Preservation in Mississippi
ELMalvaney
Mississippi Places We’re Thankful For
Happy Thanksgiving Y’all! Now get off the computer/smart phone/iPad and go have some turkey and head down a red dirt road! As seen in “Dealing With Vernacular Places“
Mississippi Places We’re Thankful For
As seen in “Architect Pics: William Nichols (1780-1853)“
Mississippi Places We’re Thankful For
As seen in “Coolest Ole Miss Buildings“
Edible Mount Vernon
Speaking of Mt. Vernon, which you may recall we were doing earlier this week, it’s time for the annual Mt. Vernon gingerbread house, courtesy of former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. In this YouTube video, Chef Mesnier explains how he goes about creating a scale model of George Washington’s house and outbuildings, using … Continue reading
Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Pascagoula
Some contemporary residents of Pascagoula and Moss Point may be surprised to learn that streetcars formerly provided their area with a very fine system of public transportation! Continue reading
Get Up And Go This Season
If you feel the need to get out of your house between now and Christmas without going anywhere near a mall, several Christmas Open Houses around the state are at your service. Hernando, Nov 20: Tour select historic homes throughout the historic county seat of DeSoto County. This year’s tour showcases homes which have been … Continue reading
A Fall Day at Prospect Hill With 250 or so Friends
Saturday’s Open House at Prospect Hill drew over 250 people to the deep forests of Jefferson County. The attendees list included a vast range of people, appropriate for this plantation with so many layers of history bound up in it. Continue reading
Piney Woods Poll at the Halfway Mark
With 267 votes at the halfway point (actually a little over the halfway point since our normal Friday check-in was replaced by a Veteran’s Day post), our Piney Woods poll is a close race. Two very different places are tied for first place: Hattiesburg’s wonderful Art Deco Post Office and the pioneer John Ford house … Continue reading
Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Natchez
Today’s post is Chapter 8 in our series re-printing Frank Brooks’ “Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Stories about Streetcars,” originally published in 1983. View other posts in the series at the “Streetcars” tab. ——————————————————————– The quaint old city of Natchez is another Mississippi city which enjoyed electric trolleys clanging up and down its hills and … Continue reading
Going Inside: An Original “Southern Colonial”
While in Charleston with the Southeastern Society of Architectural Historians (SESAH) a couple weeks ago, I got in on a special tour of Drayton Hall, just across the Ashley River from Charleston. Owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation since 1974, Drayton Hall is one of the oldest plantation houses in the country and the … Continue reading
From Charleston to Vicksburg, With Love
A couple of weeks ago, I was in Charleston, South Carolina, to attend the annual meeting of the Southern Society of Architectural Historians (which group, as you recall, met here in Jackson in 2009). I admit I skipped out on a few of the sessions, the weather being perfect for wandering and taking pictures. I … Continue reading
MissPres 101 Places: Piney Woods Poll
Ok y’all, we’re down to the second-to-last poll in our quest to attain a list of 101 Mississippi Places to See Before You Die. For the next two weeks, you and your friends will have the opportunity to vote for your favorite places in the Piney Woods. Vote for up to 13 places, and pass … Continue reading
Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Meridian
Today’s post is Chapter 7 in our series re-printing Frank Brooks’ “Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Stories about Streetcars,” originally published in 1983. View other posts in the series at the “Streetcars” tab. In place of the 1920 streetcar map in the book, drawn by Gordon Powers, I have inserted two original streetcar maps from … Continue reading
Mississippi Builders: Francis Blair Hull (1846-1922)
At the center of an architectural dynasty that included two architects and one construction company, Francis Blair Hull’s contributions to the architecture of Mississippi and the entire South have been unfortunately almost forgotten in the 90 years since his death. F.B. Hull was the older brother of William S. Hull, possibly the first Mississippian member … Continue reading
Old Capitol Follies: Almost a Panic in the Senate!
In the last Old Capitol Follies, the American Architect and Building News gave us a serious look at Jackson in 1890, including the sad shape of the Old Capitol. By 1896, the building had declined even further as legislators debated whether to spend the money to fix it up or build a completely new building. … Continue reading
Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Memphis and Lakeview Railway
Today’s post is Chapter 6 in our series re-printing Frank Brooks’ “Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Stories about Streetcars.” View other posts in the series at the “Streetcars” tab. ——————————– Lakeview, in DeSoto County, was the terminus of the Memphis and Lakeview Railway, a 10.8 mile interurban operation controlled by the Memphis Street Railway that … Continue reading
Mississippi Architect, March 1964: South Hills Branch Library
Jackson’s South Hills Branch Library was the Mississippi subject of the March 1964 issue of Mississippi Architect. Now known as Richard Wright Library, the building is still in use as a library, although the original front entrance is now sadly neglected in favor of a side entrance off of the parking lot. Next time you’re … Continue reading
Mississippi Architect, March 1964: Cost and Light
It’s been a while since our last post re-printing the Mississippi Architect, a monthly magazine published by the Mississippi chapter of the American Institute of Architects. So let’s jump back in with the March 1964 issue. As you may recall, the February 1964 issue contained an article documenting the “updating” of an Art Moderne commercial … Continue reading
Delta Poll Results
The results are in for the Delta poll, and they show that I was wrong once again in my expectations. I really thought more Delta folk would turn out to vote for their favorite place, but in the end, we ended up with a total of 355 votes, barely above the Central poll, which still … Continue reading
Going Inside: St. Michael’s Church, Biloxi
I recently bought a couple of postcards showing the interior of St. Michael’s Church in Biloxi, and it reminded me that I had taken a few pictures inside myself a while back when I was down on the Coast. If you’ve ever driven down Highway 90 (Beach Boulevard) in Biloxi, you’ve seen St. Michaels, its … Continue reading
Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Laurel
Today’s post is Chapter 5 in our series re-printing Frank Brooks’ “Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Stories about Streetcars.” View other posts in the series at the “Streetcars” tab. ———————————————– Mississippi was not one of the states which boasted an honest to goodness system of interurban railways, simply because Mississippi has never had a dense … Continue reading
See Prospect Hill With Your Own Eyes!
