Remember that post a while back about streetcars and how they came and went in Mississippi with hardly any physical reminders or even decent maps to show where they had been? Well, over the holidays, I picked up a publication… Read More ›
Architectural Research
A glance at that amazing plasterwork
I hope y’all had a safe and relaxing New Year and were unaffected by the bad storms New Year’s Eve. We didn’t have any trees down in our neighborhood, but when I looked outside around 11 PM, I saw a… Read More ›
National Register 2010, Part 1
To finish off our end-of-the-year list series for the week, today and tomorrow we’ll cover the National Register listings, fourteen in all. Since these are more text-heavy than the Mississippi Landmark or demolition lists, I’m splitting this into two posts,… Read More ›
Architectural Twins: Two Overstreet Churches
Here’s a little light fare for Friday. I can’t claim any credit for today’s post, as I came across images of these two buildings while reading David H. Sachs’ 1986 Ph.D. dissertation, The Work of Overstreet and Town: The Coming… Read More ›
Mississippi Architect, August 1963: West End School, Meridian
The featured building in the August 1963 issue of Mississippi Architect is by R.B. Clopton, one of the Meridian Modernists who sometimes gets forgotten in the shadow of Chris Risher. I confess I don’t know much about Clopton except that… Read More ›
Mississippi Architect, August 1963
Today’s reprint of the editorial from Mississippi Architect’s August 1963 edition is especially interesting to me given some of the recent debates here on MissPres pitting Classicism against Modernism. As the tides of architectural styles rise and fall, many today… Read More ›
Architect Pics: Harry N. Austin
One architect who’s always been a bit of a mystery to me is Harry N. Austin. I should know more about him because he designed some great Classical landmarks around the state, including the Natchez City Hall, Bryant Hall at… Read More ›
Preservapedia
No it’s not a website dedicated to the preservation of Encyclopedias or even to the preservation of various wiki web pages. Preservapedia is “your open encyclopedia for heritage conservation.” The point being that although the internet is an amazing tool,… Read More ›
Keesler Field Barracks
Malvaney’s posts showing Camp Shelby back in World War II reminded me of a recent trip to Keesler AFB in Biloxi. When I was on base back in September I was surprised to find that there was a World War… Read More ›
Camp Shelby in WWII, Part 3
Today we’ll finish out our three-day Veterans Day with the remaining postcards from the c.1941 set showing the huge training facility at our own Camp Shelby. As bluerim noted in a comment, Camp Shelby boasts a fine military museum, one… Read More ›
Veterans Day 2010
In honor of Veterans Day, MissPres is taking a three-day trip back to Camp Shelby in World War II, via a set of prosy postcards meant for soldiers to send to family and friends. From the text itself, these seem… Read More ›
Honoring Veterans: Camp Shelby in WWII
Maybe you’ve seen the commercial from a chain steakhouse saying how proud they are of our veterans and to show how proud, they’re offering vets a free fried onion and beverage. Well, some might question whether a free full meal… Read More ›
History of Art in Mississippi: Ole Miss
As you may recall, a couple of weeks ago, we started an occasional Book Quotes series from the 1929 book The History of Art in Mississippi. Today we return to the chapter on Public Buildings with the entry on the… Read More ›
Funky Light Fixtures
I suspect I’m not the only MissPreser who enjoys the occasional Rejuvenation catalog that comes in the mail. Imagine my surprise when I spotted a Mid-Century Modern light fixture in a round student union building in the Mississippi Delta.
Modernism in the Mississippi Delta
One thing that surprised me when I moved to Mississippi and ventured into the Delta–a place that I had understood from various news stories was a place that time forgot–was how much the region had changed over the latter half… Read More ›
The Mysterious Case of the Missing Streetcar Lines
I’ve finally gotten around to reading a book that’s been on my shelf waiting for a while, Crabgrass Frontier by Kenneth T. Jackson. Not a traditional architectural history, the book does explain alot about how American cities and suburbs came… Read More ›
History of Art in Mississippi: County Court Houses
Let’s finish off this week with a shorter excerpt from The History of Art in Mississippi, still from the chapter on “Architecture in Public Buildings.” The authors examine three courthouses in particular, all from the 19th century. What do you… Read More ›
History of Art in Mississippi: Modern Office Structures
Today, we continue our Book Quotes series on the 1929 book, History of Art in Mississippi, which devotes a surprising amount of space to architecture. Like the author of the WPA Guide’s chapter on architecture, the ladies who compiled HoAiM… Read More ›
Book Quotes: History of Art in Mississippi
It’s been a while since our last Book Quotes series, way back in May, when summer had only just begun. Now, here we are in October when summer has yet to end, giving new meaning to that formerly romantic phrase… Read More ›
More About R.H. Hunt, and an Art Deco Delight
Yesterday, I showed just a few of the Mississippi gems designed by Chattanooga architect R.H. Hunt during his 40-year career beginning in the 1890s. To end the week on a high note, here are a few of the Hunt buildings… Read More ›
Architect Pics: Reuben Harrison Hunt of Chattanooga
While I was in Chattanooga last week, I decided to see if I could find the gravestone of Chattanooga architect R.H. Hunt, who designed a wealth of landmarks around Mississippi and throughout the Southeast from the 1890s through the early… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi Fall Reading List
I know that we are nearly a month into Fall, the season where the weather entices one to go outside and enjoy the air, but that does not mean I cannot publish a reading list for the season. Of course the… Read More ›
Mississippi Architect, July 1963: Architect’s Office
Ok, if you hate Modernism, or if you love Craftsman bungalows, or if your name is W. White, you might just want to stop reading right now. Today’s post, a reprint of the feature article in the July 1963 issue… Read More ›
Mississippi Architect, July 1963
Today we move into the July 1963 issue in the Mississippi Architect series, reprinted courtesy of the Mississippi Chapter of the AIA. If you’ve missed the previous entries, just click the MSArcht tab above to see the tables of contents… Read More ›
Architect Pics: William Nichols (1780-1853)
Well ok, this isn’t a traditional architect picture post. In fact, I don’t know that a picture exists of our own esteemed William Nichols–I don’t have Ford Peatross’ William Nichols’ Architect handy in front of me. Nichols was one of… Read More ›
Concrete Block Structures of Biloxi (Part II)
Last time all the buildings featured one type of block face. Today the two buildings we will look at feature two or more types of block. By the turn of the 20th century a block machine that could make a different block… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 9-4-2010
Since preservation is of course not limited to Mississippi and there is a number of national (or at least non-Mississippi) news articles that have piqued my interest, this is a special edition of the MissPres News Roundup. And here is the news. The… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 