It’s time to start our traditional MissPres end-of-year lists for 2014 and as usual, we begin with a sad list of lost historic buildings. Some of these have gotten attention through the year, some haven’t, but I think it’s important… Read More ›
Building Types
Happy Hanukkah Y’all! 2014
A holiday that is celebrated with fried food? What Mississippian wouldn’t like that? Tonight (really Dec. 23, but I pressed the “Publish” button too soon) will be the eighth night of Hanukkah. MissPres is marking the occasion with photos of the Congregation Beth Israel… Read More ›
Modern Meridian Tour 12.13.14
If you were not able to make it to the Modern Meridian Tour last Saturday, you really missed out on a special opportunity to see some places not generally open to the public. The morning started in the Crestwood Elementary… Read More ›
Chris Risher: Colonial Revivalist?
I’ve often admired this little brick commercial building on Old Canton Road in Jackson, just south of Highland Village for its use of traditional motifs like the brick veneer, columned gallery, pilastered door surround, and other thoughtful details in what is clearly a 1960s or 1970s building.
Suzassippi’s Mississippi Church Tour: Please sign the visitor’s card
In her Historic Churches of Mississippi (Sherry Pace, with Richard J. Cawthon, 2007, University Press of Mississippi), Pace takes us on a tour of churches throughout the state. Cawthon’s Lost Churches of Mississippi (2010, University Press of Mississippi) added the… Read More ›
Yes Virginia, there is hope for the Meridian Police Department
OK preservationists, finish up those letters to Santa and get your comments in to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in support of Mississippi Landmark status for the Meridian Police Department. The salient facts: The building is a watershed of… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 12-8-2014
Modernism tour in Meridian, Holiday Home tour in Leland, county demolitions in Vicksburg, a plea to save the Natchez bluff, and a mannequin named Paulette who greets visitors from her porch in Carrollton.
New Deal in Mississippi: Columbus Post Office and Mural
The Columbus post office (1937-1939) in Lowndes County is another of the federal buildings funded and constructed by the New Deal Administration. In the case of Columbus, the result was a Stripped Classic building, which was described as …largest and… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 12-1-2014
All the preservation news that’s fit to print, from Jackson to Natchez, from Meridian to Vicksburg, from Holly Springs to Rodney, and even some historical archaeology thrown in because it’s Monday!
MissPres News Roundup 11-17-2014
News updates from Jackson, Greenwood, DeSoto County, Waverley Mansion, and Ocean Springs.
Mid-Century Medical: Jackson’s University Plaza
A while back, Thomas Rosell introduced us to University Plaza, a group of Modernist medical clinics in Jackson just south of Memorial Stadium. Specifically, Thomas’ post focused on the clinic of Drs. Johnson and Wiener, designed by J.T. Liddle and… Read More ›
Veterans Day 2014
This day we honor veterans of all of America’s wars, but especially our doughboys of the Great War, which began in 1914 and consumed a generation of men. Meridian’s World War I monument was dedicated November 11, 1927. All photos downloaded… Read More ›
Abandoned Mississippi: Pinewood Motor Court
Three years ago, after a long day of bumping around Vicksburg looking at cool old stuff, I decided to take one of my favorite stretches of highway back to Jackson, Highway 80 between Vicksburg and Edwards. It was about this… Read More ›
From the Age of Hi-Fi to Wi-Fi…the Rex Plaza in Tupelo
Those passing Gloster Square at 619 North Gloster Street in Tupelo might easily miss the significance of the place. The low-slung buildings hardly suggest the sleek modern look that once heralded a new age of travel in Mississippi. Builder Cy… Read More ›
Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Lynville Gymnasium
Lynville’s 1947 gymnasium is 1.5 stories. The gable roof building is still standing, and appears to be in remarkably good shape. You can see interior photographs from the MDAH HRI database. Since no one showed up to play but me… Read More ›
Mississippi by Air: Wood College, Mathiston
WOOD JUNIOR COLLEGE, MATHISTON, MISSISSIPPI 39752. Aerial View. Founded 1886–United Methodist Related–Southern Association Accreditation–Friendly Atmosphere–Individualized Attention–Low Student/Teacher Ration–400 Rural Acres.
Lynville School Complex: Home Economics Building and Teachers’ Houses
Last week we toured the WPA-built Lynville school building, with some good news about efforts to restore the building for community use. The home economics building was constructed that same year, in 1941. Mississippi, like many other states, often utilized… Read More ›
Chris Risher’s Colorful Temple
A while back, MissPreser W. White alerted me to a vintage publication called “Creative Ideas in Glass” for sale online. Published quarterly as “an architectural review” by specialty glass manufacturer American Saint Gobain, the brief, color booklet doesn’t have a… Read More ›
New Deal in Mississippi: Lynville School
New at the time construction materials and techniques were used. Exterior walls are of strand steel and poured concrete. It has a slate roof. (“Get together held at Lynville school.” 10/23/2013. Kemper County Messenger) The WPA financed school building was… Read More ›
Mississippi by Air: Biloxi’s Buena Vista Hotel-Motel
The Buena Vista Hotel-Motel, Biloxi, Miss., convention center on the Golden Mississippi Gulf Coast, offers the finest in modern Hotel-Motel accommodations. Complete convention and resort facilities on U.S. Highway 90.
Biloxi Gave The Whole Coast Gas
In our last post on Gasometers we saw a 1922 list of towns that had manufactured gas service. Of the eight service providers only one provided service to customers outside of the town in which the coal gas was manufactured…. Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 10-6-2014
Things are heating up in the Mississippi preservation world now that the weather is cooling a bit. In Jackson’s Fondren neighborhood, we pick up the story of the proposed Hampton Inn on the remaining green space next to Duling School…. Read More ›
Mississippians with Gas
If you haven’t read last week’s post on Gasometers, this post follows up on that discussion of the hulking, black, iron lungs that eased up and down at all hours of the day and night, depending on gas demand (for lighting, heating & cooking) and the manufacturer’s supply. We pondered what towns had gas works and the mysterious gasometers that were required to store the manufactured gas.
Suzassippi’s Mississippi: Zama Consolidated School
The community of Zama, in Attala County, was named for the daughter of one of the town’s founders. The first school building was constructed in 1907, and in 1949, Edgar Lucian Malvaney designed a new classroom building.
The Last Of The Mississippi Gasometers?
Several years ago Malvaney asked us the question what happened to the street car system that were so prevalent in towns large and small across Mississippi at the turn of the 20th century. These lines not only brought transportation but… Read More ›
Flora School Mystery
Here is another one of those intriguing mysteries that I cannot solve, and I have been trying since August 4th. The building pictured is currently being used as the Administration Building for the Madison County School system, and is located… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 9-15-2014
News from Jackson, West Point, Meridian, Philadelphia, Columbus, and did I mention Meridian?
Preservation in Mississippi 