Preservation in Mississippi
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It took me only two trips to Jackson’s Lakewood Cemetery–way out on West Capitol after it turns into Clinton Boulevard–to figure out that a significant number of our founding generation of professional architects had been laid to rest there. Overstreet, Naef, Malvaney, Canizaro, Spain, even Lindsley, who was living in Ocean Springs when he died … Continue reading
My little postcard collection continues to grow, although more slowly now that you can’t get even a really boring common postcard on eBay for less than three or four dollars. One thing I started to notice was the prevalence of rooftop signs announcing businesses and welcoming visitors to larger cities in the state. I’ve always … Continue reading
Next up on the “101 Places in Mississippi to see before you die” list is the City Hall of Oxford, former Federal Building and Post Office for 90 years (1885-1975). The City Hall took 5% (43 votes) of the vote for the Oxford-Holly Springs region. Originally constructed in 1885 in a Romanesque Revival style, additions … Continue reading
Time keeps flying – it’s hard to believe it’s already this late in May. There’s still some Preservation Month activities before June is upon us – check on the calendar for dates and times. And here’s the news: We are going to start with Natchez where I read an editorial from MissPres reader Kathleen Jenkins … Continue reading
Time for another MissPres Architectural Word of the Week. As we move right along through the alphabet, you can check out our past words here. Have you been keeping an eye out for these elements like I have? This week’s word is probably my favorite style of gable, just because it’s different. I’ve scoured the National … Continue reading
In case you’ve missed it, a fairly robust conversation has sprung up in the comments to Monday’s discouraging post about Ceres Plantation and its destruction-minded owners, the Warren County Port Commission. In addition to comments about the irrationality of the whole case, some have noted that this seems to be one of several instances recently … Continue reading
The First Presbyterian Church of Water Valley was established in 1843. The Romanesque building was erected in 1896. Romanesque Revival was a popular style in the late 1800s in Mississippi, particularly for Presbyterian and Methodist churches (Pace/Cawthon, Lost Churches of Mississippi, 2007). Romanesque Revival churches during the 1880s and 1890s were characterized by: …massive … Continue reading
Now that so many local newspapers have moved to an online subscription system, we rely on readers from around the state who subscribe to the print editions to let us know of important preservation issues in their neck of the woods. Last week, in case you missed it, Vicksburger Charles Bell sent us this clipping … Continue reading
So this morning we had a mini contest about a material that is on the primary facade of a building in downtown Gulfport on 28th Avenue. All the answers were pretty spot on but the answer that contained all the right buzz words was given by Brian Askew. So what makes a brick over a … Continue reading
A while back at Preservation In Pink Kaitlin had a little quiz to identify a specific material, which turned out to be plaster scored to give the appearance of ceramic tile. I thought that it would be fun to have a little materials contest of our own here on MissPres. Several weeks back I stopped … Continue reading
Finally at long last we are at the end of the Architecture chapter in History of Art in Mississippi, published in 1929. In addition to this chapter, several other chapters concentrate on the state’s historic buildings, including two chapters on Historic Homes. As the authors note, “The Art of Mississippi before the Civil War was … Continue reading
Well, this is embarrassing. In October 2010 I started a Book Quotes series from the valuable little book History of Art in Mississippi, published in 1929. After a week, I hadn’t made it through the chapter titled Architecture, and I promised to finish with a few extra single posts. As you know,the best laid plans … Continue reading
In an update of the historic preservation work going on in Mound Bayou, we focus this week on youth-led community development. The idea is engaging youth in community development, including historic preservation and economic development. Working with the City of Mound Bayou on this project has been enlightening, challenging, and most of all, fun. Mississippi … Continue reading
As you all no doubt know, May is Preservation Month. It is also Mother’s Day, and count this as fair warning to make your arrangements and avoid getting the infamous Mother’s guilt trip. But I digress. Below is a non-comprehensive list of activities planned for Preservation Month, and if you know of something going on … Continue reading
The National Park Service has announced its annual National Historic Landmark photography contest on Flickr for 2012. For all you shutterbugs out there in MissPres territory, it’s a great time of year to get out and capture the essence of some of our most historic places. Here’s the announcement on the NHL Flickr site: Are … Continue reading
