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.

• Northeast Poll Results

  By ELMalvaney on March 21, 2011 • ( 5 )

  

  After a particularly slow start, the Northeast poll ended up with a total of 1,388 votes, which is the lowest total so far (Natchez had 4,502 and the Coast had 4,191). Not too bad considering, I guess. Perhaps not coincidentally,… Read More ›

• Giving Credit Where Credit May or May Not Be Due (see relevant regulation[s])

  By ELMalvaney on March 18, 2011 • ( 7 )

  

  Last week, Tom Freeland posted a picture of the cornerstone of Jackson’s new federal courthouse on his blog, NMissCommentor, in a post title “It’s 2010. Do you know who your president is?” In a detail I failed to catch when… Read More ›

• A new do for Standard Oil

  By ELMalvaney on March 15, 2011 • ( 10 )

  

  Along with others in downtown Jackson, I’m sure, I’ve been watching the re-roof of the elegant Standard Oil Building across from the War Memorial Building for the last couple of months. One of the things you notice right off about… Read More ›

• Halfway through the Northeast Poll–is anybody out there?

  By ELMalvaney on March 11, 2011 • ( 6 )

  

  Well, there no use pussyfooting around–nobody seems interested in historic properties in the Northeast corner of our state. Either that, or the people who are interested, aren’t online. I guess possibly the properties in the poll aren’t inspiring to people,… Read More ›

• Mississippi Architect, Oct 1963: Lyle Cashion Company

  By ELMalvaney on March 10, 2011 • ( 4 )

  

  A couple of years ago on a bright fall day, I walked down the section of Woodrow Wilson Avenue in Jackson between N. State and N. West Streets taking pictures of all the buildings on the north side, which date… Read More ›

• Tips on choosing an architect, and Eero Saarinen on the purpose of architecture

  By ELMalvaney on March 9, 2011 • ( 0 )

  

  In the October 1963 issue of Mississippi Architect, Bob Henry’s editorial gives some helpful tips about choosing an architect that are still relevant today. Also worthy of note in this issue is a short clip from Eero Saarinen‘s December 1959… Read More ›

• Newspaper Clippings: Quaker Oats in the Delta

  By ELMalvaney on March 8, 2011 • ( 6 )

  

  A while back on a trip up into the Delta, I swung through the little town of Drew to check out the Lil’ Red Schoolhouse, and then drove up the street into downtown Drew. Drew, of course, is famous as… Read More ›

• Northeast Poll is now open

  By ELMalvaney on March 4, 2011 • ( 7 )

  

  Now that we’ve covered the southwest corner and the southeast corner of the state, I think it’s time to move up to the northeast corner in our polling to create our 101 Places to See Before You Die. As in… Read More ›

• Meanwhile, at another court building up the street a ways . . .

  By ELMalvaney on March 3, 2011 • ( 9 )

  

  Yesterday’s post about the new federal courthouse got me thinking about courthouses and government buildings, and as it happens, another court building–this one for the Mississippi State Supreme Court–is also almost complete after a number of years of construction and… Read More ›

• Feds Gone Mad

  By ELMalvaney on March 2, 2011 • ( 17 )

  

  I don’t consider myself an architectural critic since I’m a historian, not an architect. I tend to look at buildings from a historical perspective and examine what they tell me about the people who built them rather than judging them… Read More ›

• Before and After: Motel Jo-Anna, Vicksburg

  By ELMalvaney on March 1, 2011 • ( 7 )

  

  Back a few weeks ago, the Urban Decay blog ran a post about the Johanna Motel in Vicksburg, which when kodachromeguy photographed it in 2004 had seen better days. The building was torn down only a few years later, so… Read More ›

• Coast Poll Results

  By ELMalvaney on February 28, 2011 • ( 3 )

  

  On schedule, our Coast poll shut down around midnight Friday night, with a final total of 4,191 votes. This number is in the range of the Natchez total of 4,502 votes, so it’s good to see so much participation and… Read More ›

• Some awfully cool furniture

  By ELMalvaney on February 25, 2011 • ( 5 )

  

  Every time I go into the Mississippi Museum of Art, I end up at a glass case right beside the entrance wishing I had brought my camera. The case is called Vitra Design Museum Miniatures Collection and it features a… Read More ›

• Builder Pics: M.T. Lewman & Co.

