It was November 19, 2010, when I posted what I thought would be a fun somewhat off-beat Friday post, entitled “Miles to Go Before I Sleep.” Examining a new book I had bought called 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die, I counted up the number of places in the world I had been to (a mere 22) and took the liberty of adding a couple of places I thought should be on the list but which had been inexplicably left off. I also took issue with the fact that no Mississippi places had made the list, and several MissPresers jumped in with completely worthy buildings (Longwood, Waverly, etc.).

MissPres author W. White, perhaps much to his later chagrin, proposed that we build our own list, paring it down to 101 Mississippi Places to See Before You Die. This we began to do on the fateful day of December 3, 2010–is that 364 days ago, or 365?–with “Help Build a List of Required Mississippi Places,” a post which still holds the record by far for most number of comments, as MissPresers got to work suggesting their favorite places.

I had started the post worried that I might not get enough suggestions to reach 101 places, but before it was all over, we had almost 300 places to choose from. The problem then became how to pare down the list. We chose to break the list down into regions and poll each region separately throughout the year of 2011 (you can find links to all the polls and results on our master list page), and here we are today at our last poll, the Jackson Poll.

I can’t over-emphasize here how ad-hoc this process has been. We are historians, Jim, not pollsters! A statistician friend has volunteered to do a little number crunching at the end to help smooth out the resulting list, and I think for the most part, we will emerge with a strong list. Yes, it will be idiosyncratic, but I hope MissPres has enough personality to pull off a little idiosyncrasy and with verve.

As with all previous polls, I’ve given you the list with links and other information for you to peruse before scrolling down to the poll itself. You can choose up to twenty and then click “VOTE.” The poll will be open the standard two-week window, closing down Friday, December 16, 2011 at or about midnight, depending on when I shuffle off to bed. Once these final results are in, we’ll send it to our statistician and get the results ready for their grand opening at the beginning of 2012. I can’t wait to see what the list of 101 Mississippi Places to See Before You Die includes so I can try to see all of them!

And in case anyone ever suggests a poll again, the answer is NO!

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Jackson:

• Alamo Theater on Farish Street (1949) [Mississippi Landmark]
• Bailey Junior High School (1936) [Mississippi Landmark]
• King Edward Hotel (1923) [Mississippi Landmark]
• Lamar Life Building (1924-25)
• Electric Building (Lampton Building) (1928)
• Eastland Federal Building (1933)
• Fountainhead in Woodland Hills (1954) [National Register]
• Jackson Greyhound Terminal (1936)
• Heber Ladner Building (1924) [Mississippi Landmark]
• St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral (1903)
• Governor’s Mansion, Jackson (but for a better picture . . .) (1840) [National Historic Landmark, HABS]
• Jackson City Hall (1854-1855) [National Register, Mississippi Landmark]
• Hinds County Armory (1927-1928) [National Register, Mississippi Landmark]
• Mayflower Cafe (1900, 1930s)
• Mississippi Museum of Art (2007)
• Medgar Evers House (1956) [National Register, Mississippi Landmark]
• Old Capitol (1836-1840) [National Historic Landmark, HABS]
• New Capitol (1901-1903) [National Register, HABS]
• Standard Life/Tower Building (1929) [Mississippi Landmark]
• St. Richard’s Catholic Church (1966-67)
• Eudora Welty House (1925) [National Historic Landmark]
• Manship House (1857) [National Register, HABS]
• Bishop Galloway House (1889)
• Covenant Presbyterian Church (1965)
• Millsaps gymnasium (2000)
• James Observatory, Millsaps College (1902) [Mississippi Landmark]
• Library Commission building (2006)
• Mississippi Department of Employment Security building (2002-2004)
• Robert E. Lee Hotel (1930) [Mississippi Landmark]
• Stringer Grand Lodge on Lynch Street (1954-1955) [Mississippi Landmark]
• Sun-n-Sand Motor Hotel (1960)
• Morgan Apartment Building (1951)
• Morgan Center/Woodland Hills Shopping Center, Fondren neighborhood (1946)
• Kolbs Cleaners, Fondren (c.1950)
• WJDX Radio Transmitter (1929)
• Boddie Mansion, Tougaloo College (c.1855) [National Register]
• Woodworth Chapel, Tougaloo College (1901)
• Tougaloo College Dormitories (1972)
• J.Z. George Elementary School (1929) [Mississippi Landmark]
• War Memorial Building (1939-1940) [Mississippi Landmark]

Categories: 101 MissPres Places, Contest, Jackson