Author Archives
Thomas J. Rosell
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MissPres News Roundup 10-3-2017
Another week’s worth of mixed good and bad news. Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. This is getting a little too meta for me. A news story in the Jackson Free Press quoted last week’s news MissPres round-up regarding… Read More ›
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Friday Film: Institute Hall, Natchez
On this final September Friday, take an 18-minute break to watch this video about the restoration of the former Institute Hall in Natchez. The film chronicles the building’s history beginning in the early mid-1800s to its recent renovation and conversion… Read More ›
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MissPres News Roundup 9-26-2017
Plenty of bad news, with a little bit of good news to ease the pain. Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. The Fondren House in Jackson was destroyed on September 21st. Lots of secrecy and obfuscation has swirled around… Read More ›
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Aladdin Ledger Houses: A Plaza in Sledge
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.
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MissPres News Roundup 9-19-2017
Another somewhat quiet week in the Mississippi preservation world this week. Everyone must be too focused on that great Mississippi State football victory to do much of anything else. Here are a few stories have popped up. Fitting in with… Read More ›
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Overstreet & Town Concrete Buildings
I present to you for your weekend perusing pleasure the following book: Architectural Concrete for Small Buildings published in 1937 by the Portland Cement Association. The book is available to view online over on archive.org thanks to the Association for… Read More ›
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MissPres News Roundup 9-12-2017
It’s been somewhat quiet in the Mississippi preservation world this week, but a few stories have popped up. In McComb, a judge directs the owner of a historic theater to either repair or demolish the partially collapsed theater. Terrance Alexander… Read More ›
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Aladdin Ledger Houses: A Winthrop in Newton
This post is the first in 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… Read More ›
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MissPres News Roundup 9-5-2017
I hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend. As we keep a wary eye on Hurricane Irma, let’s jump into this week’s roundup. Another week, another story about a vehicle damaging a historic structure, this time in Biloxi. Despite… Read More ›
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Friday is a Gas: Ducks vs Decorated Sheds
This week’s Friday is a Gas post is not about a specific brand of station, but rather a specific type of station form. This week’s stations represent two contrasting ideas in the architecture world: the “Duck” vs. the “Decorated Shed.”… Read More ›
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MissPres News Roundup 8-30-2017
Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. This last Monday, a car did significant damage to a historic church in the Silver Creek community of Lawrence County. The Silver Creek Baptist Church, built in 1899, was struck in the southeast… Read More ›
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Friday is a Gas: Booth Form Gas Station c.1960s-c.1980
This week’s Friday is a Gas post is not about a specific brand of station, but rather a specific type of station form. This week’s stations represent the antithesis of the full-service station: the booth form gas station Aberdeen, Mississippi… Read More ›
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MissPres News Roundup 8-22-2017
Busy week in the world of Mississippi Preservation. Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. Last Tuesday a public meeting in Hattiesburg was held to determine a course of action for the former Mount Carmel Baptist Church on Main Street. According to… Read More ›
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Friday is a Gas: Phillips 66 Stations c.1950-c.1970s
During the c.1950-1970s, Phillips had two station types: an oblong box, and the batwing or gullwing design. The latter of these was my holy grail of gas stations. I honestly thought I would never find one in Mississippi, let alone… Read More ›
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48th Anniversary of Hurricane Camille
This August marks the 48th anniversary of Hurricane Camille. We mostly think of hurricanes having an impact on the coastline but they do indeed have a far reach. In the Clarion Ledger article below you can see reports from both… Read More ›
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MissPres News Roundup 8-15-2017
Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. Tonight in Hattiesburg there is a public meeting to determine a course of action for the former Mount Carmel Baptist Church on Main Street. Hattiesburg City Council will hold a public hearing at 5 p.m…. Read More ›
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Friday is a Gas: Lion Stations c.1940
I’m not very familiar with Lion brand gasoline. Established in Arkansas during 1922, Lion Oil is still around in the refinery and asphalt products business, but I don’t believe they have branded stations any longer. Between 1985 and 2011, Lion… Read More ›
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Walking To School
I believe that Grenada Public Schools Start back today. Some of you may be groaning, while other may be cheering for the start of school. But one of the best benefits of towns and cities should be their walkability. This view… Read More ›
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MissPres News Roundup 8-9-2017
Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. Following up on the partial collapse of McComb’s downtown theater, MSNewsNow has reported that approximately 75% of the collapsed roof of the building was removed by July 31, with the remainder expected to… Read More ›
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See The Famed Port Gibson Hand Up Close
This Wednesday the landmark hand of the First Presbyterian Church in Port Gibson will be returned to its place on the church steeple. If you’d like to see the hand up close before it returns to its lofty perch, you… Read More ›
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20th Anniversary of Paul Rudolph’s Passing
Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of Paul Rudolph’s passing. Were he still living, he would be 99 years old. Born in Kentucky, Rudolph graduated from Auburn University and Harvard Graduate School of Design. After successfully practicing architecture in Florida as part… Read More ›
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Friday is a Gas: Classical Revival Stations c.1930-?
Mississippi is known for its fondness of columned buildings. Surprisingly that appreciation doesn’t seem to have translated over into the design of Classical Revival service stations. The 2016 TxDOT Field Guide to Gas Stations in Texas doesn’t specifically have an entry… Read More ›
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The Aladdin Company’s Order Ledger
You might recall that The Aladdin Company had a mail order catalog that offered plans and all the lumber you would need to build a house, pre-cut. Thanks to the efforts of kit house researcher, Cindy Catanzaro, we have the information… Read More ›
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MissPres News Roundup 8-1-2017
Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. History professor Andrew Kahrl tracks racial discrimination through the tax assessor’s office. This article provides interesting insight concerning race and property ownership and cites several Mississippi examples in Edwards and Waveland. It also touches… Read More ›
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Roadside Mississippi: Fountain Grill
We’re taking a break this week from the “Friday is a Gas” series since we had a gas station related post on Wednesday, but today’s post is still about a roadside-tastic building constructed c.1965. I’ll wager a guess this was the… Read More ›
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No Longer An Eyesore: Confronting The Gasoline Station
A while back I found a 1925 article in Laurel’s Daily Leader that was interesting for the fact that it was an architectural critique, but I wasn’t quite sure how to share it. Fast forward to the research I’ve been… Read More ›
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MissPres News Roundup 7-25-2017
Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. The lead story this week is the partial collapse of McComb’s downtown theater. While it looks bad, hopefully an engineer with an understanding of historic buildings can be brought in to give a… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 