Preservation in Mississippi
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National Register 2009 (Part 2)
The second of a two-part retrospective on the National Register of Historic Places listings for Mississippi this year. As with the first part from yesterday, all of the below including photos has been provided by our kind-hearted preservationist friends at the Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History. And in case I don’t see you until the … Continue reading
National Register 2009 (Part 1)
Well, we come to the granddaddy of them all, the National Register of Historic Places. What places have been listed this year and why are they important? Ask and you shall receive, the Bible says, so I came hat in hand to my friends in the Historic Preservation Division at MDAH, expecting a simple list, … Continue reading
Mississippi Landmarks 2009
Our impulse to create lists of accomplishments and failures continues today, with a list of the newly designated Mississippi Landmarks in the state. The Mississippi Landmark designation is conferred by the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History (quick, who can name the chair of the MDAH Board?), and the designating … Continue reading
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
Well, we’ve gotten to that season when we make lists of things that have happened over the past year in preparation for the new year. To start off the week, we’ll take one last look at old friends we have lost around the state. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, I’m sure, but … Continue reading
A Christmas Eve Tradition
Check out yesterday’s Clarion Ledger for a sweet commentary by Sid Salter about a family tradition he still carries on, visiting the old Williams Brothers General Store, outside of Philadelphia. The story reinforces the argument that preserving places–not just documents or pictures of places–is important to keep the fabric and traditions of families and ultimately … Continue reading
Jackson Details
I realize that most of my loyal readers will be busy with other things the rest of this week, including making food, eating food, wrapping gifts, unwrapping gifts, eating food, and hopefully spending a few quiet moments of fellowship around a lighted tree with friends and family. But to keep the rest of you occupied … Continue reading
Overstreet’s Plan for the Capitol Complex
I thought this post would be especially interesting when read in light of the three-part article last week, which, if you missed, you can pick up at Part 1 here. While looking through the N.W. Overstreet subject file at MDAH a while back, I came across a remarkable letter written by Overstreet himself and addressed to “The … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 12-21-2009
Since I skipped the News Roundup on Friday in favor of a bunch of King Edward pictures, and since this Friday is Christmas, when I hope all of us will be spending time with family and/or friend(s) instead of checking out the latest news on the internet, I thought I’d throw in a little roundup … Continue reading
King Edward Hotel Open Again
Forty-four years after closing its doors, after suffering decades of neglect, vacancy, vandalism, and deterioration, Jackson’s landmark King Edward Hotel, the standard for glamorous 1920s hotels, re-opened for business yesterday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony. As every speaker said, this was a great day for Jackson, not just for us lovers of history, but for a … Continue reading
Overstreet Interview, Part 3
Here we are at the final segment of N.W. Overstreet’s 1940 interview at the Portland Cement Association’s Spring meeting published as “An Architect Reviews Five Years with Architectural Concrete.” If you missed the previous two segments, make sure to read Part 1 where we get Overstreet’s background in architecture and his introduction to concrete construction, … Continue reading
Overstreet Interview, Part 2
We’re in the middle of a three-part transcription of a conversation between our own N.W. Overstreet, perhaps Mississippi’s most prominent 20th-century architect, and A.J. Boase, the manager of the Structural Bureau of the Portland Cement Association. The interview took place at the 1940 Spring Meeting of the PCA in New York City and is reproduced with … Continue reading
From the Archives: 1940 Overstreet Interview
This week’s series will introduce you to an interview with our own N.W. Overstreet back in 1940. The interview was hosted by the Portland Cement Association at its Spring meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York and was published in the PCA’s magazine Architectural Concrete. This particular interview gives us insight not only into the technical aspects of Overstreet’s 1930s concrete buildings, but also (since we’ll never have the chance to interview him ourselves) shows us a little bit of his background, personality, and spirit. Continue reading
Get Ready for King Ed!
I hope y’all can make it to the ribbon cutting for the new King Edward Hotel on Thursday morning at 10 AM. I’ve only been waiting for this for 13 years, but I know many of you out there have been waiting for 20, 30 and even 40 years (without implying in any way that … Continue reading
For Your Saturday Reading
An article in the Wall Street Journal about the 150-story Chicago Spire, unfortunately shaped like a screw: “Push to Finish Tallest Tower“ And a strong opinion in the City Journal about Modernist guru Le Corbusier that begins “Le Corbusier was to architecture as Pol Pot was to social reform”: “The Architect as Totalitarian“
Deck the Historic Halls
In lieu of a News Roundup on this slow news week, and to help all you preservation-types get into the Christmas spirit, our friend J.R. Gordon gives us a report on last week’s “Old Jackson by Candlelight Tour,” an annual event round these parts and a chance to see all our most historic landmarks all … Continue reading
Bailey Jr. High and the Mystery of Life
I recently noticed that Google has now archived the images from the Life magazine photo collection and also made all of the magazines in their full cover-to-cover glory available through a normal Google search. This has given me the opportunity to check into a “fact” that I have been told since I first moved to Mississippi long … Continue reading
CHPG Project Pictures
Ok, I’ve finally scrounged up photos of all the projects given grants in MDAH’s latest round of the Community Heritage Preservation Grant program. I always find it helpful to put a picture with the dollar amount so that I can get a better understanding of what the grant will do. To save your computers from … Continue reading
Even more archt/builders pics: Brune, et al.
I’m still working on getting pictures of the MDAH CHPG projects, so in the meantime, I thought I would add another picture or two to our collection of architect and builder photos. These come from a source that Carunzel brought to my attention last week in the discussion about J.F. Barnes. I think I’ve mentioned the Internet … Continue reading
MDAH Announces CHP Grants
Besides our blizzard, the other exciting thing that happened Friday was the Mississippi Department of Archives and History announced the recipients of the latest round of Community Heritage Preservation Grants after a special meeting of the MDAH Board of Trustees. As you may remember from earlier this year, this round opened on July 1 with … Continue reading
I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas
Dreams can come true . . .
MissPres News Roundup 12-4-2009
As of this morning, the forecast is for snow, snow! in Jackson tonight. The best snow is the kind that comes and puts a nice quiet blanket on everything, and then goes away after enough time for everyone to get out and throw a few snowballs and make a tiny pitiful snowman. Oh, and a Monday … Continue reading
Downtown Jackson in Detail
While ya’ll have been pondering the deep thoughts from yesterday’s post, I’ve been wandering downtown Jackson again taking pictures of interesting details. Can you figure out where I’ve been?
Why Preserve?
An article titled “Why should ‘heritage’ be preserved?” popped up on my screen a couple of weeks ago, just before I went on my little Thanksgiving vacation, but I haven’t known quite what to say about it, so I’ve been trying to pretend it’s not there. But it is there, and since it’s by a Mississippi author, … Continue reading
More Architect/Builder Pics: Link and Barnes
I’m always on the hunt for pictures of the architects and builders who designed and built all these lovely buildings in our Magnolia State. Recently I came across not one but two in the same source, the Mississippi State House Commission Report, published at the opening of the New Capitol in 1903. There’s lots of information … Continue reading
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