Author Archives
In addition to ruling over the MissPres universe with an iron fist, Malvaney enjoys reading, wandering around old buildings, stopping to smell the magnolias, fiddling with databases, and sitting on the porch with a good book and a big ol' dog. Non-interests include but are not limited to tweeting, texting, IMing, planking, Angry Birds, and the Twilight series.
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2013 Grants for Rosenwald Schools
The National Trust has announced a new round of grants up to $20,000 for Rosenwald Schools. Applications are due April 15, 2013.
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More Springtime Events for Your Consideration
Jackson in the Civil War, The Black Russian, and Forrest Cooper’s Jackson postcards–something for everyone in the next week!
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Come Hear About Architect James Reily Gordon!
You may recall a year or so ago, we announced the publication of a book about Texas-based architect J.R. Gordon, who designed a few Mississippi landmarks in his career, including courthouses in Copiah and Wilkinson counties and a city hall… Read More ›
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Spring Pilgrimage 2013 Rolls Around
Spring Pilgrimage time is upon us, and here’s a list of all the known Mississippi home tours, along with a few out-of-state that you might be interested in. Old house and architecture buffs should be first in line for pilgrimage tickets each year.
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Deupree’s Historic Homes: Eagle’s Nest
The home of James L. Alcorn, in Coahoma county, received its name in a most natural way; an eagle had built her nest for many years in a large cottonwood tree in a field adjoining the park which surrounds the residence.
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Truman’s White House Renovation
It’s become popular Hollywood sport to show the destruction of the White House in almost every disaster movie. But check out these real life photographs from the National Archives of the gutted building during the Truman renovation in 1950. Be warned, when… Read More ›
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Deupree’s Historic Homes: Lochinvar
Today’s post is a reprint from Mrs. N.D. Deupree’s “Some Historic Homes of Mississippi,” from Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, Vol. VI (1902). There is no photo of Lochinvar in the original article, so I have supplied a public-record… Read More ›
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Some Historic Homes of Mississippi
Today we’ll start a weekly post reprinting one of the first “architectural history” series about Mississippi buildings. Written by Mrs. N.D. Deupree, “Historic Homes of Mississippi” took the form of two long articles in the 1902 and 1903 Publications of… Read More ›
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Mont Helena Tickets on Sale Feb 23
Beginning Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. the Friends of Mont Helena will begin selling tickets for the 2013 performances of Mont Helena:A Dream Revisted. This year the performances will be held over five weekends. April 4, 5, 6 April 11,12,13… Read More ›
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For Sale: Capt. Hardy House, Brookhaven
I was in Brookhaven on one of our rare sunny days recently and noticed that the Capt. Jack Hardy House (not to be confused with the Capt. Jack Sparrow House) is for sale. The Hardy House was listed on the… Read More ›
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Help Save the Durant Depot
Today’s guest post is by Sharron Cauthen, Chair of the Durant Historic Preservation Commission in Holmes County. Durant Historic Preservation Commission and City of Durant Work To Preserve Durant Depot (Illinois Central RR) This year the Durant Historic Preservation Commission is… Read More ›
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Tornado Damage in Hattiesburg
We’ve seen a few pictures of damaged historic buildings in Hattiesburg, and today we’ve got a broader view of the damage, which takes a relatively straight line from I-59 northeast along Hardy Street, clips the corner of USM, and heads… Read More ›
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Early Damage Reports from Hattiesburg
According to the African American Military History Museum Facebook page, the USO Building that houses the museum and the former Eureka School down the street both sustained heavy roof damage that is now being exacerbated by the rain that’s expected… Read More ›
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How Mississippians of Heart Seek to Save an Historic Landmark
As is our tradition on MissPres, we celebrate the end of our fourth year by returning to the Old Capitol, our touchstone since our first post back in February 2009. Today’s post is long, maybe too long, but I think… Read More ›
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Behind the scenes at Rosedale, Windsor, and Walthall
On this hump day, a short post to point you to some interesting behind-the-scenes pictures from historic preservation projects going on around the state. If you’re on Facebook, you may want to connect with the MDAH Technical Services page, which… Read More ›
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Streets and Numbers and Municipal Identity
Have you ever thought about street numbers and how they came to be? If so, check out this article from Preservation in Print’s October 2012 issue, “Addressing Urban Disorder” by Richard Campanella: The number on your door may seem like… Read More ›
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The State Stonemason’s Scandal
Today I’m really excited to be able to reprint an article by David Dockery, Director of the Surface Geology Division of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, that appeared in the DEQ newsletter Environmental News in February 2010. This article really opened my eyes to the… Read More ›
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Abandoned Mississippi: Kings Daughter’s Nurses Home, Greenwood
I was in Greenwood recently and while there I decided to go check on a hunch I had about a scene in The Help. I don’t actually have a great visual memory, but for some reason, this scene reminded me… Read More ›
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Newspaper Clippings: Old Capitol’s First Restoration
Today’s peek back into the newspaper archives reminds us of when the stucco was taken off during the Capitol’s first “restoration,” billed as the “most accurate humanly possible” by the interior designer Earl Hart Miller.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. in Laurel, Mississippi
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Webster County Courthouse Burns
We heard early yesterday that the Webster County Courthouse in the tiny town of Walthall caught fire around 2:30 AM and was not completely under control until 7 o’clock. Tom Freeland at the North Mississippi Commenter posted an update yesterday afternoon. Preservation architect… Read More ›
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Shelby Foote on Mount Holly
I recently read through the Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy (1997) and came across this interesting little tidbit from Shelby Foote about Mount Holly south of Greenville, which had been owned by his grandfather after the Civil War:… Read More ›
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Mississippi by Air: Piney Woods School
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Kaye, noted architect/preservationist, dead at 72
We received word yesterday that Sam Kaye, longtime preservation architect from Columbus, Miss., died on New Year’s Day. His funeral is Saturday in Columbus. Kaye served on the state’s National Register Review Board, and was president of that board the last two years (as well as at other times in his 35-year tenure).
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Mississippi’s Connection to the New York Public Library
Before we get back to our regular programming next week, I thought I might catch up with a few interesting tidbits I’ve come across in my news reading over the holidays. If you’re a new reader, you might not catch… Read More ›
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2012 in review
As they did last year, WordPress.com, which hosts this and millions of other blogs, helpfully put together a 2012 annual report. Here’s an excerpt: About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 170,000 times in 2012…. Read More ›
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National Register Historic Districts 2012
As you know, National Register listings can be either individual places, as shown in yesterday’s post, or larger groupings of buildings known as historic districts. Historic districts can be as small as a handful of houses in a rural community… Read More ›