  By ELMalvaney on February 24, 2011 • ( 9 )

  

  I supposed most of you have never heard of M.T. Lewman or his son H.L, or their building company, M.T. Lewman & Co. but if you’ve traveled around Mississippi or most any other Southern state, or looked at old postcards… Read More ›

• New Book on Black Architect W.A. Rayfield

  By ELMalvaney on February 23, 2011 • ( 9 )

  

  Last week, W. White listed some of the architects mentioned in The American School and University publications beginning in the late 1920s. Another architect listed in that same directory but not mentioned last week (because there were no Mississippi buildings… Read More ›

• Spring Pilgrimage Time

  By ELMalvaney on February 22, 2011 • ( 6 )

  JRGordon’s note about the pilgrimage in yesterday’s News Roundup reminded me that it is indeed about that time of year. In fact, with the crazily warm weather we’ve been having, it looks like the pilgrimages better get going soon before… Read More ›

• We’re halfway through the Coast poll. Do you know where your favorite place is?

  By ELMalvaney on February 18, 2011 • ( 4 )

  

  After a fairly slow start, the Gulf Coast poll to help us build our list of 101 Mississippi Places to See Before You Die has taken off in the last few days, helped apparently by a large contingent of Hancock… Read More ›

• New Grant Program for Civil Rights Sites

  By ELMalvaney on February 15, 2011 • ( 0 )

  In case you haven’t seen this post on the MDAH website, they are announcing a bricks-and-mortar grant program for civil rights sites. As you may recall, a few weeks ago W. White ran a very helpful summary list of the… Read More ›

• Round the Blogosphere 2-14-2011

  By ELMalvaney on February 14, 2011 • ( 3 )

  

  In case you missed the significance of the date in today’s title, it is indeed Valentine’s Day. If you forgot, you still have a chance to recover and to pretend you had been planning a surprise all along. The blogosphere… Read More ›

• Vote for your favorite Gulf Coast places

  By ELMalvaney on February 11, 2011 • ( 19 )

  Well we’ve had a week off from polling, but if we’re going to build a list of 101 Mississippi Places to See Before You Die, we need to keep at it. Last week we finished off the Natchez poll, and… Read More ›

• Reflecting on the Old Capitol

  By ELMalvaney on February 9, 2011 • ( 3 )

  

  Yesterday was the second anniversary of Preservation in Mississippi, but in keeping with the tradition I began inadvertently last year, we will celebrate that grand occasion today instead. Since the very first post on MissPres–typed out on a whim before… Read More ›

• Natchez Poll Results

  By ELMalvaney on February 7, 2011 • ( 9 )

  As advertised, the Natchez area poll closed at midnight on Friday, giving us our first completed poll in the quest to build a list of 101 Mississippi Places to See Before You Die. Below is the final tally for the… Read More ›

• Vacation Postcards: Della’s Tourist Court, Brookhaven

  By ELMalvaney on February 4, 2011 • ( 2 )

  

  MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past. “Stayed here Thursday night, June 7, 1956.”

• Vacation Postcards: Corona Plaza Motel, Corinth

  By ELMalvaney on February 3, 2011 • ( 1 )

  

• Vacation Postcards: Bill Will Motel, Canton

  By ELMalvaney on February 2, 2011 • ( 12 )

  

  MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past.

• A Nerdy Milestone

  By ELMalvaney on February 1, 2011 • ( 7 )

  

  I had really hoped to catch a screenshot when we hit 100,000 views on the dot, but I missed it entirely. Oh well, that’s what vacation is for. Maybe the next 100,000 won’t take 2 years.

• Vacation Postcards: Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts, Gulfport

  By ELMalvaney on February 1, 2011 • ( 2 )

  

  MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past.