Author Archives
In addition to ruling over the MissPres universe with an iron fist, Malvaney enjoys reading, wandering around old buildings, stopping to smell the magnolias, fiddling with databases, and sitting on the porch with a good book and a big ol' dog. Non-interests include but are not limited to tweeting, texting, Instagramming, planking, Candy Crush, Donald Trump, and unecessarily destructive home renovation shows.
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National Register 2011–Historic Districts
As you know, National Register listings can be either individual places, as shown in yesterday’s post, or larger groupings of buildings known as historic districts. Historic districts can be as small as a handful of houses in a rural community… Read More ›
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National Register 2011–Individual Listings
As in previous years, we’re breaking our National Register of Historic Places listings for 2011 into two separate posts to avoid piling on and to allow you time to read through the summaries and ponder. Some of these listings have… Read More ›
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Auld Lang Syne: Friends We Lost in 2011
As is traditional in this quiet week after Christmas and before New Years, we look back at the year and recount our wins and losses. We usually start with the “sad list” of buildings who lost their battle against time… Read More ›
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Jackson Poll Results
As we all recover from Christmas cheer, take a look at the Jackson poll results. As you recall, this was the last poll in our ongoing effort to build a list of 101 Mississippi Places to See Before You Die…. Read More ›
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A Few of Malvaney’s Favorite Things
Since this is the week before Christmas, we authors of MissPres thought we’d look back at some of our favorite posts and re-gift them, adding value with a few thoughts about why we liked them so much. It’s the closest… Read More ›
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Belhaven University’s Fitzhugh Hall Endangered
Word has come from Belhaven University in Jackson this week about disturbing recent structural shifts in the East Wing of their iconic Fitzhugh Hall. Built in 1911, the building was significantly rebuilt and altered after a 1927 fire. Now the… Read More ›
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The Cornerstones of Port Gibson
Y’all know how I love to find a cornerstone on a building–even new buildings. They are gifts that hand down essential knowledge to passersby about when a building came to be and who had a hand in bringing it from… Read More ›
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Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Yazoo City
The Yazoo City Light, Water and Sewage Plant built and operated the second oldest municipal street railway in the United States.
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Port Gibson Holiday Home Tour
Last Saturday I got out of Jackson, avoiding the maddening Christmas shopping traffic, and headed down southwest to Port Gibson. I usually take Highway 18 through Raymond, Utica, and Carpenter and through the steel truss bridge that spans Bayou Pierre…. Read More ›
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“The view from the roof of the building is magnificent in every direction”
Vicksburgers were especially proud of their 8-story skyscraper–the tallest building in the state when it was finished in 1907–and these images prove that they wanted to share their urbanity and modernity with the outside world.
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Restoring America’s Oldest African American Church
Catch this NPR story about the completion of a 6-year restoration project of Boston’s African Meeting House, the country’s oldest African-American church, celebrating its 205-year anniversary.
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Halfway Through the Jackson Poll
With a midway total of 602 votes and one more week left in the Jackson poll, the two capitols are duking it out at the top, followed by a peloton of skyscrapers, the War Memorial Building, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fountainhead”… Read More ›
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Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Vicksburg
My mother was from a large Vicksburg family, and for that reason, relatives’ tales of the trolleys were standard and frequent. As a child, my mother rode the streetcar to school and back each day, and my uncle soaped the tracks on the hill passing the Bijou Theater many a summer night!
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MDAH Announces 2011 CHPG Grantees
According to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s website, the department will be giving about $2 million in grants for the rehabilitation and repair of nineteen historic buildings around the state. As in the past, I’ve taken the liberty of… Read More ›
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MissPres 101 Places: Jackson Poll (The END Is Near!)
It was November 19, 2010, when I posted what I thought would be a fun somewhat off-beat Friday post, entitled “Miles to Go Before I Sleep.” Examining a new book I had bought called 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You… Read More ›
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Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Summit-McComb
Mississippi’s streetcar lines included a small operation in the McComb area. A letter from Mr. C.H. Douglas, mayor of McComb, November 25, 1960, states that streetcars operated between McComb and Godbold’s Wells, located east of Summit.
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Mississippi Architect, April 1964: Howard Memorial Hospital
Sometimes I sit down to write a post thinking I know what I’m talking about and then as I write and check the facts I thought I knew, I realize that I was completely on the wrong track. For instance,… Read More ›
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Mississippi Architect, April 1964: Say No To Historicism!
A few years back it was not uncommon to find streets in American towns which displayed an amazing array of architectural types. One might see a motel reflective of the architecture associated with Pueblo cliff dwellings next to a bank inspired by the Temple of Apollo.
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101 Places: Piney Woods Poll Results
I hope y’all had an enjoyable and relaxing Thanksgiving and most of all that you avoided the so-called Black Friday scourge and in any context did not get pepper-sprayed. I myself had a few minutes to think this weekend, and… Read More ›
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Mississippi Places We’re Thankful For
As seen in “Katrina Survivors: Randolph Rosenwald School, Pass Christian“
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Mississippi Places We’re Thankful For
Happy Thanksgiving Y’all! Now get off the computer/smart phone/iPad and go have some turkey and head down a red dirt road! As seen in “Dealing With Vernacular Places“
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Mississippi Places We’re Thankful For
As seen in “Architect Pics: William Nichols (1780-1853)“
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Mississippi Places We’re Thankful For
As seen in “Coolest Ole Miss Buildings“
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Edible Mount Vernon
Speaking of Mt. Vernon, which you may recall we were doing earlier this week, it’s time for the annual Mt. Vernon gingerbread house, courtesy of former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. In this YouTube video, Chef Mesnier explains… Read More ›
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Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi: Pascagoula
Some contemporary residents of Pascagoula and Moss Point may be surprised to learn that streetcars formerly provided their area with a very fine system of public transportation!
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Get Up And Go This Season
If you feel the need to get out of your house between now and Christmas without going anywhere near a mall, several Christmas Open Houses around the state are at your service. Hernando, Nov 20: Tour select historic homes throughout… Read More ›
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A Fall Day at Prospect Hill With 250 or so Friends
Saturday’s Open House at Prospect Hill drew over 250 people to the deep forests of Jefferson County. The attendees list included a vast range of people, appropriate for this plantation with so many layers of history bound up in it.
Preservation in Mississippi 