Preservation in Mississippi
Cool Old Places
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
Mini News Roundup 9-19-2011
Not a lot of news this week – but Roundup will be taking next week off and I didn’t want to hold these for that long. NBC station WTVA reported that the Cates-Gaither Home in Fulton – commonly known as “The Cedars” – was designated as a Mississippi Landmark by MDAH. The designation was actually … Continue reading
Going Inside: St. Dominic’s Chapel
A while back, reader Gary E. Magee commented on an old post about Jackson architect Tom Biggs that one of Bigg’s designs, the chapel at St. Dominic hospital, is slated for demolition in a planned expansion of the adjacent emergency area. This reminded me that I had taken some pictures of the building earlier this year … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 9-13-2011
The nicer temps last week made me yearn for Fall – and I hope the weather is nice for all of us to plan trips to Fall Pilgrimages that are on the calendar and/or to see places likely to end up on our 101 List. And now, the news:WXVT in the Delta had a short … Continue reading
Going Inside: War Memorial Building
Perhaps the only good thing that might come out of the Feds recent abandonment of the amazing and sophisticated Eastland Federal Building (1933) in downtown Jackson for their clumsy and overbearing new courthouse is that in the future the public might once again get to spend time inside Eastland’s Art Deco lobby. For too many … Continue reading
“Because for instance the Meridian Hotel is much older, we feel it’s best to tear it down”
Back in June’s “Rumblings and Bumblings from Meridian” I noted some rumors about the possible demolition of downtown Meridian’s Meridian Hotel, built in 1910 as one of the first “skyscrapers” in Meridian, and an anchor of the downtown historic district as you enter from the south over the railroad tracks. It took a couple of … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 8-30-2011
A lot of the news this past week focused on the East Coast and Hurricane Irene – which made me (and probably a lot of you as well) remember that the Katrina anniversary was yesterday; hence no post in memory of that important event in Mississippi preservation history. Despite that, I still found plenty of … Continue reading
A Tale of Two Domes: Mississippi and Arkansas
A few months ago, Blake Wintory, director of Lakeport Plantation Museum–which because it’s just across the river from Greenville makes him an honorary Mississippian–e-mailed me with a question that kind of blew my mind. He asked if I knew that the Arkansas Capitol dome was designed by the same architect that designed the Mississippi Capitol … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 8-15-2011
This week’s Roundup makes me feel like I’m in a bad sequel to a previous summer blockbuster film like Jaws: The Revenge. Okay, so maybe comparing it to one of the worst films ever made exaggerates this week’s news a little, but August has brought some hot topics – and not so great news – … Continue reading
Time to Go to Meeting
Back in the day when school didn’t start at the beginning of August, late July and August meant camp meeting time. The Vicksburg Post took note of this over a hundred years ago. CAMP MEETINGS IN FULL BLAST The camp meeting season is now in full blast throughout the state, and evangelists who can stir … Continue reading
Architects of Mississippi: Penn Jeffries Krouse
The July 2011 issue of the newsletter of the Pearl River County Historical Society, The Historical Reporter of Pearl River County, featured a long article about the life and career of yet another once-prominent but now mostly unrecognized Mississippi architect, P.J. Krouse. We’ve looked at some of Krouse’s buildings here on MissPres, (see An Alabama-Mississippi Architectural … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 8-1-2011
Just a handful of preservation related stories from around the state to share this week – so this roundup will be shorter than most. After you all read up on these stories, perhaps you want to spend some time contemplating the latest 101 Places Poll that went up on Friday. I think the biggest story … Continue reading
Cumbest Bluff Water Tank
About 15 miles north of Pascagoula on Highway 63, sits the town of Cumbest Bluff. Simon Cumbest(1755-1820) who first settled on the Pascagoula River in 1799 was the progenitor of the Mississippi Cumbest clan. Cumbest Bluff gained its name in 1832 when John Cumbest (1792-1833), son of Simon Cumbest, purchased land with a bluff that is on … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 7-25-2011
