Author Archives
-
Edwards Schools for African Americans in the 1950s
Earlier posts about Edwards schools featured the 1941 National Youth Administration’s gymnasium and school improvements and swimming pool funded by the Civil Works Administration in 1934. Today’s post will feature the schools for African Americans in Edwards and Hinds County… Read More ›
-
Magee Community House: WPA or not?
Mississippi can document a number of community houses constructed under the auspices of the New Deal Administration, including FERA (Pontotoc and Macon) and WPA (Winona, Biloxi, Carrollton, Enterprise, Grenada, and Eupora). Additionally, at least 6 other facilities are conjectured to… Read More ›
-
Magee General Hospital: The Early Years
One of the many Mississippi projects under consideration for Public Works Administration funding in 1935 was the Magee General Hospital. The state PWA office announced approvals for a number of new projects, and many more were proposed, but never funded. … Read More ›
-
New Deal in Mississippi: Edwards’ CWA Swimming Pool & Improvements
The town of Edwards used Civil Works Administration (CWA) funds to finish a school playground, construct a swimming pool, municipal park, and athletic field improvements. Windows in the two-story brick high school were repainted and repaired. A teachers’ home was… Read More ›
-
The Maintenance and Repair of Architectural Cast Iron
As an architectural metal, [cast iron] made possible bold new advances in architectural designs and building technology, while providing a richness in ornamentation. (John G. Waite, with Historical Overview by Margot Gayle, The Maintenance and Repair of Architectural Cast Iron, 27… Read More ›
-
New Deal in Mississippi: Sunflower Agricultural High School
The Sunflower Agricultural High School in Moorhead was PWA project W1176, approved November 1936 with a $45,000 grant toward the estimated cost of $100,000. Construction began January 27, 1937 and was completed September 9, 1937 for a total of $100,298… Read More ›
-
History of the Holcomb Consolidated School
Knowing that many of the buildings constructed by the New Deal Administration programs are not always documented in readily accessible locations, any time I run across one that has the years in the right time span, and knowing the architects… Read More ›
-
New Deal in Mississippi: National Youth Administration
It has been a while since we have featured any New Deal projects, so I thought it time to update on some of the Mississippi examples. One of my favorite programs was the National Youth Administration arm of the WPA. … Read More ›
-
Playing the Chitlin’ Circuit in Mississippi
Back in the September 5th round-up, Thomas Rosell mentioned the upcoming Mississippi Valley State University lecture series on The Chitlin’ Circuit, the name that emerged for the African American music venues under segregation. I am familiar with several Chitlin’ Circuit venues on… Read More ›
-
“America’s Finest”: Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts
The recent post by Thomas Rosell on photographer John Margolies “roadside Americana” images had some wonderfully intriguing photographs. I thought it might be fun to trace a few of them. The Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts has been featured before on… Read More ›
-
Valentine Diners: Falk’s Waffle Shop
I confess, at first glance, I had no idea what would have prompted John Margolies–as featured in Thomas Rosell’s post in July–to take a photograph of Pud’s Package Liquor on Route 49, Gulfport, even for the sign and the vivid… Read More ›
-
National Park Service Preservation Briefs: Historic Concrete
This week’s dramatic roof collapse in downtown McComb, which was possibly brought on by a combination of hard rainfall and clogged or inadequate downspouts, has brought home again the need to maintain our historic buildings. Luckily for us, while owners… Read More ›
-
Humble Colony at Mallalieu Production Camp, Brookhaven
Because MissPres readers have found the Friday is a Gas series fascinating, you will understand why I was hooked when I stumbled upon this news item about the Humble Camp near Brookhaven. Mississippi, or at least one Mississippian, had a… Read More ›
-
Newspaper Clippings: Pearl Consolidated School
While on old Brandon Road in Pearl, I noted a former school building, reminding me of similar designs I have seen throughout Mississippi. The MDAH Historic Resources database identifies it as the Old Pearl High School, constructed 1930, and Noah… Read More ›
-
New Deal in Mississippi: Jackson’s Canning Plants
In earlier posts, canning plants have been mentioned in connection with some of the New Deal schools in Mississippi (for example, East Tupelo canning plant). Recently, I ran across this article on the Emergency Relief Administration’s opening of the Jackson… Read More ›
-
Mississippi Builders: Tom B. Scott & Company
Last Wednesday’s post by Thomas Rosell on Apartments on Jackson’s North Street commented on builder Tom B. Scott, who is credited in the MDAH database with three buildings in Jackson, followed by the intriguing question “Does anyone know more about… Read More ›
-
Who was Jim Farley and why was he in Mississippi?
In describing the new offices of the Highway Commission and the large number of employees housed in the Plaza Building (later known as the Standard Life Building and constructed in 1929), the Jackson New Deal (20 October 1933, p. 3) wrote: The only surprising… Read More ›
-
The Other Side of Natchez: Holy Family Catholic Church
Following up on last week’s Monday Round-up , and after reading the article “New business offers heritage tours to tell other side of Natchez history” and checking out “Race Against Time: Culture and Separation in Natchez Since 1930,” I recalled an accidental… Read More ›
-
Meridian Trilogy: Part III
If you have been following the Meridian Trilogy the past few weeks, you already know that Captain A. B. Avery’s house was located at 603 North 25th Avenue, and that by 1912, the Sanborn map showed Meridian Medicine [sic] College… Read More ›
-
Trilogy for Meridian: Part II
For the first part of the Meridian Trilogy, check out Meridian: Part I. Standard Drug Company started out as Hopkins & Bethea, a small retail drug business established in 1900 on 22nd Avenue next to Weidmann’s Restaurant. According to Fonda… Read More ›
-
A Trilogy for Meridian: Part I
It is a long journey to get from 603 25th Avenue at the Capt. A. B. Avery House in 1889 Meridian to end up at 601 25th Avenue and the former Standard Drug Company at the beginning of 2017. Along the… Read More ›
-
Mississippi Department of Archives and History: Part II
Last week we took a look at the beginnings of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, established in March 1902. Legislation was drafted by Franklin L. Riley, professor of history and rhetoric at University of Mississippi, and subsequently passed… Read More ›
-
Mississippi Department of Archives & History: Part I
Malvaney’s post last week about historic newspapers and their interesting content made me think about searching the newspaper archives for the history of MDAH, since I so often rely on the department’s resources for details on historic sites in Mississippi…. Read More ›
-
New Deal in Mississippi: Madison-Ridgeland High School addition
It has been a while since we have been on the New Deal Tour for Mississippi, so I decided it was high time to get back on the road. The Public Works Administration-funded annex to the Madison-Ridgeland High School was… Read More ›
-
McAfee Repair Shop and the Farish Street Garage
The block of storefronts along 744-752 N. Farish Street was built c. 1928 (Cramer, 1979). According to the nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places, the one-story, stepped parapet roofline with patterned brickwork in the frieze and cornice… Read More ›
-
How about a little history with lunch? The evolution of Home Dining Room on Farish Street
Like most of Farish Street, the story of the Home Dining Room is deeply embedded in the early cultural experiences of the street known as the “Black Mecca of Mississippi.” Home Dining Room was not originally located at the building… Read More ›
-
Paris on Farish: Visiting Mississippi’s “Black Mecca”
Congratulations galore belong to Mr. and Mrs. Jesse [sic] Williams, head of the Paris Cleaners in Jackson. They moved recently into their brand new $50,000 home. Success has been and is yours! (Anselm J. Finch’s Mississippi Snaps, The Pittsburgh Courier, May… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 