New research by Preserve Marshall County and Holly Springs on the endangered “little white house” behind Holly Springs City Hall indicates it was in fact the original surveyor’s office of Hugh Craft, who came to town as a surveyor for the federal government in 1839. As you recall, the Board of Aldermen without notice voted to demolish the building, which is a designated Mississippi Landmark, along with “some other old structures.”
Categories: Demolition/Abandonment, Holly Springs
Preservation in Mississippi 
Are there any up-and-up Supervisors in this state?
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Hugh Craft was a forebear of my friend, Chesley Thorne Smith, who passed away just a couple of years ago at 100+ years of age. Chesley started taking photos of Holly Springs at age 9 and accumulated discarded photo collections, including tin types and daguerreotypes of early Marshall County. She had massive files on Holly Springs and surrounding towns which she shared with me for Lost Mansions of Mississippi and another book which we did jointly. For no other reason than respect for this remarkable woman’s memory, that little structure should be saved. E.L., do you have any idea what became of her collection?
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The utter lack of compassion for historic structures makes me SICK!!! These “city governments” are nothing more than bullies who use their powers for nothing good……..”green space” and “parking”? Give me a break. Hopefully, this historic structure will not succumb to the fate of Ceres Plantation near Vicksburg…..we all remember that was for “development”, and the site where that beautiful antebellum home stood is now vacant and forlorn…………just like the industrial park where it sits!!!
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Update on Crawford’s M&O RR Section House.
Good news and bad news. I received a copy of a letter sent to Mayor Tolan of Crawford from Jim Woodrick at MDAH on the results of the 28July2015 on site evaluation of the potential”Landmark” status of the section house in Crawford. He writes that it’s a “keeper” and wants to meet with town officials and other interested parties to preserve it. I will get Mr. Woodrick’s permission before I attempt to post his letter here.
However, the feedback that I’m getting is that Crawford Mayor Tolan is as defiant as ever and has an opinion from the town attorney, Tim Hudson–a former Lowndes county prosecutor who financed his Ole Miss law schooling by “wrestling””(sic)” in the arenas around Memphis– to proceed with a sale that will restrict the bids to only three bidders: The same three bidders that submitted bids from the cancelled sale in July. This will almost assuredly result in Tom Soya Grain Company taking possession of the section house. I have petitioned the State Auditor to investigate the alleged” under-the- table” negotiations between Tom Soya and Mayor Tolan on transferring title to the section house–it was deeded to the town by Wells-Fargo back in January, 2015. My informant claimed that a “done deal” was negotiated between the mayor and Tom Soya where Tom Soya would take possession of the public property–the section house– in exchange for “offering something of equal value.” I confronted the mayor at two town meetings. He has denied it was :done deal,” but offered no denial that he was dealing with Tom Soya. The town attorney during one of those meetings was Tim Hudson’s daughter, Coleen Hudson, who offered no input.
A 1916 post card of the Crawford M&O RR section house: You will notice also a photo of the Crawford Depot with the “surrey with a fringe on top” parked there. I suspect that belongs to T.W. Hardy. There is a story behind this “surrey.”
http://www.msrailroads.com/Towns/Crawford.htm
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