As usual when Mississippi enters spring, the creative juices of Mississippians begin to flow and everyone is ready to get outside for interesting preservation events. Here are a few announcements that have shown up in my inbox over the past couple of weeks (if you missed the Pilgrimage post a couple of weeks ago, here it is).
Come get your mod on with two great events in the oh-so-hip Fondren neighborhood of Jackson.
On Saturday, March 25, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., MHT members will be honored guests for a private tour of the exquisite home of Stephanie and Craig Busbea, designed by noted modernist architects Samuel and William Wiener and located at 228 Ridge Drive. Not a member of MHT? You can join here or at the event.
On Thursday, May 4, from 5:30 to 10:00 p.m., MHT will host an insider’s architectural walking tour during the Arts, Eats and Beats festival. Stops will include musings on old mod favorites and updates on revitalization plans for this historic neighborhood while enjoying vintage cocktails. Tickets go on sale March 25 and can be purchased at lovemsmod.
The Mad Mod Affair Fondren is sponsored by EastGroup Properties and hosted in partnership with Fondren Renaissance Foundation and AIA Mississippi.
And from Blake Wintory at Lakeport Plantation, an honorary Mississippi Delta historic site that happens to be owned by Arkansas State University, comes this year’s schedule for the popular lecture program Lakeport Legacies.
The architectural similarities between Belmont, Willoughby, and Lakeport are not a coincidence.
Upcoming Events
March 30 · Building Delta Plantations: Connecting Washington County, Mississippi and Chicot County, Arkansas · Dr. Blake Wintory
And down in McComb, they’re already half through this year’s 60th annual azalea festival.
HOME ON LIGHTED AZALEA FLOWER TRAIL, McComb MS, c.1980
- When: March 1 – 31
- Time: Dusk – 9PM
There will be 5 distinct regions in Pike County with a featured street in each area and each house on the featured street will have its yard lit.
The highlighted regions for the Annual Lighted Azalea Trial are:
- Fernwood/Pinehurst
- Magnolia
- Summit
- North of Delaware – North McComb
- South of Delaware – South McComb
FREE ADMISSION!
https://www.facebook.com/mccomb.gardenclub/posts/1124033524374187
Categories: Jackson, McComb, Preservation People/Events
Preservation in Mississippi 
“Some Day” I am going to make it to one of these Lakeport lectures!
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Since you cannot go to the lecture, read Architecture of the Old South: Mississippi-Alabama by Mills Lane. Wintory is likely expanding on topics covered in that book. Lane highlights the fact that antebellum “Southern” architecture (or at least the buildings we envision when thinking of that type of architecture) was as much a national architectural style as a regional one. Yes, the architecture was different in the South than in the North and Midwest, adapted for climate, taste, and obscene amounts of slave produced cotton wealth. But, many of the architects were northern. Many of the builders were northern. The pattern books used as design guides were all northern. Various specialized building materials were not produced in Mississippi. Although Wintory mentions Madison, Indiana as a source of builders, antebellum Mississippi also had a strong relationship with Cincinnati building material manufacturers such as Hinkle, Guild & Co. If you live in Jackson, swing by the Boddie Mansion at Tougaloo College to see some of the company’s work.
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I am up in Oxford, and though I have been through Lake Village a few times and Blake has graciously offered to meet me, it has never worked out. Thank you for resources, though!
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I’ll be talking about specific research into these four houses: Mount Holly, Belmont, Willoughby, and Lakeport. Research into the Worthington and Johnson families that built these houses (and a careful restoration at Lakeport) has shown three of these were built (in-part) by the same Indiana carpenters. So, in essence I’ll be arguing that these Kentucky families reached back to the Ohio Valley (Kentucky and Indiana) for materials and builders of their iconic “Southern” homes.
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Wow are those wooden awnings on the house in the McComb photograph?
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Now, see, everyone sees something different which gives us a new perspective. I had to look at them again!!
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