Following Paul Hadley's Footsteps, Part Huit

Let's continue discussing smokehouses that Mooresville artist Paul Hadley (1880-1971), designer of the Indiana State Flag, painted in watercolor.

Last time, we decided we couldn't find the place where Hadley painted "Smokehouse," which is displayed at Mooresville Public Library.

Click images to bigify

But we found the location (154 West Harrison Street) of another Paul Hadley painting, "Full Bloom" (1942), which also portrayed a smokehouse.

"Full Bloom," by Paul Hadley (1942)

[Excerpted from Hardin, Becky, The Indiana State Flag: Its Designer (Biography of Paul Hadley with Anthology of his Paintings), p. 28 (1976).  Click here to find links to read a digital copy of this fine biography.]

Another Hadley painting captured a white smokehouse at the Samuel Moore Rooker house, constructed in 1877 and located at 30 West Harrison Street.  Rooker was the first child born in Mooresville after the town was founded, so he was named after the founder, Samuel Moore.  Rooker's granddaughter, Helen (York) Cook, and her husband, Claire Cook, lived there for decades.  

Newspaper Article About the Cook/Rooker Home

by Becky Hardin, Morgan County Historian

[Hardin, Becky, ed.  Morgan County Scrapbook, Volume I (1985).
Mooresville: Dickinson Publishing Co., p. 285.]

(Click image to bigify)

Cook/Rooker House (2009)

The smokehouse was located behind the home, as you can just barely see in the digital scan below.  The original image of this painting (used in Hardin's book) was very faint.

"White Smokehouse," by Paul Hadley

and smokehouse shown attached to the

Rooker/Cook residence (1976)

[Excerpted from Hardin, Becky, The Indiana State Flag: Its Designer
(Biography of Paul Hadley with Anthology of his Paintings), p. 30 (1976).

Let's see what the smokehouse attachment looks like today, shall we? Minions, make with the digital photos.

Rooker/Cook smokehouse was located

inside the now-screened-in porch area

on the back of the house

Paul Hadley must have been fascinated with smokehouses as watercolor subjects.  Next time, we'll see what back stories we can discover from more of our Hadley paintings on display at the Library.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat