This post is part of a series to identify Aladdin Company kit houses that were manufactured locally and shipped to sites within Mississippi. Thanks to Cindy Catanzaro and the Clarke Historical Library in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan we’ve had an opportunity to see the ledger for the Aladdin Company mail order home plant that was located in Hattiesburg.
If you missed the post discussing the ledger you can check it out here before reading any further.
Aladdin likely shipped kit houses into Mississippi for nearly the entirety of their eighty-one year existence, but the Aladdin plant in Hattiesburg operated for less than three years, between 1919 and 1921. One of the ledger orders was for a Plaza model requested by a “Sledge & Gillis” to be shipped to Sledge, Quitman County, Mississippi. The Plaza model was offered approximately between 1913 to 1923 by Aladdin.
Plaza model from Aladdin Company Catalog Spring, 1919. https://www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/ResearchResources/Michigan_Material_Local/Bay_City_Aladdin_Co/Documents/1919_spring_annual_sales_catalog.pdf
Aladdin Plaza. Sledge, Quitman County Mississippi 2014 from Google Street View, accessed 9-19-2017
The Plaza model was described in the Spring 1919 Aladdin Company Catalog as follows:
The very essence of American architecture makes up its attractive lines. The West is portrayed in the beautiful California pergola porch, the East in the interior of the home. The sunny South finds credit in the spacious porch, while the North has loaned the shingled sidewalls representing northern homes in the early days of American history.
This building appears to have been ordered by a company. The town of Sledge was established in 1900 when a Y. & M. V. R. R. depot was established on property owned by W. D. Sledge. In the 1920 census, Sledge was not among the areas listed as a named incorporated place, but a Ruffin F. Sledge, a cotton planter, and a D.(David) Wiley Gillis, a merchant and planter, are both listed as owning their own homes free and clear in Beat 1 of Quitman County. Perhaps this is the duo that makes up the firm of Sledge and Gillis? In the 1930 census Messieurs Sledge and Gillis are now neighbors who own homes valued at $7,500 and $5,000 respectively. While the town of Sledge is identified as a named incorporated place on the 1930 census form, unfortunately the streets were not identified by census takers.
Plaza model from Aladdin Company Catalog Fall, 1919. https://www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/ResearchResources/Michigan_Material_Local/Bay_City_Aladdin_Co/Documents/1919_fall_annual_sales_catalog.pdf
I am skeptical that the Plaza was built for either Mr. Sledge or Mr. Gillis, since the value of the house wouldn’t have reached $5,000, even by 1930. Aladdin sold the Plaza for a little under $2,000 in 1919, and it doesn’t seem likely that the carpenter costs would have added up to $3,000 more. So, I would wager that this Plaza was for an employee of the firm. The house does have a few interesting modifications from the stock Plaza plan. A curved bay has been added to the south elevation, and a small enclosed porch has been added to the rear elevation.
What do you think? Could this be the house identified in the ledger as having been shipped from the Aladdin plant in Hattiesburg to Sledge in Quitman County?
Categories: Architectural Research, Building Types, Hattiesburg, Historic Preservation
Preservation in Mississippi 
I once spent 20 minutes circling the same few blocks searching for a New Deal location–pretty sure the gentleman in the car on the corner of one block wondered what I was up to. How did you find this location–Google driving the town? :)
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Haha. I’ve done the same thing. Yes Google Street View has been invaluable in identifying these places. But I did follow up with an in person visit last year. While I will always like visiting places and taking photos, the VR experience that StreetView can provide an amount of context a photograph alone cannot.
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Me, too on visiting. But, alas, work is just messing with my opportunities. :) And so true that the variety of views via Google Street View provides context!
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Hi, Thomas,
Thanks for the link back to my blog.
I bet that’s it. What you can do is contact the Clarke Historical Library and ask for the sales invoice for S-16167 with that info, name and date etc. They will scan it and email it to you. The sales order will show the changes made by the purchaser such as a rounded window. It will be at the bottom of the sales order under ‘special instructions’ as seen in this one I requested from them. https://oklahomahousesbymail.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/aladdin-pomona-in-north-enid-oklahoma/
I’ve been finding homes via google street view for several years, it’s awesome! And, I enjoy genealogy so the research of the homeowners is interesting too.
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Our home in Starkville is the same floorplan as the Aladdin “Plaza” and the Harris Brothers M-1026 plans. It looks just like the Plaza but I do not believe that it was a kit home. I assume that the original owner purchased the plans and had it built locally. I am trying to determine the date of original construction and I would also love to know where they ordered the original plans.
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My son recently purchased an Aladdin Kit Home in Savannah, GA. It is the Plaza and can be found on Zillow.com. 205 Kinzie Ave, Savannah, GA.
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From Whence the Aladdin Kit Homes emerged At 500 North Street, Hattiesburg Next To the Rail Spur:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46382340/vickers-plant-farms-shipping-shed-old/
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