DAPHNE, Ala. — Three artists have volunteered to take to the streets of Daphne in the latest project to beautify the town’s buildings. Each is painting a mural along Scenic 98 on a subject inspired by Daphne’s history.

Daphne native Rachel Ellzey is painting a mural of the steamer, The Heroine, which was used during the Civil War to run northern blockades at the mouth of Mobile Bay and bring supplies from Havana, Cuba to Confederate forces in the area.

The Heroine’s skipper was Captain William “Billy” O’Neal, whose family gives their name to Captain O’Neal Drive. The son of a boat captain, O’Neal also owned O’Neal Pottery. This painting will be located on Main Street on the north wall of Signs-R-Us.

Elley, 25, recently graduated from the University of Montevallo and returned to Daphne. A Daphne High School graduate, she is a freelance artist specializing in portraits and murals.

Seventy-six year-old Mary Jo Brassfield, a long-time Daphne resident, is painting a mural featuring southern girls in period dress in a garden on the east side wall of “Flowers, Etc.,” at the corner of Daphne Avenue and Main Street, across from the Daphne Post Office.

“The really nice part (about) this project is the number of people who have stopped and said how much they appreciate the art,” said Brassfield, who expects her mural to take four weeks to complete. “It brings so much happiness.” Visitors to her outside “studio” at the busy intersection, have included a class of third-graders studying the murals.

Markus Dicosola from Orange Beach is working on a wall of Manci’s Bar & Grill facing Belrose Avenue. His mural is based on a family photograph supplied by the proprietor, Alex Manci, showing his grandmother, Avis Manci, posing with a vintage automobile. Mrs. Manci was a colorful figure known as “Tootsie” for her good looks. She stood about 5 feet tall and had nine children with her husband Arthur “Buster” Manci, who was mayor of Daphne from 1951 to 1964.

The photograph comes from the 1930s, though Manci is not certain of the exact date. Research is also ongoing into the make and model of car that is pictured, though Manci and Discola believe that it is either a Plymouth or a Packard.

Dicosola, 39, a Michigan native, graduated from Art School at the University of Utah and moved to Orange Beach to work as an interior designer, but is now a full-time artist. He likes his paintings and drawings to tell a story.

The mural project is the brainchild of Daphne Volunteer Coordinator Pat Wilden, who recruited the artists and helped select the subjects. The three new murals will bring the total to nine in the city. Six were completed last year and others will be added as agreement is reached with building owners, according to Wilden.

“It is an entirely volunteer effort and it is wonderful that these artists have decided to help us,” Wilden said.

Those who wish to support the project are asked to make contributions to the Daphne Mural Society account at NFL Building Supply on Highway 98. The account has been established to pay for materials. The company has donated scaffolding for the project.