On a quiet, foggy morning, a piece of Maysville history was taken down, loaded into the back of a truck and left town with little fanfare.
Several gathered on corners at the intersection of West Second and Sutton streets to watch as Jim Maher and his crew carefully unbolted and removed cables from the Sherwin-Williams sign mounted on the Hendrickson Building and lowered it to the sidewalk to meet its new owner.
Joe Patrick Jr. of Middletown, Ohio, purchased the piece recently and was anxious to get a close-up look at the sign.
"It looks a lot better than I thought it would. It is absolutely incredible," he said.
The sign had been in its location, watching over downtown Maysville, since the 1930s -- certain features found in and on the sign made dating it more accurate.
Joe Patrick, along with his friend and fellow collector, Lloyd Craig plan on taking the sign to Patrick's home in Middletown, to join his collection of more than 150 other signs. He isn't sure what his plans are for the sign and won't know until he gets it home and examines it more closely to see what work it needs.
Patrick enjoys collecting signs and has mostly advertising signs depicting oil companies, automotive dealerships, gasoline and oil companies, and soda manufacturers.
While traveling on vacation this past year, Patrick passed through Maysville doing what he always does while traveling.
"I look for signs. I am obsessed with them," he said.
After asking many questions about the Sherwin-Williams sign, he learned that it could be for sale soon.
The Hendrickson Building was recently sold. A local businessman bought the sign, got in touch with Patrick and a deal was made.
“We have mixed feelings about taking down the sign,” said Bob Hendrickson, one of the former owners. “It has a great history in our family as well as in the community. But the building is no longer owned by our family, and there hasn’t been paint sold there in more than a decade.”
“The sign and its supports were rusting and needed repair, and we felt it was only fair to the new owners to move on,” he added.
Moving a 600-pound sign that is more than 9 feet tall and nearly 60 inches wide is no easy task. Arrangements were made to have a local sign expert take the sign down. However, crating and moving it was Joe Patrick's responsibility.
While close, the sign is not the largest in Patrick's collection, he said.
"I have one that is a little larger," he said.
On a scale of 10, Patrick rated the Hendrickson sign a seven, considering its age and condition.
And his favorite sign in his collection?
"Today? This has got to be the best."
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