Como Methodist Church, 1912, John Gaisford
In her Historic Churches of Mississippi (Sherry Pace, with Richard J. Cawthon, 2007, University Press of Mississippi), Pace takes us on a tour of churches throughout the state. Cawthon’s Lost Churches of Mississippi (2010, University Press of Mississippi) added the pictorial history of some of Mississippi’s churches lost to fire, storms, demolition, or remodeling beyond recognition.
Over the past 12 years of roaming parts of the state, I have amassed quite the collection of my own Churches of Mississippi. I share a few of them here, ranging from the near “demolition by neglect” category to “high church” and all those in between.
Mt. Hope Missionary Baptist Church, Taylor
Categories: Churches, Historic Preservation
Preservation in Mississippi 
Nice post!! I’ve seen several of these myself. What a broad mix of architectural styles. I enjoyed seeing these. Thank you for posting. I lived in Taylor while at Ole Miss in the early-mid nineties-remember that church.
Nice shots.
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Thank you. The Taylor church was a surprise find–out of nowhere loomed this fortress of a church!
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I didn’t want the slide show to end, so I’ve watched it several times. What a diverse group! Each is unique, isn’t it! The church in New Albany reminded me of University Methodist in Oxford. And I stumbled into St. Mary’s Basilica one summer afternoon when I tried the door and found it opened – the sanctuary was so beautiful that I was frozen in place (after I gasped a few times!).
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You would have been here for hours if I had included every church I have photographed in 12 years in Mississippi! LOL–thought that would be a bit much.
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wish I could see that too
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I like the lined up cell phone tower above the church Northeast of Oxford in rural Lafayette County. It looks like the congregants decided to “phone in” their attendance.
In more urban areas cell towers are being inserted to church steeples or other existing towers. Sometimes with good results.
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Oh, that is too funny! So, can you track the location of the church? :) I tried to find it on the map, as I know the general area in which I was, but I can’t seem to find it.
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You should be able to find it based on the tower. There are 52 towers registered with the FCC in Lafayette County. The church appears to be facing south due south from the tower, with a east/west running dirt parking area. Might be a fun scavenger hunt if one had the time.
here is a link to a map with all the fcc cell towers in the county…
http://www.homefacts.com/fcctowers/Mississippi/Lafayette-County.html
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The Presbyterian Church in Oxford is AWESOME!
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hi, & great post!
I found this page looking for more information about Faith Presbyterian Church…
… although it’s not mentioned here, Faith is really one the most interestingly designed (modern) churches in Jackson.
http://faithpresbyterianchurchjackson.org/Directions.html
it was designed in 1969 by Robert Bassett, of Godfrey, Bassett, Pitts & Tuminello—the same architecture firm that did Central Methodist Church (in the slideshow above), as well as Anshe Chesed Temple in Vicksburg.
mentioned in another post here: https://misspreservation.com/2015/12/09/happy-hanukkah-yall-2015/
…. and like Anshe Chesed, Faith, too, has a beautiful skylight opening right over the sanctuary.
the commonalities between these places of worship/learning are SUPER intriguing!!!
hopefully folks will think about seeing Faith on their next “Mississippi Church Tour”
it’s truly a Jackson gem. CHEERS : ) K
** MDAH has them listed together here: http://www.apps.mdah.ms.gov/Public/rpt.aspx?rpt=artisanProfile&artisanID=1183
* and MSU has the firm’s architectural records housed in their manuscript collection: http://lib.msstate.edu/specialcollections/collections/manuscripts/architecture/
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Hi to all. Im reaching out in hope that someone out there could help me. There is a church just over the line in Alabama that will be donated from the estate and moved off the land in which it has rested for over 100 years (built in 1906). My husband and I are going to take on this project of moving it over to our land in Mississippi about 40 miles away. Im looking for any advice on moving, how to go about documenting everyting (for historical use), and how to go about getting funding as a private ind.
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Preservation Maryland recently had a podcast on Moving Buildings.
http://presmd.podbean.com/e/preservecast-ep-18-moving-historic-buildings/
Do you know if the building is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places? If you plan to use the structure as an income producing property you could be eligible for State and Federal preservation tax credits, but the building must be on the National Register as part of its eligibility. The move will have an impact on any existing or potential listing. Below is a link to the NPS page on evaluating NR eligibility for moved buildings.
National Register of Historic Places criteria for evaluating moved buildings.
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No it’s not on the list.
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I’m not sure what to suggest. Without being listed it wont be eligible for federal or state preservation tax credits. You could try contacting the National Register coordinator for Alabama for some guidance. Mississippi’s coordinator recently retired and the spot has yet to be filled so the folks in Alabama might be able to give you a quicker response. Best of luck! Youll have to let us know what you find out.
http://ahc.alabama.gov/nationalregister.aspx
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Yes, they have been a great help so far. Sent me over some forms to get me started on documenting it as is. And, WOW it’s a lot. I’ve also been calling around to see if anyone is up for the job of moving this beauty. No takers wanting to cross state line.
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