History, art meet at new downtown Sharon display

SHARON – Streetcars are back in Sharon. Well, at least copies of old photographs of them are.

The Sharon Historical Society has combined history and art to create a display of old Sharon photographs just off the sidewalk next to Sharon City Centre on West State Street.

The society provided copies of the historical photographs to Random Acts of Artists. The photos date from around the mid-18th to mid-19th centuries.

Terry Polonsky, RAA’s president, said he kept watch years ago when JCL Development, owned by Jim Landino, was remodeling the former Buhl Independent Rifles Armory on Sharpsville Avenue.

“Jim let me take four old cupboard doors that use to be in the armory,’’ Polonsky said. “I was waiting for the inspiration to do things with them.’’

Time passed, then Polonsky happened to see old photos of the city on the Sharon Historical Society’s social media site.

“We supplied him with 16 good photos,’’ Taylor Galaska, the society’s president, said.

Polonsky printed the photos on thin sheets of aluminum. Then he painted and assembled the doors into a four-sided, vertical shape. He mounted four photos on each side and erected the creation downtown.

Streetcars ran in Sharon from 1892 to 1939. Other photos include the now-closed Luna Theater in the downtown.

“At its height, there were four to six theaters in Sharon,’’ Galaska said.

This display sits next to another piece of city history that was installed a couple of months ago, with the erection of a sculpture-like column from a house that once stood at 111 S. Irvine Ave.

The home, which was destroyed in a 2017 fire, was built in the style of 19th century Georgia Colonial Revival by JNO Cook and Sons.

Next to the column is the modern”Music Man’’ metal sculpture designed by Alexandra “Lexie’’ Knight in 2015 and 2016, then a sophomore at Sharon High School. A team of George Junior Republic students fabricated the statue ahead of its dedication May 25, 2016.

Last year, RAA gave the sculpture a fresh coat of paint.

“These are all historical keepsakes,’’ Polonsky said.