Skip Murray Photography: Art of the Weathervane

1. And here we have a magnificent work of art to start this Art of the Weathervane gallery. The Dedham Exchange, Dedham, MA, which has been thriving since 1914. Before it was called the Dedham Exchange it was called the Women's Exchange. The story goes that the Women's Exchange began because wives decided to do something helpful for the community. They sewed, embroidered and all other manner of things which they sold and shared the proceeds with those who needed a little help.

2. And here is another beauty. LaBelle Winery, Amherst, NH.

3. Hadley, MA. "You don't see many of these around," the owner of this beauty said. And she is right.

3a. And here is another I found in downtown Westfield, MA

4. The Sun and the Moon. Bedford Public Library, Bedford, NH library.

5. Hadley, MA

6. This is such a beauty. It sits above City Hall in Portland, Maine. This is a depiction of a Seventeenth Century ship. It was placed where it is today in the first decade of the Twentieth Century.

6a. Here is a weathervane sitting atop the Boston Tea Party museum. The Boston Tea Party, the pivotal moment in the American Revolution.

7. And now we wander along to a weathervane sitting atop the oldest public building in the United States. It is the Old State House in Boston, built in 1713.

8/9. 1717 Meeting House, Barnstable, MA. Meaning of the rooster as a weathervane teems with religion.

10. Boston, Old North Church, 1723. “One, if by land, and two, if by sea.” Henry Wadsworth Lonfellow.

11. Faneuil Hall, Boston, 1742. The grasshopper signifies commerce. Ship's captains knew exactly where to go to do business when they arrived in Boston Harbor. And, while we are at it, Peter Faneuil, one of the richest men in Boston at the time, made his riches on the slave trade.

12. Cambridge Court House. Cambridge, MA. 1814.
Building design by Charles Bulfinch.

13. United First Church Parish, Quincy, MA. 1828. Second president John Adams, and his son and sixth president, John Quincy Adams, are buried in this church. Their wives next to them.

14. Boston Post Road, Weston, MA. Boston Post Road is an historic road. I wonder if this weather vane goes back to the 18th Century. It may have been built long before the church it sits on top of was.

15. St. James's Church, Cambridge, MA. A visitor checking out what is happening.

16. Salve Regina University, Newport, RI

17. St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Stockbridge, MA.

18. Malden, MA

19. Amherst, NH. Congregational Church.

20. New Boston, NH

21. A golden cod on Cape Cod, Yarmouth, MA.

22. Clinton, MA

23. Dedham, MA

24. Rockport, MA

25. Prancing horse atop a Red Barn. Mont Vernon, NH

26. Cambridge, MA

27. Amherst, MA

28. Havervill, MA

29. Same weather vane as above, crowded in by trees. Havervill, MA

30. Havervill, MA

31. Havervill, MA. Same as above. Different view.

32. Sturbridge, MA

33. Portland, Maine

34. Olympic Village, Lake Placid, NY

35. Middlesex Ave, Medford, MA. Looks exactly like the one above. However, there are subtle differences.

36. Black bear at Maine Turnpike rest stop.

37. Molly's Tavern, New Boston, NH

38. Amherst, MA

39. Kennebunk, Maine

40. Town Hall, Saranac Lake, NY

41. Mt. Pisgua ski lodge, Saranac Lake, NY

42. Carousal at Saranac Lake, NY

43. Dartmouth College library

44. Dedham, MA

45. Quincy Market Building, Boston, MA. I found this exact weathervane in Saranac Lake, in the midst of the Adirondack Mountains, at a place called Donnelly's Dairy.

46. Speaking of which, here is another weather vane at Donnelly's Dairy, Saranac Lake, NY.
Donnelly's Dairy began as a dairy in 1950, but by 1953 it became a soft ice cream thriving business, and it has been that way since. And it is a thriving because the ice cream is outstanding.

47. Northhampton, MA

48. Cadyville, NY.

49. South Hero, Vermont. The bird is actually not part of the weather vane. It sat down just in time to have its picture taken. And so now it is part of that weather vane. Excellent timing, I'd say.

50. And what do you know, yet anther bird perched on a weathervane. This one at Harvard University, Hemenway Gym, Cambridge, MA

51. Somerville, MA

52. Pelham, NH

53. Amherst, MA

54. Haverhill, MA. This weathervane sits atop a car garage.

55. And here is that garage

56. Catonsville, MD

57. Norman Rockwell's studio. Stockbridge, MA.

58. Bedford, NH

59. Portland, Maine

60. Amherst, MA

61. Haverhill, MA

62. Haverhill, MA Post Office. A falcon looking things over.

63. Haverhill, MA. Same weathervane. Different day, different time. No falcon. One pose is enough, I guess.

64. Hanover, NH. Geese

65. Rockport, MA

66. Somerville, MA. Goose.

67. Southbridge, MA

68. Rockport, MA

69. Rockport, MA

70. Bedford, NH

71. Salem, NH. As you can see from the way the sun is shining on this pig, it is on its side. In need of a bit of a repair.

72. Bedford, NH

73. Dedham, MA

74. Amherst, MA. Bramble Hill Farms

75. Rockport, MA

76. Sturbridge, MA. Sturbridge Village

77. White River Junction Depot, White River Junction, Vermont.

78. Somerville, MA

79. Clinton, MA. Yawl Sailboat.

80. Amherst, MA

81. Kennebunk, Maine

82. Rockport, MA

83. Rockport, MA

84. Northhampton, MA

85. Bedford, NH

86. Amherst, MA. Amherst Farm Winery.

87. Sturbridge, MA. Friendly's Restaurant.

88. Mont Vernon, NH

89. Stockbridge Fire Department. Stockbridge, MA

90. Making snow at Olympic Mountain, Adirondacks Mountains, NY. This atop of the ski lodge at White Face Mountain, also known as Olympic Mountain, Wilmington, NY, where the 1980 Winter Olympics were held.

91. Paving snow ways at Olympic Mountain, Adirondacks Mountains, NY.

92. Taking flight at Olympic Mountain, NY.

93. Middlesex Ave, Medford, MA.

94. Publick House, Sturbridge, MA

95. Methuen, MA

96. Veteran's Hospital, West Roxbury, MA. The curious thing about this weather vane is that when I got the picture home and looked closely at it I realized then that there were two people carrying a stretcher.