While we’ve been reading about Mound Bayou and playing our 8th Round of Name This Place, here’s what’s been going on in Preservation News around the state: First, news from the Dispatch in Columbus where the local commission is looking to create a new local historic district in Southside. Everything in the article tells me … Continue reading
Name This Place 8.0
While our fearless leader is away, the rest of the MissPres World will play. That’s right, it’s time for the latest edition of Name This Place. In the last edition, W. White and I tied for the honors of *Mississippi Preservationist Extraordinaire* but who will take the title this time? Since I’m hosting this version … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 7-11-2011
I know our fearless leader is going on vacation, so there will be some guest posts this week and everyone should get ready for the next Name This Place Contest to start next week. With that, here’s the news: First, we’ll start on the Coast where the Biloxi Sun Herald reports that two state historic … Continue reading
Bay St. Louis has a new Blues Trail Marker
In Bay St. Louis there is a new Blues Trail Marker! It’s so new no info about the marker is up on the Mississippi Blues Trail website as of this post. But not to fear Preservation in Mississippi’s got ya covered. The marker was dedicated on June 17th, so it still has that fresh marker … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 6-20-2011
If you missed it on Friday, Malvaney posted the Mid-way results of the East/Central Mississippi Poll – which you can vote on here if you haven’t already done so. You also still have time to support Tishamingo County in the National Trust’s Community Challenge Contest. First, an AP story that I saw picked up by … Continue reading
French Merci Train Car Moves On Down the Line
Go by the Old Capitol or the War Memorial, and you will notice a change around the parking area. I personally cannot remember a visit to the area (either to the Old Capitol or the the Archives) when the train car was not there. On Friday, however, the small (20.5 feet x 8.5 feet) boxcar … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 6-13-2011
Wow – it’s been about a month since our last Round-up. Before we delve into catching up on the news, don’t forget to vote in the latest 101 Places poll and in the National Trust’s “This Place Matters Community Challenge” contest. Now for the news: A lot of preservation news out of Columbus the past … Continue reading
National Trust “This Place Matters Community Challenge”
We’ll give everyone one more “light post” day to ease back from the MissPres vacation last week. On June 1, The National Trust for Historic Preservation opened voting in their 2011 This Place Matters Community Challenge. This year, they are giving away 3 cash prizes to the organizations/projects (full list here) that receive the most … Continue reading
Lighthouse Churches, By Land and By Sea
I drive Highway 49 south of Jackson often. One of the landmarks for this otherwise fairly boring stretch between Jackson and Hattiesburg is the Jesus Name Tabernacle near Florence (click on the link to hear a rousing gospel chorus), which bills itself as “A Lighthouse for the Lost.” The church building backs up this claim … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 5-15-2011
It’s a shame that with such nice temperatures we have a lot of bad news floating around. Luckily, Malvaney took two of the stories from me the other day with the post about the demolitions in Jackson and Columbus, so I don’t have to completely spoil everyone’s Monday. Still, I might as well get right … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 5-3-2011
The news was not fun to read this week. Reports from the damage of the tornadoes in Mississippi (and Alabama of course) are still coming in, with new information added each day. We’ll keep on it and report what we know as we know it. Before we get into state specific news, remember that May … Continue reading
Rolling Fork’s Amazing Red Barn Collapses
Sometime late Friday night or early Saturday, the beautiful, amazing structure on Highway 61 on the south side of Rolling Fork, known affectionately as “The Red Barn,” collapsed. The cause is not known, but the U.S. Corps of Engineers, owners of the property, had not made any repairs to the roof since they acquired the … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 4-19-2011
So far, I have not seen any stories about major storm damage to historic buildings from this latest round of tornadoes – and I hope that continues to be the case as the reports keep coming in. Unfortunately, we still have plenty of bad news in this week’s round-up (although the good stuff is first). … Continue reading
Name This Place 7.1: It’s all in the details.