There’s a saying, “To see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone.” In a few weeks, on Saturday, November 12, you will have the opportunity to go where few have gone (at least legally) when the Archaeological Conservancy holds an Open House at Jefferson County’s Prospect Hill. For those just coming … Continue reading
New Opportunities for Historic Schools?
Since the early days of MissPres, I’ve noted the often unnecessary demolition of historic schools and the lack of maintenance of those still operating as schools. Off the top of my head, I can name just a few of the important historic schools we’ve lost in the last couple of years: Speed Street School, Nailor Elementary School, Inverness … Continue reading
Halfway through the Delta Poll
With 269 votes, the Delta poll has another week to go. Not unexpectedly, given that the Abandoned Mt. Holly post from 18 months ago is still one of the top hits here on MissPres, Lake Washington’s Mt. Holly is currently in the lead, but only by a hair. Right behind is the elegant Belmont, also … Continue reading
Eastland Building Bidding Heating Up
Jackson’s Art Deco Eastland Federal Building is on the auction block, with bidding ending tomorrow afternoon. Three bids were placed today, with the top bid at $851,000. Check out the action at the GSA Auction site.
Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Jackson
Today’s post is Chapter 5 in our series re-printing Frank Brooks’ “Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Stories about Streetcars.” View other posts in the series at the “Streetcars” tab. ———————————— It has been a good many years since I have been in downtown Jackson but I remember how old streetcar tracks used to be visible … Continue reading
A Laurel Church by Clair M. Jones
A few weeks ago, as you may recall, guest author Mark Davis introduced us to Memphis architect Clair Maurice Jones. Jones not only designed a number of large and regionally famous Modernist works in both Atlanta and Memphis, but also many smaller works such as Weems Chapel United Methodist Church in Picayune, Mississippi. In a … Continue reading
Old Capitol Follies
Over MissPres’ lifetime, we’ve spent quite a bit of time examining how our New Capitol got built. But come to think about it, we’ve spent not much time at all on why our New Capitol got built. There’s a whole backstory about the Old Capitol’s decline that resulted in several efforts to get a new … Continue reading
Architecture on PBS
PBS has two interesting shows playing on architectural themes, one about Gothic cathedrals–which showed earlier this week but is available for online viewing anytime–and another tonight about architect Robert A.M. Stern.
101 Mississippi Places: Delta Poll
After a few weeks’ break from our polling, we’re back on the track and coming into the homestretch to cut our initial list of Mississippi places down to what will be the final 101 Mississippi Places to See Before You Die. After the Delta poll, we only have two more to go: Piney Woods and … Continue reading
Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Hattiesburg
Today’s post is Chapter 4 in our series re-printing Frank Brooks’ “Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Stories about Streetcars.” View other posts in the series at the “Streetcars” tab. ———————————— The Hattiesburg Traction Company, at its peak of operation, radiated from downtown Hattiesburg in 5 directions. One line traveled northerly out Mobile Street to a … Continue reading
Washington Monument Updates
Check out several interesting video updates on the damage and on-going assessment at the Washington Monument on the National Park Service’s webpage.
Two New Books For Your Architectural Library
Now that the weather had turned fine, you might feel the urge to curl up with a book, and two new biographies of architects whose work touched Mississippi have just come out to add to your list. In case you hadn’t noticed, our own JRGordon’s name is derived from Texas architect James Riely Gordon (see … Continue reading
Vacation Postcards: King’s Rest Modern Court, Greenville
MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past.
Vacation Postcards: Grenada Tourist Court
MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past. Feb. 23, 1943. Dear Mother, Here’s a picture of our cabin camp. It really is quite nice. Air-conditioned too. How are you now? Hope you’re much better. Delores hasn’t been at all well lately–I think it’s intestinal flu. Will write much … Continue reading
Vacation Postcards: Nelva Courts, Meridian
MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past.
Vacation Postcards: Hill’s Motel, Picayune
MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past. Dec. 23, 1950. “Thurs. Stayed here Tues. night and got to New Orleans yesterday. Rained hard all afternoon and today. Drove miles all over this town. The Xmas decorations are lovely everywhere. Will have lots to tell you when we get … Continue reading
Vacation Postcards: Great Southern Hotel
MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past.
Where Have All The Buzzards Gone?
I came across this fun little historical nugget a while back while reading through the 1906 Vicksburg Post on microfilm, but I’ve been sitting on it for just the right occasion. Since today is Friday and I’m already mentally on vacation, this is officially just the right occasion. Buzzards in Dome of New Capitol, Vicksburg … Continue reading
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