Colonel Green and his 1899 Automobile Mural

This mural shows several modes of transportation that were important to the development of Terrell. The railroad came in 1873 opening up new avenues of shipping cotton and other crops to a more far reaching market. But the most important is the depiction of Col. E H.R. Green’s automobile. Colonel Green, large in physical stature and in personality, was the son of Hetty Green, known as the “Witch of Wall Street” who was the richest woman in the world during her lifetime. She owned the Midland Railroad which ran North and South through Terrell. She appointed her son to the position of President of the company. Colonel Green made Terrell his home during his bachelor days and in 1899 purchased one of two motor cars that had been built in St. Louis and had it shipped to Terrell. Green and the maker of the car, George Preston Dorris, acting as his driving instructor, set out for Dallas. As they neared Forney, there was a mishap and the water tank was damaged. It is believed that the necessary repairs were done at a blacksmith shop in Forney by Reeve Henry. This mural was painted by Sunny Delipsey and was sponsored by The Terrell Heritage Society.