Well, I didn’t start out the week with intention of having a Modernism theme, but since we’ve had three days of it, it just seems right throw in some pictures I took a few months ago on a road trip… Read More ›
Architectural Research
Lustron House in Jackson
Just around the corner from the classically proportioned J.R. Flint house designed by A. Hays Town in south Jackson is a house that makes no bones about its modernity. It’s a Lustron House, one of only two or three that… Read More ›
The Beauty of Modernist Storefronts
I admit I sometimes spend a good amount of money on a book that 99.999% of the population wouldn’t pay two cents for. I found one such book on a trip to Cincinnati a while back. Published in 1946, it’s… Read More ›
J.R. Flint House by Hays Town in South Jackson
A while back, regular commenter Carunzel (although come to think of it, where is Carunzel lately?) pointed out a little publication hidden away in the state archives that turned out to be a gem. Titled Builders of Mississippi and published… Read More ›
An Alabama-Mississippi Architectural Partnership
Multiple times on Preservation in Mississippi, the Meridian City Hall has been discussed. We all know that it was designed by preeminent Meridian architect P. J. Krouse. Or do we? Well, yes he designed it but the story is much… Read More ›
Some Early Sources About Mississippi Architecture
I’ve been spending alot of time on a website that is one of my favorites and also a nemesis, abebooks.com, which combines the databases of hundreds or thousands of used bookstores around the world. I enjoy seeing what pops up… Read More ›
Lost Churches of Mississippi in bookstores
In case you’ve missed the announcements, Lost Churches of Mississippi, a book that I’m sure most of you will want to add to your library has just come out in the last week. Published by University Press of Mississippi, the… Read More ›
Lost Mississippi: Concord, Natchez (1789-1901)
Last week’s WPA Guide to the Magnolia State mentioned the Natchez mansion “Concord” very prominently in its discussion of the evolution of architecture in Mississippi. Concord must have been an amazing place because although it burned in 1901, it has… Read More ›
WPA Guide to the Magnolia State: But the Depression is Great!
Today we come to the conclusion of the WPA Guide to the Magnolia State and its section on Architecture. While Beverly Martin, the young architect we have conjectured is the author, has shown his bias for the antebellum era and… Read More ›
WPA Guide to the Magnolia State: Let’s Just Forget 1865-1920
This week we’re working our way through the section on Architecture in the WPA Guide to the Magnolia State, published in 1938 as part of the Federal Writers’ Project. If you’re coming in late, make sure to pick up Part… Read More ›
WPA Guide to the Magnolia State: No Such Thing as “Southern Colonial”
Today’s post is the second in this week’s serial reproduction of the section on architecture in the Guide to the Magnolia State, published in 1938 as part of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writer’s Project. As we saw yesterday, this… Read More ›
Book Quotes: WPA Guide to the Magnolia State
As I get back on my feet from my French connection, I figured this week would be a good one to dedicate to another in the Book Quotes series. This week, we’ll take the section titled “Architecture” from Mississippi: Guide… Read More ›
Linking Around
I’m told that the original blogs tried to bring order to the World Wide Web primarily by pointing their readers to interesting articles or websites. I’m not exactly on the cutting edge of technology, so I probably wasn’t even aware… Read More ›
Progress of a sort in Hattiesburg
I drove through Hattiesburg again last weekend and decided to check on Eaton School, poor roofless creature that it was last I saw it. The good news is that the building now has a roof structure; the not-so-good-news is that… Read More ›
William R. Henry follow-up and more
Thanks to Carunzel, our crack researcher, for pulling up the 1952 yearbook for Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture, which contains a picture of a young William R. Henry, whose death we noted yesterday. You can access the “original” at Georgia… Read More ›
In Memoriam: William R. Henry (1925-2010)
I saw this letter to the editor from Nicholas Davis, Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Auburn, in the Clarion-Ledger a week or so ago, about the recent death of Mississippi architect William R. Henry: I was most saddened recently to… Read More ›
Hull’s Governor’s Mansion Report: What They Did in 1909
After William S. Hull made his case for preserving and renovating the building in the first few pages of his 1909 report on the Governor’s Mansion, he went into detail about how to carry out his vision, including the landscaping,… Read More ›
Hull’s Governor’s Mansion Report: An Argument for Preservation
This week we’re following William S. Hull’s Report on the Governor’s Mansion, prepared in 1909 to help the Legislature decide whether to repair/renovate the existing antebellum mansion or replace it with a new building. Hull argued for the renovation option… Read More ›
W.S. Hull’s Governor’s Mansion Report: Original Downtown Booster
Today we continue with our friend W.S. Hull’s 1909 report on the Governor’s Mansion. Yesterday, we learned a little bit about William S. Hull, one of Mississippi’s early native architects and brother of contractor Francis Blair Hull. In 1909, the… Read More ›
From the Archives: W.S. Hull’s Report on the Governor’s Mansion
I stumbled on this report about the Governor’s Mansion recently and thought that it would be an interesting series for the MissPres readership. Prepared in 1909 by Jackson architect W.S. Hull, it apparently provided the basis for a decision by… Read More ›
Historic Sheetrock? You betcha!
Last week when I saw Kaitlin’s post called “Old Sheetrock?” over on Preservation in Pink, I sent the link off as quick as a wink to a friend of mine down on the Coast who just loves old sheetrock. In… Read More ›
William A. Stanton on Ceres Plantation
A reader who took a special interest in the Ceres Plantation story a few weeks ago headed over to the state archives building to do a little digging into the history of the place. After picking through the WPA records… Read More ›
Why I want to live at Hattiesburg’s Art Deco P.O.
As I was headed out of Hattiesburg a week or so ago–having taken my pictures of Eaton School and scowling about the lack of progress and initiative on that roof (still haven’t heard an update, but I hope somebody finally… Read More ›
Meridian in the Beginning: Avery House
A while back, I ran a post lauding city directories and especially the 1889 Meridian directory that included a section called “Metropolis of the Southwest” with beautiful line drawings of landmarks in the boom town that was Meridian in the… Read More ›
Finding a (Dead) Architect
As you know, I enjoy getting to know all the architects and builders who created the landmarks that make Mississippi Mississippi. But research into architects, especially in the Magnolia State, can be really difficult since they didn’t really get organized… Read More ›
Abandoned Mississippi: Mt. Holly, Lake Washington
On my recent trip to Greenville, I swung through the Lake Washington community to check on Mt. Holly, the Italianate antebellum mansion that I had heard was falling into disrepair. As you may recall, Mt. Holly was one of the… Read More ›
Architect Pics: Claude H. Lindsley
I admit to being especially fascinated by Mississippi architect C.H. Lindsley: he came up apparently without any formal architectural training, designed two of the state’s most prominent skyscrapers when barely 30–the Tower Building (Standard Life) in Jackson and the Threefoot… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 