Preservation in Mississippi
Natchez
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
General Services Administration Historic Building Program
The General Services Administration (or GSA) is the agency tasked with being the landlord for the Federal Government. Established in 1949 they are responsible for construction of new Federal buildings, as well as maintaining many historic Federally owned structures. The GSA’s website states that: “As part of its commitment to historic preservation, GSA is working … Continue reading
Architect Pics: Harry N. Austin
One architect who’s always been a bit of a mystery to me is Harry N. Austin. I should know more about him because he designed some great Classical landmarks around the state, including the Natchez City Hall, Bryant Hall at Ole Miss, and a number of early buildings at Millsaps College in Jackson. But architects … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 12-6-2010
Brrrr . . . it’s cold outside. Grab a cup of your favorite warm beverage and read the latest preservation news from around the state – OH, and don’t forget to weigh in on what buildings should be on the buildings that should be on our 101 “Must See” list. Last week, we linked a … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 11-29-2010
I was traveling most of this last week, but thanks to the internet was able to keep tabs on preservation news. Believe it or not, December is approaching and so are holiday events in and around historic districts and buildings around the state. I’m sure that Malvaney will put these (and any other events) up … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 11-22-2010
Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! Even though we skipped a week for the News Round-Up so Malvaney could catch us up on the blogging world, I’ve been keeping up with the news from around the state. As you’ll see, the Coast was apparently the place to be for preservation news the past couple of weeks. And … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 11-8-2010
No big intro this week – let’s jump right into the news: The weekly papers covering Waynesboro and Water Valley have recently published stories about how each community is looking at establishing National Register Districts. The meetings local officials have had in recent weeks with MDAH staff have been to talk about the National Register … Continue reading
Architect Pics: Reuben Harrison Hunt of Chattanooga
While I was in Chattanooga last week, I decided to see if I could find the gravestone of Chattanooga architect R.H. Hunt, who designed a wealth of landmarks around Mississippi and throughout the Southeast from the 1890s through the early 1930s. I found an extensive obituary from 1937, and it told me that he was … Continue reading
Vacation Postcards: Albert Pick Motel, Natchez
MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past.
1930s Industrial History in Natchez
If there was much going on in the news this week, I either didn’t catch it or was not interested enough to tag it for a news roundup. One article from last week, however, was newsy enough for me to track down more information and I offer it here today in lieu of a roundup. … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 7-2-2010
Well, other than an ongoing gusher of oil spilling into our Gulf, destroying wildlife, killing my redfish, fouling beaches and marshes, and an early-season hurricane washing it all in faster, what else has been going on in our Magnolia State this week? I should have known that right after I said something nice about the … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 6-11-2010
Summer’s heating up as it always does in Mississippi, and as always, we seem surprised by how hot and muggy it all is. Just think, only three or four more months and it will be in the 80s. The heat hasn’t slowed down the forces of good and evil (i.e, preservation and demolition) around the … Continue reading
Lustron House in Jackson
Just around the corner from the classically proportioned J.R. Flint house designed by A. Hays Town in south Jackson is a house that makes no bones about its modernity. It’s a Lustron House, one of only two or three that I know of still in the state. For those unfamiliar with Lustron houses, they are … Continue reading
To Natchez and Back
Last weekend, my parents and my two Chicago aunts came to visit me, or I should say they came to visit Natchez and let me come along as a tour guide. My aunts were intent on seeing some of the antebellum mansions they had read about, and I had a hard time keeping up with … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 6-1-2010
Ok, I think I published this post accidentally in draft form not once but twice, so if some of y’all read it in its unfinished state, please excuse my recent bumbling. Things have been hopping round these parts the last two weeks! Don’t y’all know summer’s here and it’s time to just sit around sipping … Continue reading
Some Early Sources About Mississippi Architecture
I’ve been spending alot of time on a website that is one of my favorites and also a nemesis, abebooks.com, which combines the databases of hundreds or thousands of used bookstores around the world. I enjoy seeing what pops up when I type in search terms like “Mississippi architecture” or “school architecture” but I usually … Continue reading
Lost Mississippi: Concord, Natchez (1789-1901)
Last week’s WPA Guide to the Magnolia State mentioned the Natchez mansion “Concord” very prominently in its discussion of the evolution of architecture in Mississippi. Concord must have been an amazing place because although it burned in 1901, it has been mentioned in most architectural histories of the state from a 1903 article in the … 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
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
MissPres News Roundup 3-12-2010
MissPres readers, greetings from Alabama (the current location of yours truly). And here is the news. The Calhoun County Journal reports in the February 25 paper that Calhoun City is beginning a clean up effort of the Calhoun City Town Square. I am all for improving a city but the first sentence of the article … Continue reading
