As Thomas Rosell noted in his October 2018 post “News from Natchez,” the City of Natchez is once again pursuing a finding of “demolition by neglect” against the owner of antebellum mansion Arlington, a National Historic Landmark that suffered a… Read More ›
For some years, I know we’ve all been watching with interest and concern the semi-ghost town of Rodney and its most prominent landmark, Rodney Presbyterian Church, built in 1829. Frequent floods and constant neglect placed it on one of the… Read More ›
Last week several news stories from Natchez popped into my inbox, both of which contain good news for two iconic, and fire ravaged buildings. Firstly, after sixteen years, the Natchez Preservation Commission is moving forward with a legal battle to save… Read More ›
Before I get started on the post, I would like to thank Jennifer Baughn, Chief Architectural Historian at the MDAH’s Historic Preservation Division for providing me with the historic sites survey form for the I. Y. Johnson House and for… Read More ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
This is our last round-up for March. It’s hard to believe that we are about to enter the second quarter of 2017 already. Let’s jump right on in to this week’s roundup. Since our last news round-up, MDAH has hosted another preservation… Read More ›
Round ups might become an every-other week event if my schedule doesn’t let up soon. I still feel a little behind on the preservation goings on in Mississippi but let’s jump right on in to this week’s roundup. Since our last news… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi has actively followed the progress of Prospect Hill Plantation since 2009, when Malvaney posted “An Important House Needs Our Help.” Since 2011, Prospect Hill has been owned and slowly but steadily restored by The Archaeological Conservancy, spearheaded by… Read More ›
Get up off your duff, grab your gloves, gulp some water, and come help clean up the amazing Mississippi River Basin Model!
It’s been a long time since our last news roundup, and even longer since I undertook one. I’ve been out of town a lot the last couple of months, so I fear this roundup won’t approach comprehensiveness and will be… Read More ›
On Thursday, October 22, the Mississippi Heritage Trust will announce the 10th listing of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi at the Lowry House in Jackson, once endangered and now undergoing a remarkable transformation. Is there a historic… Read More ›
This morning, I checked my email to find several quick anguished notes from Delta friends letting me know that our beloved Mt. Holly, long endangered but beautiful even in its decline, was in flames. On Facebook, the group called “Antebellum Mansions of… Read More ›
After languishing for years and heading for ruin before the Archaeological Conservancy bought it a few years ago, things have been moving fast at Prospect Hill in the last month. If you’re on Facebook, you probably saw that an anonymous… Read More ›
As you recall, my last stop on my journey through Claiborne and Jefferson County back in August was at the semi-abandoned river town of Rodney, Mississippi. Important in the antebellum period, the town quickly began to dry up when the… Read More ›
One of Mississippi’s historic and architectural treasures is Rodney Presbyterian Church. Everyone seems to acknowledge this, so why can’t we figure out a way to at least keep the yard mowed a few times during the summer? Getting to Rodney… Read More ›
I was in Greenwood recently and while there I decided to go check on a hunch I had about a scene in The Help. I don’t actually have a great visual memory, but for some reason, this scene reminded me… Read More ›
I recently read through the Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy (1997) and came across this interesting little tidbit from Shelby Foote about Mount Holly south of Greenville, which had been owned by his grandfather after the Civil War:… Read More ›
Now that we have hope for the future of Mound Bayou’s Taborian Hospital, maybe we can renew some energy for Yazoo City’s earlier Afro American Sons and Daughters Hospital, long abandoned and disappearing beneath ravenous vines. Mississippi’s first hospital for… Read More ›
Time for another MissPres Architectural Word of the Week. As we move right along through the alphabet, you can check out our past words here. Have you been keeping an eye out for these elements like I have? This week… Read More ›
Recently I decided to take the Vaughan exit off I-55 to see how this little hamlet was doing. It’s been a while since I was through, maybe 2004 or 2005, but even then it seemed like things were slipping away…. Read More ›
Wow! I can’t believe it’s March already. Lots of Spring events on the calendar to take advantage of, so be sure to check it out. Now for the news: The biggest story I saw this week was from Natchez, where… Read More ›
You may recall a post from long ago called “Hinds County Armory Shamefully Neglected.” If you weren’t around then, this is a bit of what I said: Those of you who have visited the Mississippi State Fair might have noticed… Read More ›
Just before the New Year, MissPres reader “M” (who, I’m told, is a first cousin twice removed from James Bond’s “Q”), alerted us in a comment left on “Friends We Lost in 2011” that there appears to be a large… Read More ›
Happy New Year MissPres! I was on vacation for the holidays – but preservation in the news kept going (and thanks to Malvaney and Theodore who helped make sure I didn’t miss these stories while I was gone). Unfortunately, the… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 