A couple of weeks ago the excellent Facebook group Mid-Century Modern Arkansas had a great post about an International Harvester Dealership in North Little Rock, Arkansas that had been listed on the National Register back in 2009. The International Style design of the dealership was based on a stock plan, perfected by International Harvester. Apparently, the buildings were designed to provide both sales and service of International Harvester equipment. The buildings seem to vary in some features, but all include a vertical pylon sign near the center of the building. Recently I was in visiting Meridian and passed by a building of similar design on Highway 19. This made me think, surely there were International Harvester Dealerships throughout Mississippi.
A friend confirmed that at one time the building housed a farm supply business, but couldn’t recall the brand. Turning to the internet to learn if the building had indeed been an IH Dealership led me to the site ihdealerspast.net/ a great collection of information on, you guessed it, International Harvester Dealerships of the past. Two prominent lists are Dealer Listings and vintage photos of Prototype/Pylon Buildings. Unfortunately, there are no vintage photos of IH Dealers in Mississippi. There are, however, a few Mississippi entries on the map of existing Prototype / Pylon buildings. Belzoni, Hattiesburg, Ripley, Rolling Fork, and Yazoo City are all identified as sites of existing Prototype / Pylon buildings. The Dealer Listings entries are quite extensive and contain 13 sheets of information on IH Dealers in Mississippi.
The difference between the entries on the map and on the dealer list is staggering. I’m sure there are some readers that could identify several others of these IH buildings in their neck of Mississippi. Is there one near you? The North Little Rock International Harvester National Register nomination dates the creation of this design to the late 1940s. I wonder beginning when, and for how long were these designs were being built in Mississippi?
Categories: Historic Preservation, Meridian, Urban/Rural Issues
Preservation in Mississippi 
There is a building in downtown Natchez on Canal St. of the same type that I was told, when I lived there, had been an International Harvester bldg.
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On the dealer listing is a Natchez Equipment Company (Inc.) at 202 Franklin Street Natchez MS that operated from 1948-1990, coincides with the Pylon design time period. That would be right on the corner of Canal and Franklin. The Natchez-On-Top-of-the-Hill National Register Nomination describes the building as the following: “202 Franklin. Natchez Equipment Co., Inc. One-story brick commercial building with one-story concrete block building in rear; parking area filled with pieces of heavy equipment. After 1946.” Was the dealership probably demolished between 1990 and 2008?
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Yes, it was demolished and the convention center is now on that site.
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I think it’s just a grassy lot, no?
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I’ll check when I go there later this month for the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration.
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Another wonderfully and delightfully enlightening post! Thanks!
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When I saw the building, at first I thought that it looks like one that might be/have been around the intersection of Highway 80 and Gallatin St. in Jackson. Looking at the list on the website, though, it says there was a dealership at 1025 Terry Rd. That address is now 1025 University Blvd. and is where the Jatran bus barn was for many years. So if there was one of those buildings in Jackson, it’s been gone since the early 1990s, at least. The building looks familiar, but it isn’t the most standout style. Interesting find and post!
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I’ve updated the gallery above to include the service centers listed on the ihdealerspast.net/ website and the Meridian structure. There seem to be variations between each building. Since they are not a uniform in their materials, fenestration, and dimensions, as say branded gas stations, these designs might prove more difficult to ID. The list of former dealers will go along way in helping identify these buildings.
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I’m trying to remember if the Johnson Implement building on 49/82 bypass was of this design. It definitely looks familiar. Let me see what I can dig up.
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According to the Dealer List Johnson Implement was.
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If you’re curious about the construction of these buildings like I was, you might be interested in this former IH dealership in Independence, Texas that was caught by Google Street View in a state of disassembly.
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Coming through Canton on Highway 51 last week, I noticed a classic example on the west side of the road, just across from the old Harrell Chevrolet building. Highway 51, between Canton and West, is just chock full of examples of your wonderful gas station series. It’s much more fun to spot these now!
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these pylon ih prototype buildings are from mid 1900s. I have a 1910 ih dealership, built originally as heavy-timber, masonry walled warehouse. This “fire resistant” warehouse was built prior to self propelled implements, thus the interior was renovated from warehouse into a modern dealership format (service bays/large doors, showroom w large windows). Site: Fort Benton, MT (“golden triangle” grain area). Owned/builder TC Power (merchant prince of upper Missouri, a pioneer MT senator w longtime trade ties to chicago). This dealership was a satellite; Power operated his 5 satellite dealerships from Helena, mt. where he settled after being senator. LOOKING for source material on early IH prototype buildings. My building bears strikingly similar features as the EZ polish factory in Chicago, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1909, FLW was designing the nations largest private residence for the founder of IH. Anyone know of ties between FLW and IH dealership architecture?
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