Although the 1951 Manufacturer’s Record doesn’t have any text discussing the Corinth Machinery Company, the magazine does have this great aerial view of the 3-story 1869 building front and center, along with the subsidiary structures in this industrial complex that stood on the outskirts of downtown Corinth from 1869 to 2012. The MDAH Historic Resources Database has this to say:
Believed to be the oldest surviving industrial building in Mississippi, this building originally housed the North Mississippi Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company. In 1888 it was acquired by the Alcorn Woolen Mills. In 1904 it became the location of the Corinth Engine and Boiler Works. The Corinth Machinery Company began operations in the building in 1912. It manufactured sawmill carriages until it closed in 1973. Recognized by MHT as one of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi in 1999. In 2002 the building was acquired by Chris Chain to be rehabilitated.
The industrial complex was already considered significant in March 1975 when the Historic American Buildings Survey sent photographer Jack Boucher to photograph the exterior of two of the buildings.
Unfortunately for us, HABS didn’t do any interior photos or document the industrial processes going on inside. The building hung on a long time after the factory closed in 1973, and there were a few times when it seemed like it would be renovated, but . . . well, time, Mississippi weather, and the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics eventually took their toll. We lost the building in 2012, and you can read what happened at these posts from that period.
Categories: Corinth, Industrial
Preservation in Mississippi 
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