We received word from our friends at Preserve Marshall County and Holly Springs on Sunday that Chalmer’s Institute, an ongoing restoration project, was badly damaged in a storm that passed through Holly Springs on Saturday evening. Stay tuned to PMCHS’s Facebook page and to MissPres for how you can help.
A more extensive update from Chelius Carter described the damage:
Last night a violent storm blew through Holly Springs, leaving historic Chalmers Institute severely damaged. This structure, built in 1837, has weathered an untold myriad of storms that have rolled across north Mississippi in the last 181 years; survived the American Civil War and years of neglect, before Preserve Marshall County & Holly Springs, Inc. came to be its custodian in 2009. Last night…its luck ran out.
The tree (A Very Large Tree) impacted upon the building’s Northeast corner, pretty much wiping out that room and its attendant roof structure and tearing off one of the east wall chimneys.
Our primary concern is to get the tree off the remaining wall to prevent further damage from the compressive forces now weighing upon on the remaining wall and execute stabilization measures so a temporary frame came be put in place for tarping.
Working with our insurance company and others who will be assisting in this critical time for what is a true Mississippi treasure.
Categories: Antebellum, Disasters, Holly Springs, Schools
Preservation in Mississippi 
Big trees close to places that folks don’t want them falling on need to be inspected for disease by an arborist (tree-surgeon). Of course a BIG wind can take out any tree healthy or diseased or anything else!
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