MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past.
I’m at HILL’S MOTEL, Picayune, Miss., 55 miles north of New Orleans, 64 miles south of Hattiesburg, Miss., on U.S. 11, 35 miles from the Gulf Coast. All the rooms in this Motel are fully air-conditioned, equipped with air-foam mattresses, beautiful furniture, ceramic tile baths with combination tub and shower, telephones, radios and service with a smile. You are served a “Good Morning” cup of coffee and newspaper–compliments of the management.
Dec. 23, 1950.
“Thurs. Stayed here Tues. night and got to New Orleans yesterday. Rained hard all afternoon and today. Drove miles all over this town. The Xmas decorations are lovely everywhere. Will have lots to tell you when we get home. Remember me to Bessie,
Love, Georgia.”
Preservation in Mississippi 
so moderne but no one seems to know who designed it. the last of the owners, hazel ann hyde hill pipkin, died some years back.
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Cool place! Is it still around?
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Does this place still exist?
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very cool!
It looks like it could be an older building(s) that were modernized with flat roofs and stucco
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Love the design!
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it is an exceptional design and seems bauhaus influenced; but its property at the corner of highway 11 and memorial drive in picayune is in a busy area of escalating property values. this building was demolished and replaced with a chain grocery store and its parking lot some years ago. i have photos of the construction period showing that it was not a modified building. henry c. (foots) hill and his wife hazel ann hyde were the owners. hazel ann was a very beloved character around town highly visible for her trademark pink cadillac.
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Amazing. Do you know the date of construction? By looking at the ceiling tiles I’m guessing it dates to the late 1930’s
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i believe it’s 1940s; but if i can find the newspaper clippings i’ll give you a better date.
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This became the Apollo Inn back in the 1960’s with the advent of NASA and the Stennis Space Flight Center. The Hill’s Inn sign was replaced by another very cool “Apollo Inn” sigh that had a Saturn 5 rocket and planets all lit in neon. When moved to Picayune in 1967, it was there for many years until it was torn down to build a Winn Dixie grocery store. Today, I’m not sure what sits on the property.
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Wow, I would have loved to have seen that space-age sign! Thanks for sharing that!
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It was very cool…
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We moved to Picayune in late 1963. We stayed at the Apollo Inn until my parents found a house to rent. There was also restaurant ( can’t remember the name) next to it that was run by Ulis and Peggy Gary, who we became good friends with. Peggy made wonderful pies!
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