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Categories: Contest
Preservation in Mississippi 
Runnelstown School Gymnasium, Perry County. It is a Mississippi Landmark, constructed in the late 1930s (probably around 1939) and designed by an unknown architect, possibly from Hattiesburg or possibly Landry & Matthes.
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Bah! I thought for sure nobody was paying attention when I first posted that one, and it was part of a slideshow too!
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I’ve read every post on here since I first discovered the site back sometime around October and November, and I’ve been a contributor since March (doesn’t seem that long though). Just keep posting pictures that you have already posted on here and I will keep racking up the points.
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I figured you were off getting into trouble and having fun this summer–how was I to know you were instead sitting in your room doing flashcards of Mississippi buildings? I’m going to have to come up with some sure enough obscure buildings for the next two days I can see.
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That’s fine, I have 12 points after today so it’s not the end of the contest for me if I can’t identify one or two of them.
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Runnelstown School is one of the smallest operating schools left in Mississippi. The Gymnasium, not the school, was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2005. It is one of five Mississippi Landmarks in Perry County. The Gym was more than likely a WPA project; it is mentioned in the WPA Records for Perry County as under construction.
This is what the WPA Records have to say about the Runnelstown Community: “Runnelstown, on the Hattiesburg-Richton road, is in the northwest part of the county. It is built on land once owned by J. L. Runnels, for whom the town was named. J. P. and J. L. Runnels bought timber, and as there were no sawmills nearby, they hauled the logs to Tallahala Creek and rafted them down to Moss Point. Later two large saw-mills were established in this vicinity.
After the timber had all been cut and they had moved away, the town suffered
the usual decline and now the principal objects of interest are the modern
consolidated school, to which a new gymnasium is being built, and a flowing
artesian well.”
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W. You are amazing. How do you know all of these buildings so well?
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I knew the building but then found the some WPA Records for Perry County to get more information. I will really have to dig deep to find any specific record of this gymnasium.
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I am amazed as well. The Grover Hotel is not a well-known landmark statewide but you identified it immediately.
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Thanks for doing this research–you know that’s the only reason we have the Name This Place contests, right?
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I attended this school 50 years ago. I remember the inside of this gymnasium like it was yesterday lol… The old floor creaked as you walked across it, and the bleachers were made of oak. The locker rooms were located underneath the bleachers, and were generally off limits, as it was a very old building even back then. I remember many school functions being held here. Pep rallies… Bake sales… Basketball games… And even used as a haunted house on Halloween. I got my first kiss on those bleachers. Also got my first black eye UNDER those bleachers lol. I hold really fond memories of this gymnasium and Runnelstown Elementary in general.
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I have to admit that if I don’t take a picture of the building, I am very liable to not remember it, no matter how many times I’ve seen it in other people’s pictures or even books. I always look in awe on people who can see a picture once and remember the building just from that.
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