The Things We Never See - Mortar Man

Growing up near Charleston, West Virginia, and walking those streets who knows how many times, I have evidently walked down Capitol Street, passed Mortar Man, and never saw him. An online article brought this hidden sculpture to my attention. Who knew this little guy was hiding there? Obviously, not me!

Photo: Rebecca Anne Recco

Mortar Man is a tiny sculpture approximately two by four inches who hides within the architecture of the building at 108 Capitol Street sitting about twelve feet off the ground.

Photo: Rebecca Anne Recco

Local sculptor, P. Joseph Mullins created Mortar Man with some extra concrete while working on the building next to it and placed the tiny sculpture between the structures. P. Joseph Mullins is best known for the design of the Veterans' Memorial which now stands on the grounds of the West Virginia Capitol Building.

Photo: Rebecca Anne Recco

Photo: Rebecca Anne Recco

The next time I walk down Capitol Street in Charleston, I will definitely have my camera with me.

Have you seen Mortar Man?

Sources:

Atlas Obscura *
e-WV
Rebecca Anne Recco

* e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia "P. Joseph Mullins." e-WV The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 13 June 2017. Web. 09 July 2019.