According to Alan Huffman’s blog, the Warren County Port Commission is on the warpath again in its ongoing quest to demolish the main house at Ceres Plantation. Read all about it here. Ceres Plantation, a rare surviving example of a pre-Civil War plantation house complex, is slated for demolition despite its 2011 listing by the … Continue reading
To finish off our end-of-the-year list series for the week, today and tomorrow we’ll cover the National Register listings, fourteen in all. Since these are more text-heavy than the Mississippi Landmark or demolition lists, I’m splitting this into two posts, so that you can spend a little time with each of these incredibly diverse historic … Continue reading
This post is a bit of catch-up from a quick trip I took to Ocean Springs right before my trip to France–I forgot that I hadn’t posted the pictures I took that day of three important repair and rehab projects funded through the Hurricane Relief Grant administered by MDAH’s Gulf Coast Office in Biloxi. These … Continue reading
Here’s the third part of the always-exciting “Report of the State House Commission to the Legislature of Mississippi, 1902.” If you’re coming in late, pick up Part 1, in which the commission hires an architect, and Part 2, where the Commission hires a contractor and throws its weight around with the Illinois Central Railroad. ———————————————– … Continue reading
Random Thoughts and Asides
- Congratulations to Preservation in Mississippi and the MissPres universe for sticking around for this, the 1000th post :-)
- Back in 2010 Malvaney ran a post entitled Paying it forward to Haiti. Recently Architectural Record posted an article regarding the restoration of the Iron Market in Port-au-Prince, Haiti which, once you've seen the images of the structure after the earthquake, proves that if you have the right mind-set any structure can be saved. The article has some amazing images and video, along with Haitians' responses about why the iron market is important to them. Good progress has been made but things are a long way from back to normal.
- The Wall Street Journal's article "Avant-Garde in Alabama" recognizes the work of Auburn's Rural Studio in western Alabama. Samuel "Sambo" Mockbee, who founded the Rural Studio, was a Mississippian and had a practice here before Auburn drew him back to teach.
- The Purvis-based blog "Ramblings of the Diva" has been following the progress of the Lamar County Courthouse renovation project. Check out her updates: Lamar County Courthouse Part I, Lamar County Courthouse, Part 2, Lamar County Courthouse, Part III
- Congratulations to Water Valley, whose downtown revitalization and preservation efforts have made the New York Times, in "They Made Main Street Their Own: How Four Women Revived a Derelict Mississippi Town."
- If you can get past the title, the Curator of Shit blog has several interesting Mississipp-related posts, ranging from "The Glorious Evolution of Messeur Elisaeus von Seutter's Pleasure Grounds at Ivy Cottage, Jackson, Mississippi," to "A typical early 20th century African American urban street, Jackson, Mississippi," to "Pre-FEMA Trailers, Thisildu, Hurricane of 1947, Mississippi." To find other Mississippi-related posts, do a search on the blog for "Mississippi."
- Check out these two recent photo essays on endangered historic places in Mississippi: "Decaying History" on the Modern Southerner blog, and "A beautiful dogtrot house, fading slowly away" on NMissCommentor.
- Check out Simon Jenkins' recent "Five Best Books About The City" in the Wall Street Journal. It includes Jane Jacobs' Death and Life of Great American Cities, our very first Book Quotes series here on MissPres.
- A short fun video for Friday afternoon. Click here to watch! This clip pokes fun at the ridiculous claims the vinyl window industry is known to make. For more info visit vinyl-windows.org
- Catch this NPR story about the completion of a 6-year restoration project of Boston's African Meeting House, the country's oldest African-American church, celebrating its 205-year anniversary.
- Restore Media is offering a free webinar on Classical Architecture! It focuses on the differences between Georgian and Federal style interiors and uses examples from rooms in the Winterthur Museum collection. The webinar lasts one hour and is available on demand, so you can pause it and take notes or fix another glass of tea. With it getting dark so early nowadays this is a great educational activity for an evening! Click to view the Webinar
- Check out several interesting video updates on the damage and on-going assessment at the Washington Monument on the National Park Service's webpage.
- Although not really a new concept in the preservation world, the interest in preserving ranch houses and other mid-century buildings caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal in "Plain, Common . . . and Historic?."
- An article in the New York Times discussing the growing movement to retain old windows.
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