Sultan Firefighters and Train Murals

Sultan Firefighters Mural: left, center, and right panels

We were on our way back from Stevens Pass (one Friday hooky day) and stopped in Sultan to change drivers which was all the excuse I needed to investigate this mural. We’ve passed by this mural many times driving on Stevens Pass Hwy (Route 2).

The Post Office Murals are three panel mural commemorating Sultan firefighters. These panels were created by David Hose in 2009. Each panel was one of the garage bays where firefighting apparatus was kept. The building, today a Post Office, was built in 1954. See the photo of the information plaque for information about who is depicted in the panels. A couple of the characters are creations of the artist; most are real characters like the woman, Doris Jelinek, on the edge of the central panel holding the lunchbox of her husband, Louie Jelinek, who stares out form the panel. Louie Jelinkek was the Sultan Fire Chief from 1943 – 1973.

Sultan Firefighters Mural. Left: All three panels. Center: center panel. Right: Dedication information.

Across the street from the Post Office is the Train Mural depicting the Empire Builder passenger train arriving at Sultan Station and pulled by the Great Northern steam locomotive, 2555T. The view is of Sultan sometime in the 1940s judging by the style of dress and cars. The central characters, a man and a woman, are waiting for the train at 2:55pm. The man is a soldier who is getting shipped out. The woman next to him leans into him, sad.

This Train Mural is also by David Hose and was created in 2005. Here is a video of Hose describing this mural. In the video he mentions that the work he put into getting the details of the locomotive just right.

Hose also created the Doric Lodge Mural in Fremont just down the street.

Empire Builder – Train Mural in Sultan, Washington