Preservation in Mississippi
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MissPres News Roundup 4-30-2010
Our crack reporter, W. White, has finished exams at MSU (or maybe just got kicked out?) and headed back Alabama way for the summer, where he no doubt will waste his substance in riotous living before coming back to Starkville next fall. As you know, W. White took over the Roundup duties back in March … Continue reading
WPA Guide to the Magnolia State: But the Depression is Great!
Today we come to the conclusion of the WPA Guide to the Magnolia State and its section on Architecture. While Beverly Martin, the young architect we have conjectured is the author, has shown his bias for the antebellum era and against the Victorian period altogether, his analysis of his own time period is a bit … Continue reading
Historic Schools Day
Well it’s very embarrassing to me that I didn’t know that this week is “School Building Week” and that yesterday was “Historic Schools Day”! In fact, I didn’t know either of those existed, but I’ll be sure to celebrate next year: http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=9689
WPA Guide to the Magnolia State: Let’s Just Forget 1865-1920
This week we’re working our way through the section on Architecture in the WPA Guide to the Magnolia State, published in 1938 as part of the Federal Writers’ Project. If you’re coming in late, make sure to pick up Part 1 and Part 2. As we’ve stated already, it appears from the sketchy evidence we’ve … Continue reading
Some Mid-Week News
Since this can’t wait until our regular News Roundup, I wanted to make the MissPres universe aware of two events in which you might be interested. First, the Mississippi Historic Preservation Conference will be next Thursday and Friday in Natchez, and registration is open until Friday, April 30th. Second, as you may recall, two Jane’s … Continue reading
WPA Guide to the Magnolia State: No Such Thing as “Southern Colonial”
Today’s post is the second in this week’s serial reproduction of the section on architecture in the Guide to the Magnolia State, published in 1938 as part of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writer’s Project. As we saw yesterday, this section was apparently written by Beverly Martin, a young architect from Natchez. Born in 1910, … Continue reading
Book Quotes: WPA Guide to the Magnolia State
As I get back on my feet from my French connection, I figured this week would be a good one to dedicate to another in the Book Quotes series. This week, we’ll take the section titled “Architecture” from Mississippi: Guide to the Magnolia State, published in 1938 as part of the Federal Writers’ Project of … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 4-25-2010
Welcome back from France, Malvaney. Most of the news that I have found for the past two weeks has concerned various Pilgrimages. It almost seems that every small town in Mississippi has people parading around in hoop skirts and Confederate uniforms. Yet I have noticed no one is re-enacting the experience of being a slave … Continue reading
The Original Romanesque and Gothic
Well, after a 24-hour day of flying, including five airports, four hours standing in six lines at Charles de Gaulle, a lovely dinner of lamb and couscous on the Air France flight on which I finally got placed, two hours of a baby screeching two rows behind me, and my first experience in a double-decker … Continue reading
More Really Old Places from the Continent
Still in France, of course, and still waiting on the volcano to be quiet or airlines to move to Plan B. In addition to the Roman remains in France, there are many fortified and walled towns, churches, bridges, and even houses from the Middle Ages, a period of constant upheaval, armed marauders, and the Hundred … Continue reading
I’m Not Dead Yet . . .
Well, y’all, I thought I would be back in Mississippi by now, enjoying a lovely Spring while relaxing on my screen porch, sorting through my thousand-plus pictures from my trip to France, and getting back to regular posts on MissPres. But . . . a volcano I’ve never heard of and certainly never hope to … Continue reading
Paved, Not Saved…Biloxi’s Buena Vista Hotel
The Buena Vista threw open its doors on July 4th, 1924 to an admiring crowd of eager spectators. Built on a larger scale than the Tivoli, yet not matching the sweeping grandeur of the Edgewater Gulf, the Buena Vista would generally occupy a middle ground among hotels on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. Chicago-born architect turned local … Continue reading
Vacation Postcards: Sea Gull Tourist Court
“March 3, 1956, Sat. eve., Got in here today, rained all nite, a welcome rain. the azaleas and camellias are just beautiful here, I marked where we are on other side. Lots of people here, are next door to a good eating place we meet the guckins tonite for dinner. Be along here few days … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 4-10-2010
I have not had the time to sift through newspapers, thanks to end of the semester work, merely search online. Since there is a lot of important preservation news in the major communities, I have been able to pull together a fairly long post. And here is the news. In Bay St. Louis, the Scafidi … Continue reading
Vacation Postcards: Downtowner Motor Inn, Vicksburg
“March 17, 1969: Tried to call you Sat. noon at 12:00 (1:00 PM your time) but no answer. So far I wish you were with us–only 18 with bus driver–so we all have a seat by ourselves and even extras. But it has been mostly riding until sightseeing starts today. Red clay of this area … Continue reading
Gulfport’s Markham Hotel, Threatened Pillar of Main Street
The recent discussion in the Sun Herald about the Markham Hotel warrants a rejoinder. That a Main Street program which receives federal and state funds for preservation would even be considering demolition for an important downtown landmark is unthinkable. Alas, after Katrina, it seems that anything is possible. First, a bit of history on one … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 4-1-2010
And here is the news. Calhoun City’s urban renewal efforts continue. According to the March 25 edition of The Calhoun County Journal, the structure I mentioned in the last News Roundup on the corner of Main St. and Taylor Ave. was razed by the Square PEG. The site will become a “‘park-like’ space with plantings … Continue reading
And now a word from your local station . . .
By the time you read this post, I will be well on my way to my first European Vacation, specifically to the south of France. I’ll be gone two weeks and won’t be guaranteed an internet connection most of the time, so the normal 5-6 days-a-week posting that you have all gotten used to round … Continue reading
Linking Around
I’m told that the original blogs tried to bring order to the World Wide Web primarily by pointing their readers to interesting articles or websites. I’m not exactly on the cutting edge of technology, so I probably wasn’t even aware of blogs at that point in their history. Nevertheless, today we’ll go old-school and send … Continue reading
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