Things to do this Spring
Maybe these last couple of sunny, on-the-cusp-of-Spring days have given you Spring Fever. If so, I’m here to help. Spring Pilgrimage If you’re in Mississippi and it’s March, you know that a Spring Pilgrimage can’t be far behind. It took me a little while to get used to the idea of pilgrimages when I moved … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 1-29-2010
It’s hard to believe the end of January is already here. Seems like just yesterday, I was sitting looking at my Christmas tree. Oh, actually, it was just yesterday. Hey, what can I say–I am not bound by the strict rules of the calendar. Speaking of the calendar, February marks the completion of one year … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 1-22-2010
I’m always nervous to report a slow news week for fear I’ve missed something important, but I have full confidence that if I do fail miserably at my reportorial task, diligent MissPresers will set me right as quick as a wink. The Columbus Dispatch followed up on last week’s article announcing a meeting of local … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 1-15-2010
As much as it seems hard to believe while watching the human and structural devastation in Haiti, other events that affect our own little postage stamp have been going on this week. —————————————————- In Hattiesburg, the old high school is coming along (“High school project’s 1st phase finished“), and officials celebrated the completion of the … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 1-4-2010
While y’all were celebrating the holidays, some even basking in the sun of Trinidad (*cough* Carunzel *cough*), I’ve been diligently scanning the newspapers and other media for stories that might interest MissPres readers. I’ve also been watching with a small amount of pride the Jackson Details photo identification contest, in which I now have a … 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
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
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
MissPres News Roundup 11-20-2009
Well, here we are at Friday again–thank goodness! And next week is Thanksgiving, so it’s a short week for some, a long week for those with visitors staying in their homes. But I digress. Let’s look around for some news. First of all, I see that MHT’s Facebook page now has over 225 fans–I’m sure … Continue reading
R.I.P. old First Baptist, Natchez
Well, this week has gotten away from me, even with Tom doing most of the blogging, so I don’t have time for a full news roundup. But I wanted to make sure to recognize the passing of a building that I really loved but whose chance at life ran out some time ago. As we’ve posted … Continue reading
The Gavel Pounds for the Eola
The Eola Hotel in downtown Natchez is heading for the auction block in November (“Eola Hotel on Auction Block,” Natchez Democrat, Sept. 25, 2009). While this may appear to be cause for alarm, it may well be cause for celebration instead. The Eola Hotel, one of the cornerstones of downtown Natchez, will probably have a … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 9-11-2009
Another Friday, another MissPres News Roundup, just like clockwork, even though I’ve had a long and arduous week. This week’s featured song is “Nobody Knows the Troubles I’ve Seen.” August something: An article in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that I initially missed and which in Facebook-like fashion is dated “One Month Ago” tells of the possible … Continue reading
Mississippi’s Outstanding Post-War Schools
It’s totally normal (I’m sure you would agree) to collect books like American School and University, and as I was flipping through the 1950-51 (22nd annual) edition, I came across a chapter called “America’s Outstanding School Buildings (built since 1945).” In that chapter was a series of school photos and a longer listing of “best” schools … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 7-31-2009
Can you believe it’s almost August? After our horrible hot dry June, July has flown by with beautiful rain, coolish nights, and not-very-hot days. This is my kind of summer! This week has been very eventful, and in a good way. You may need to sit down for this, but I think we are demolition-free … Continue reading
North Carolina’s “Architects and Builders” Goes Online
I got a notice the other day that the North Carolina Architects and Builders Biographical Dictionary has just gone public online. You should check it out–it’s very intuitive and easy to navigate and you can follow the links wherever they lead. Also, many of the building entries have photos, which is great, and they promise … Continue reading
MissPres News Roundup 6-19-2009
Starting today, Friday’s post will be a roundup of news items from around the state (and maybe a few tidbits from *gasp* outside the state) for your end-of-week edification, assuming we have enough news coverage each week. If you come across an article you think I might have missed (contrary to popular belief, I’m neither … Continue reading
A Virtual Trip To Exotic Locales
Oh, did I not mention that the winner of last week’s Name This Place contest would win a virtual trip? Whoopsie! Well, it shouldn’t really matter, right? After all, I recently was told by a person with some authority in Mississippi’s preservation world (not because he’s actually preserved anything but because he has political influence) that now that we have … Continue reading
Name This Place #2
To play this exciting game, see The Rules. The Standings So Far: tsj1957: 2 points, Carunzel: 1 point, Everyone Else: 0 points Hint: This building is from a completely different century than yesterday’s building.
Demolition Permit for old Baptist Church in Natchez
Well, I should know better than to write a positive post because sure enough, there’s always bad news following behind it. That’s why I tell kids, “Be a pessimist–you’ll never be disappointed!” Anyway, after yesterday’s good news about the Mannsdale-Livingston community comes today’s bad news about the old First Baptist Church in Natchez. The church … Continue reading
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