting advertisements of actual downtown businesses open in the 1930's. You're welcome to drop by as you can still see them through the windows. Mural artist: Unknown.

12. Coming soon...

13. The Yadkin Valley Railroad travels right through Elkin's downtown. They drop off various old cars that rotate weekly, monthly, or whenever it's their turn to move on to the next town. This is a traveling graffiti exhibit that is forever changing. Many take photos in front of the images for prom photos, weddings, and even just for fun. You never know what the next train will bring...

Artist: Unknown

14-16. Look closely and you'll find a variety of little murals tucked throughout downtown, with many more to come.

Artists: Seed packets (Farmers Market Shelter, 101 E Market St) and faux window (Harry's Place, S Front St) were painted by Michael Brown. The Smile mural was painted by Elkin High School Senior, Zara Petrocy for a Senior Project.

Sometimes we even add some chalk art along our sidewalks for fun... and if you look hard enough, we have literary quotes hidden amongst the buildings in downtown too!

Chalk art downtown