Greenville: My Home Town in the Great Darke County 2nd Edition On Sale Now!

Don Mong recently collaborated with Dr. Stephen Gruber on a special project that will benefit the Garst Museum. After his first book of illustrations of Greenville, titled Greenville: My Hometown, was a huge success, Mong has released a second edition – this time with over 50 more illustrations. This newest book will feature everything from the first installment, as well as the new illustrations.

Mong grew up in Greenville and although he has traveled the world and currently lives in Rhode Island, he still loves and considers Greenville his hometown. This new book was a labor of love, and he believes it is a great way to preserve the community’s incredible history.

The first book featured a lot of local businesses, many of which no longer exist. The second edition looks at homes in Greenville and their historical significance.

In addition to the beautiful artwork created by Mong, each illustration is accompanied by a short historical report written by Gruber. Many of the homes, businesses, and landmarks featured in the book have been researched thoroughly by the staff at Garst Museum to ensure accuracy.

Mong shared that the idea for the original book began a few years ago. His mother, Phyllis Mong, passed away from COVID, and they were discussing how when that generation is gone people will forget about many of the historical buildings, places, people and things in Greenville and Darke County. “We thought it’d be a great time to do some memorialization of Greenville,” he said.

He wanted to come up with a book of illustrations of some of the old places in Greenville that no longer exist. He believes the older generations may still remember these places, but the younger generations may never have known they existed.

Mong said he illustrated approximately 35 businesses that no longer exist, such as the Fairlawn Steakhouse and Gerschuh’s Restaurant. The museum was able to come up with funding to publish the book and all 250 copies were sold. “It was kind of two-pronged,” said Mong. “The memorialization of the old businesses and also it was a fundraiser for the museum.”

The second edition came after Mong had visited his hometown. Gruber presented him with what he described as a copy, of a copy, of a copy of a book that featured the historic homes of Greenville.

Mong felt depicting the historic homes was a great idea. He said, “There are some amazing people that lived in Greenville, and they did some incredible things.” One of the homes he illustrated was the childhood home of Lt. Commander Zachary Lansdowne who went on to pilot the first rigid airship, the USS Shenandoah.

He said, “Steve and I were in lockstep. I mean, I did the illustrations and Steve, and his research people did all the technical background history of all the houses.” He painted approximately 54 houses for this installment. Many of the houses he painted are still standing, but some have been demolished over the years.

Greenville: My Hometown in the Great Darke County, Second Edition, will also serve as a fundraiser for the Garst Museum. Mong donated all of his illustrations and work to the museum. He is not profiting from any of the work he has done.

Mong is excited to give back to his hometown and explained why he wanted to do this for Garst Museum, “You know it’s funny. I’ve been so blessed by what I’ve been able to accomplish in my life. I mean, I was a police officer for 25 years. I was in the army. I was a diver. I traveled extensively throughout United States and there’s just something about Greenville. You know, it is true what the book says, it’s my hometown in the great Darke County. I mean, you can take a boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of a boy. Greenville has always been a very special place for me when I grew up in the late 50s and early 60s. I mean it was like Mayberry. Everyone knew each other, and you never locked any doors. If you left your bike out on the corner, it’d be there the next day. I mean, it was just a very magical place growing up.”

The cost is $49.95 and includes all of the illustrations and information from the first edition. There are even some new illustrations from the first edition that have been included. Mong said he found a couple of angles he liked better and redid some of the artwork. Those are also included in the second edition of the book.

The Museum Store at Garst Museum now has the book available for purchase!

The book is also available on Amazon.

Amazon purchase link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1965733670