With the amazing fall weather we’ve been having this month, you might be getting fall fever, ready to head outdoors and see the world. If so, now is a great time to head over to Vicksburg for a day trip… Read More ›
Architectural Research
Architects’ Homes: Emmett J. Hull, Jackson
Nestled in the middle of Jackson’s Belhaven neighborhood is the home of Emmett J. Hull (1882-1957), an early twentieth-century architect who was part of one big building family: son of Francis B. Hull nephew of W.S. Hull, cousin of Edgar L. Malvaney Oh,… Read More ›
Before and After: Admiral Benbow Inn, Jackson
I haven’t done a Before-and-After in a while, but one of yesterday’s masonry screens came from the old Admiral Benbow Inn (now Admiral Retirement Center) and reminded me I had an old postcard from its glory days of colorful panels… Read More ›
In Praise of Masonry Screens
I’ve pretty much fallen in love with masonry screens since I first started noticing them a few years ago. Most popular in the 1950s through 1970s, these decorative concrete block are a low-cost way to create a wall, provide privacy… Read More ›
Meridian Federal Courthouse makes the New York Times
Thanks to MissPreser John C for passing along this link to an article in the New York Times this week, “Last Chapter for a Court with a Place in History.” The Meridian Star has recently announced that the federal courthouse… Read More ›
Where in the world is Frank Lloyd Wright?
In “Go East, Old Man: An Architect’s Archive Is Sent Packing,” the Wall Street Journal’s Eric Felten bemoans the recent announcement that Frank Lloyd Wright’s priceless archive of drawings, correspondence, and office records has been sold by the Frank Lloyd Wright… Read More ›
HABS Photographer Jack Boucher (1931-2012)
Jack Boucher, HABS photographer, documented the high and the low of Mississippi’s architecture, from the finest craftsmanship to the slave quarters to the privies. Through his photos, we can still experience in just a small way some of the landmarks that are now gone, including Assembly Hall, where Mississippi’s territorial legislature met.
Mississippi Architect, September 1964: Moss Point Municipal Building
The new Moss Point Municipal Building, designed by H.F. Fountain of Biloxi was the subject of the September 1964 issue of Mississippi Architect magazine. Unfortunately, this building’s life was cut short by Hurricane Katrina, as I believe it flooded like… Read More ›
Mississippi Architect, September 1964: At the Beginning of the Mississippi Museum of Art
Most of us have probably been to the Mississippi Museum of Art in downtown Jackson for one reason or another. For a small-state art museum, they put on some pretty big shows while also keeping it real with their Mississippi… Read More ›
Happy Labor Day
In honor of Labor Day, which according to the Dept. of Labor webpage is “a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers,” I thought it might be worthwhile to reprint… Read More ›
MissPres Architectural Word of the Week: Quatrefoil
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. This week’s word is a Gothic and Renaissance (both original and revival) architecture staple, but… Read More ›
Modernist Storefronts of Pascagoula
Pascagoula, better known for its colonial-period Old Spanish Fort (aka De le Pointe-Krebs House), actually has some really interesting mid-20th-century buildings for the architectural explorer to examine. The commercial strip on Delmas Avenue in particular, although partially covered as a downtown “mall” as part of an urban renewal scheme in the 1970s, still has a few nicely done Modernist storefronts.
Gargoyles and Grotesques I Have Known
Thomas Rosell remarked after yesterday’s post that there is a difference between gargoyles and grotesques, namely that gargoyles serve a function as a downspout, while grotesques are, well, I guess “ornamental” may not be the best term, but mainly their… Read More ›
Show Me the Alligator Gargoyles!
Last week when I was working on the Tower Building post, I opened up that valuable little book Jackson Landmarks, compiled and published by the Jackson Junior League back in 1982. Every time I peruse this book I find something new,… Read More ›
Going Inside: MSU’s Chapel of Memories
We had a little fun at MSU’s expense in yesterday’s “MSU’s Love Affair With Building Plaques,” but the truth is, MSU has many many great buildings on its campus. In fact, I’m going out on the limb here to assert… Read More ›
MSU’s Love Affair With Building Plaques
I was up at Mississippi State University recently and decided to walk through a building I had never actually seen inside before, the Bost Extension Center. As always, I made sure to check out the plaque in the lobby telling… Read More ›
Newspaper Clippings: Jackson’s Art Deco Icon at the Beginning
Details of revised plans for a million dollar 22-story office building, towering more than 100 feet above any structure in Jackson, and to be built by the Enochs and Flowers interests and the Paul Chambers and associated interests, were announced last night.
Homogeneously Eclectic Yazoo City Storefronts
Yazoo City’s downtown may qualify as the most homogenous in the state, by which I mean of the same period and of a piece. As most of you probably know, a great fire took out a couple dozen blocks of… Read More ›
Uncredited Mississippi: Forest Heights, Gulfport
In my car I keep a copy of A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia and Lee McAlester. It comes in handy when I have some time to spend while waiting for an appointment or if I am out… Read More ›
Going Inside: Brookhaven P.O.
Listed on the National Register both individually and as part of the Downtown Brookhaven Historic District, the Brookhaven Post Office is an impressive building. It’s also surrounded by impressive buildings, including the First Methodist Church and the Whitworth College campus… Read More ›
Mississippi Builders: Isaac C. Garber
You’ve probably never heard of Isaac Calvin Garber, better known on various cornerstones and building plaques around the state as I.C. Garber. But if you’ve been to Jackson or Laurel or dozens of other places around the state; attended Mississippi… Read More ›
Mississippi Architect, August 1964: Greenville Motor Bank
The August 1964 issue of the Mississippi Architect magazine features a building type that I hadn’t even noticed on the landscape until Thomas Rossell started pointing it out to me: the motor bank, better known to us today as the… Read More ›
Mississippi Architect, August 1964: “Assembly Line” Holiday Inn
In his editorial for August 1964, Mississippi Architect editor and Jackson architect Bob Henry calls architects to public service. If you know an architect, odds are, he or she is serving on a board of some kind, whether public or… Read More ›
Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Linden Terrace, Holly Springs
My first trip through Holly Springs was in the fall of 2003, on my way to Memphis. I was fascinated by the Square, and Mississippi Industrial College, and vowed to return. Although I finally made my first visit to MIC… Read More ›
Mississippi by Air: School for the Deaf, Jackson
For a current view of the campus, check out the Birdseye view on Bing: http://binged.it/M3tmJW and see if you can spot which original buildings are still there.
Should the New Capitol Be a National Historic Landmark?
Starting around the centennial of our New Capitol in 2003, there have been occasional rumblings about trying to have the building bumped up from its current National Register listing to a National Historic Landmark designation. National Historic Landmarks are the… Read More ›
Mississippi by Air: Camp Zion, Myrtle
Happy camping season!
Preservation in Mississippi 