WILMINGTON, Ohio – After five years of planning, the city of Wilmington finally raised its “flag” on Memorial Day. And not your typical flag.

The 85-foot-tall, 60-foot-wide Stars and Stripes mural that adorns the silos owned by Buckley Bros., Inc, Livestock Feed and Supply is a real eye-grabber for visitors entering downtown Wilmington. The painted flag was officially completed on May 12, with a celebration of the painting held at the grain silos on Memorial Day.

“The idea for the mural originated from Trevor Shoemaker, executive director of Main Street Wilmington, and Clinton County Treasurer Kyle Rudduck,” Buckley Bros. owner Mark Buckley said. “Local artist James Quigley came up with the idea for the flag on the silo. Our silos here at Buckley Bros. just provided the ‘canvas’ for the flag.”

The base work and mural painting were done by Midwest Painting Services from Black Hawk, S.D. The company has previously worked on the Buckley Bros. silos and has experience painting logos, silos and other large projects The design template was first assembled at the Clinton County Fairgrounds before installation began on the silos.

And organizers of the mural selected one of the oldest businesses in Wilmington to display that flag – the silos of Buckley Bros.

“I’m glad to see it up,” Buckley said. “It’s better than I envisioned. Coming down Main Street you come upon historic Murphy Theater, the historic General Denver Hotel, which was built in 1928, and then your eyes are attracted to that huge painted flag on our silos.”

The flag is designed to be visible day and night, with lighting installed to illuminate it after dark. It is the second-largest painted flag in the country, second to one found in Destin, Fla., which measures 600 feet by 300 feet.

Wilmington was founded in 1810, and many original building and businesses still exist in downtown Wilmington. There’s the Champion Bridge Co. (now Champion Steel Works), which has been in place since 1870. Sugartree Mill Co., originally a flour mill, still stands since 1881. The Murphy Theatre has been a cultural landmark since 1918, and it’s still in operation.

Another mainstay in the downtown area is Buckley Bros., which was originally started in 1904 by brothers George and Parker Buckley. They had operated a wheat buying station in the village of Kingman, Ohio, prior to their move to Wilmington, Ohio.

The George and Parker Buckley purchased an elevator which was built in 1899 at the current location of 320 E. Main St. in Wilmington. The business at that time consisted of buying and shipping wheat by rail or trading wheat for bran, middling and flour. Another vital part of their business consisted of supplying horse customers with oats, corn and hay. Three people were employed at that time.

By 1920, the first manufactured feeds consisting of tankage and oil cake (linseed meal) were coming onto the scene. Poultry mash and primitive dairy feeds were soon introduced.

Karl E. Buckley, son of Parker, purchased the business from Parker’s estate in 1928 and operated a growing and ever-changing feed business. A hammermill and mixer were installed, and custom feed mixing and delivery became an integral part of the business.

Karl’s son, James J. Buckley, returned from the army after World War II and took over the operation. Grain storage soon became an issue as grain surpluses became a nationwide problem. In 1953, the business incorporated and the first cluster bins of concrete grain storage were constructed.

In 1956, A. Bruce Buckley, James’ brother, joined the corporation. In 1957, additional concrete grain storage was erected, bringing the grain storage capacity to 400,000 bushels. In 1964, a modern steel and concrete feed manufacturing plant was built. The new plant handled both bagged and bulk feed production.

Today, Mark Buckley owns the business. The firm currently employs 35 full and part-time employees and operates five retail stores in Wilmington, Washington Court House, South Bloomfield, Morrow and The Plains.

“Having this huge mural in our downtown area will become a great draw to attract people to come to our town and then to kind of show off what all we have to offer for eating and shopping in a theater,” Shoemaker said.

Since the late 1950s, Buckley Bros. had displayed a star on top of its grain tanks to celebrate the holiday season. The star stood over 10 feet tall and was placed roughly 150 feet in the air. It was originally welded together with the help of a local farmer, Ed Keiter. Now, the flag mural calls that spot home.