Author Archives
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New Deal in Mississippi: Laurel Sweet Potato Starch Factory
One of the more intriguing finds lately for the Living New Deal project in Mississippi was the discovery of the Sweet Potato Starch Factory in Laurel. The Wausau Southern Lumber Company’s former sawmill, located at the end of South 4th… Read More ›
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NPS plans to demolish . . . er . . . “remove” several National Register-listed Tupelo Homesteads. Tell them what you think by June 28!
Eight houses located on the east side of Old Hwy 45/North Gloster and one house on the west side of Old 45 in Tupelo are proposed for removal (demolition) by the National Park Service, America’s premier historic preservation agency. The… Read More ›
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Increasing appreciation of historic resources among the general population: Aberdeen Certified Local Government City
Following up from the last post on the Certified Local Government programs in Mississippi, I will profile the Aberdeen City Hall. In the 2019 awards by the Mississippi Department of Archives & History for CLG projects, Aberdeen was awarded $15,083.35… Read More ›
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Certified Local Government (CLG) Programs in Mississippi
Historic preservation in Mississippi began in the prehistoric era with the continual care of ceremonial mounds by native Mississippians. Contemporary preservation is still best seen through stewardship of the historic environment by individuals and the public sector. (Michelle Jones, Historic Preservation, Mississippi… Read More ›
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“The Finest Cast Iron Facade in Natchez”
100 Main Street, Natchez, did not always look like this. Fortunately for Mississippi, Natchez seems to have done well in the preservation department, and Natchez boasts the highest number of Mesker facades in the state. Is this one of them? … Read More ›
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Carson’s former Art Deco gymnasium-auditorium
Thanks to W. White’s meticulous work, many of us were fortunate to get a glimpse of the Art Deco gymnasium-auditorium in the rural community of Carson, featured recently in the Name This Place XIII: Google Street View Edition, only to… Read More ›
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Natchez’ MLK Triangle: ‘Bookend’ for Redevelopment
This unpretentious little piece of real estate on the east side of downtown Natchez occupies a triangular section where M L King (formerly Pine) Street intersects with St. Catherine Street and Jefferson Street. This area has long been known as… Read More ›
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Lost Mississippi: Glenwood
I am certain that long time Mississippians and those from Natchez are quite familiar with the story of Glenwood (aka “Goat Castle”), but I was surprised to find a 2-page spread in the Atlanta Constitution, February 24, 1941. As usual, it resulted… Read More ›
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“Near depot, old stand, good trade”: Victoria Hotel in Magnolia
In 2013 I photographed the former Victoria Hotel in downtown Magnolia, but was able to learn very little about it. A member of the family who owned it in the early 2000s contacted me recently after finding my blog post… Read More ›
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New Deal in Mississippi: Lauderdale Vocational Building
Lauderdale, north of Meridian, saw the construction of a vocational building, and possibly, a community center under the New Deal Administration. MDAH Historic Resources Inventory identifies the Community Center as c. 1935, located on Community House Road. I located one… Read More ›
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Pearl River County Schools: Part II
Last week we looked at some of the Pearl River County rural schools, many of which were consolidated schools, and all of which were white schools. This week presents a look at the schools for African American students under the… Read More ›
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Pearl River County Rural Schools: Part I
Discovering Mississippi’s rural Agricultural High Schools first happened when I ran across a cornerstone in Oakland, and thought ‘What is an agricultural high school?’, followed by ‘Why is only the cornerstone left’? I would get the answer to the second… Read More ›
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New Deal in Mississippi: Coxburg School
Two of the buildings for the Coxburg Consolidated School were constructed with New Deal Administration funding. Holmes County considered a $20,000 bond issue for the Coxburg Consolidated school district to erect, repair, and equip “school buildings and teachers’ home for… Read More ›
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An Abbreviated History of the Farmhaven Schools, 1924-1960
In 1930, Farmhaven was a small community “about 14 miles east of Canton on the Canton-Carthage graveled highway.” In 2018, that is Old MS 16/Pat Luckett Road, slightly south of current MS 16. When I began this story, it was… Read More ›
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Art in Architecture: E. A. Payne in Mississippi
Last week W. White presented some less-featured buildings from Aberdeen, which sent me into the newspaper archives, albeit without much success. However, in the Canton Times I ran across this striking architectural rendering marked “Payne, Archt., Carthage, Ills.” Other published designs and plan… Read More ›
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E. K. Myrick, “the popular garage man” in Greenwood: Ford Dealership in retrospect
Mr. E. K. Myrick, the popular garage man, whose place is on Main street, next to the corner of River Front, has purchased the River Front Stable building and the lot upon which it stands and the lot to the… Read More ›
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More Art Moderne in Greenwood
Following up on last week’s Greenwood Art Moderne Greyhound bus terminal, this week features a remodeled-to-Art Moderne corner service station. It is part of the Central Commercial and Railroad Historic District and Mary Warren Miller (1985) described the building: Dr…. Read More ›
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Go Greyhound: Art Moderne in Mississippi
The former Greyhound terminal building in Greenwood is the simplest of the Art Moderne stations in Mississippi. Constructed in 1939, the building was designed by Memphis architect George Mahan. S. L. McGinnis was the contractor, and J. D. Lanham, both… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Greenwood City Hall, 1930
Bonds in the amount of $20,500 were passed in Greenwood for the purchase of land to build a new and larger city hall in May 1929. By July 6, moving of the “old Ed Bryan home” was underway from the… Read More ›
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New Deal in Mississippi: Itta Bena Grammar School
Itta Bena citizens met in May 1939 to discuss the proposed new elementary school building. The old Itta Bena school building is being wrecked, preparatory to the building of a new school building to serve that community. (Greenwood Commonwealth, 12 Sep… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Greenwood iron columns and pilasters
Readers know I have this love & admiration thing with iron columns, pilasters, and other iron architectural elements. I spotted a few new-to-me designs in Greenwood, and wanted to continue the focus on that town’s historic architecture. There are 16… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Where are all the early Greenwood Banks?
We’ve previously featured the 1890 Bank of Greenwood and the 1913 Wilson Banking Company on Preservation in Mississippi. Finding details about those bank buildings resulted in somewhat of a scavenger hunt through the newspaper archives and virtual driving around Greenwood. In… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Former Bank of Greenwood
Continuing with the bank buildings focus, Greenwood’s former Bank of Greenwood sits at the corner of Howard and Ramcat Alley. MDAH calls the c. 1890 building Romanesque and Lloyd Ostby (1980) referred to it as Victorian Romanesque, constructed of brick… Read More ›
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Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Wilson Banking Company of Greenwood
The Delta Daily News reported in March 2018 about the planned reopening of the former Wilson Banking Company building–as a bank! On my recent first visit to downtown Greenwood, I stumbled across this beautiful 1913 Beaux Arts building designed by architect Frank… Read More ›
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Ralph Lembo’s Music Store: Early Blues in Itta Bena
Ralph Lembo was an Italian immigrant who settled in Itta Bena. He turned 21 in 1918 and was one of 32 to register for military service, as required, on August 24, 1918, but he apparently was not called up to… Read More ›
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New Deal in Magee: School Buildings
One of the New Deal projects that gets less recognition is the Civil Works Administration, a job creation program established under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, active in providing temporary employment for manual laborers between 1933-1934. Using standard Mississippi Department… Read More ›
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Greenwood’s Midway Hotel, or How Buildings Fall Down
As we learned last week in the News Round-up, the Greenwood’s Midway Hotel (first built in 1905 as the Kitchell Hotel, enlarged with a north addition in 1916, and later renamed the Weiner) will be demolished. Inspection by a structural… Read More ›