Mississippi is known for its buildings with big white columns. Houses, Churches, Banks, and Courthouses, can be found all across the state employing every order imaginable. But just how recognizable are these buildings when only looking at the columns? Well we’ve got a contest for that. Since it’s been a couple of months since our … Continue reading
Balancing Industry with Agriculture
I was wandering around the Mississippi State Fairgrounds on a beautiful Sunday afternoon recently and saw that one of the twin buildings standing at the Jefferson Street front of the fairgrounds is named “Agriculture” and the other one is named “Industry.” Now, maybe I’m just the slowest bulb in the box, but this was the … Continue reading
Historic Places, Models, and Maps
Sometimes I get stuck in a rut on the internet, visiting only the few sites that are part of my routine. Then out of the blue, I find out that people have been working like busy bees on this other interesting site that combines three things I love: historic places, models, and maps. Last weekend, … Continue reading
Heroden Baptist Church
Back in February, Malvaney ran this post talking about a new biography of architect W.A. Rayfield and included a list of buildings in Mississippi that he designed. The last one on the list was Heroden Baptist Church in Vicksburg. The church was built in in the 1920s, but was renovated in the 1930s (according to … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 3-14-2011
I plan on some quality time on my patio, reading and enjoying the Spring weather, so I’m jumping right into this week’s news: For those of you keeping track of the calendar, you already know that Pilgrimage started this weekend in Natchez. On Friday, the Democrat, ran a story about the “finishing touches” some of … Continue reading
Newspaper Clippings: Quaker Oats in the Delta
A while back on a trip up into the Delta, I swung through the little town of Drew to check out the Lil’ Red Schoolhouse, and then drove up the street into downtown Drew. Drew, of course, is famous as the hometown of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, who has now become even more famous … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 2-21-2011
I think Spring has sprung in the Magnolia State in the past week or so – which makes me very happy. If you’re like me, you’ve been enjoying the weather – but you may have missed some preservation news. Never fear – my Wi-Fi and patio let me catch everyone up on the news without … Continue reading
Reflecting on the Old Capitol
Yesterday was the second anniversary of Preservation in Mississippi, but in keeping with the tradition I began inadvertently last year, we will celebrate that grand occasion today instead. Since the very first post on MissPres–typed out on a whim before I really had a clue what I was getting into–was about the re-opening of the … Continue reading
Blink Twice and Arlington Might Vanish…
A disastrous fire swept through the attic story of Arlington on September 17th, 2002. The roof was repaired the following year and it was thought that the eventual restoration of the house would follow, if not immediately, then within a reasonable period of time. Instead, the house continued to sit and decay before the eyes … Continue reading
Harry N. Austin, classic and unclassic Millsaps College
As you may recall from the post a few weeks back about Jackson architect Harry N. Austin, Austin moved to Jackson from Massachusetts, possibly already a friend of the Millsaps family, and married Mary Buie, the niece of Major Millsaps. It should come as no surprise then that Austin became the go-to architect for new … Continue reading
Revisionist history from a blue-haired lady in 1937
Over the holidays, I had a chance to take a couple of days and head over to the state archives to look at some collections an archivist friend had mentioned a while back (always have archivists friends–they know the most interesting and arcane things!) and had reminded me about recently. One collection in particular caught … Continue reading
Christmas Decorations: New Capitol
Since none of us actually want to work on blog posts this week, and I assume most of the MissPres universe is off cooking or wrapping or sipping hot chocolate, let’s take a little tour around some of our favorite buildings in downtown Jackson and see how they’re decked out for Christmas. While you’re enjoying … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 12-20-2010
Happy Holidays MissPres! This will end up being the last Roundup this year – and it’s all pretty good this time. Hopefully, any news that pops up the next two weeks will let the first roundup of the New Year be full of good news too! First up is news out of Starkville. The Daily … Continue reading
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