1041 Woodrow Wilson Avenue, Jackson, Hinds County. Original structure was built sometime between late 1949 and late 1953. The addition was built prior to 1960.
This building caught my eye because it is similar in form to the Dairy Freeze in Crystal Springs that was posted about last August; a small roadside building with a forward stepping facade, front facing service windows, a curvilinear front fascia, and a flat roof that ever so slightly slopes to the rear of the structure. It is hard to tell from the Google Street View image if the service windows slopes forward or not.
Jackson city directories reveal that the building at 1041 Woodrow Wilson Avenue was built as a Tastee Freeze sometime between late 1949 and late 1953. The initial construction is wood frame. A masonry addition on the west elevation was added before 1960, as it appears in an aerial photograph of the intersection in that year. Long gone is Jackson’s other Tastee Freeze of the same form at 4314 West Capitol Street. The 1962 Sanborn map shows the West Capitol Tastee Freeze as having a similar foot print (sans addition) and describes the structure as a brick clad building with metal sash and glass above a brick knee wall. Sounds pretty similar in form. According to their website, the Tastee Freeze chain was established in 1950. I’m not sure when the building ceased to be a Tastee Freeze. Today the Woodrow Wilson Avenue building serves up some tasty looking fish as The Fish Hut.
Like this post? Check out more Roadside Mississippi posts about drive ins…
Summertime and the Livin’ Is Easy (Pascagoula, MS)
Mississippi Roadside: Liberty Drive In (Liberty, MS)
Roadside Mississippi: The Varsity, Belzoni
Roadside Mississippi: B&B Kitchen, Yazoo City
Roadside Mississippi: Kevin’s Korner, Pascagoula
Roadside Mississippi: Dairy Freeze, Crystal Springs
Categories: Asides, Cool Old Places, Crystal Springs, Historic Preservation, Jackson, Modernism
Preservation in Mississippi 
We have a Taster Freeze in Delmar NY. Looks exactly like the one in Crystal Springs. My uncle was visiting and saw it–had to stop because it looked just like the one he used to frequent on West Capitol as a boy.
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Interesting. Dairy Freeze, Tastee Freeze, & Taster Freeze all name variants but all very similar buildings.
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And it’s fish and spaghetti Friday! What could be better?
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Fish & Spaghetti? That is a unique combo I don’t think I’ve yet to try.
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Oh, my goodness–TR, that was one of the first cultural things I learned on arrival in Mississippi. It is apparently a long-standing tradition in the Delta–fish and spaghetti on Fridays. I admit I was leery but it is really good–requires a good dosing of hot sauce on the fish. :)
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Is there a specific type of fish used? Im assuming its fried catfish with a red sauce? We’ve got shrimp spaghetti on the coast and one of my all time favorites is daube spaghetti.
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Yes, catfish, with hot sauce. Daube sounds good–I had to look it up, though, as I had not heard of it. Love learning about new southern foods!
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No, no, not spaghetti (sauce) ON catfish, it’s fried catfish with spaghetti and meat sauce on the side, like two entrees. I was turned on to this on Wednesdays (I think) at Walker’s in Jackson/Fondren in the early 1980s. Great combination. Too bad it hasn’t become easier to find.
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