Summer has really heated up in the Magnolia State, and we have a few really hot stories in the news this week. A quick reminder before we dive into the news, don’t forget that the Vicksburg Poll closes on Friday…. Read More ›
Building Types
The Hostess House and the Female Architect (…and Mississippi)
During the time of war many organizations provide relief services to troops and their families. World War One was no exception, and while most of these programs were strictly social aid there were a few brick and mortar projects. The… Read More ›
Lamar County Courthouse, Bless Its Heart
JRGordon’s mention of the planned renovations of the Lamar County Courthouse in Monday’s News Roundup gave me the perfect opportunity to jump back into blogging after lounging about while Susassippi and JR took over the last couple of weeks. A few… Read More ›
Cumbest Bluff Water Tank
About 15 miles north of Pascagoula on Highway 63, sits the community of Cumbest Bluff. Simon Cumbest(1755-1820) who first settled on the Pascagoula River in 1799 was the progenitor of the Mississippi Cumbest clan. Cumbest Bluff gained its name in 1832 when John… Read More ›
Bank of Mound Bayou: Charles Banks, A Chief Lieutenant
Charles Banks, already a successful businessman in Clarksdale, moved to Mound Bayou with the plan of greater accomplishments in the all-black town. Banks quickly became involved in the community, both politically and economically, and worked with Booker T. Washington and Tuskegee. Although… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 7-11-2011
I know our fearless leader is going on vacation, so there will be some guest posts this week and everyone should get ready for the next Name This Place Contest to start next week. With that, here’s the news: First,… Read More ›
Caillavet Street Bridge 1926-2011
It happened with so little fanfare that hardly anyone seemed to notice the demolition of the Caillavet Street bridge. This bridge once carried Caillavet Street to the north shore of back bay where Biloxi’s Caillavet Street became Central Avenue in… Read More ›
Old Glory
The Peoples Bank of Biloxi, Biloxi Miss. Built 1913-1914
Churchly Ionic German Doric with English Buttresses Style? Um . . .
As you may recall, I’ve been spending my rare and valuable-only-to-me spare time in the microfilm version of the Vicksburg Evening Post at MDAH, so I might be bugging y’all with quotes from one-hundred-year old articles from time to time…. Read More ›
Capitol Street Methodist Is Falling Down
Once it was a landmark of growth and progress, only the second Methodist congregation in Jackson, just across the railroad tracks in the fashionable new suburban area being laid out on West Capitol Street. Then it became the symbol of… Read More ›
Mississippi Architect, January 1964: Hattiesburg Clinic
Mississippi Architect’s January 1964 featured Mississippi building introduces us to a Hattiesburg architect we’ve mentioned only in passing here on MissPres, Stephen H. Blair (1926-1993). I don’t know much about Blair, but USM’s archives contains a collection of his drawings,… Read More ›
Rumblings and Bumblings from Meridian
I can’t find anything about this on the Meridian Star site (I don’t think they put all their articles online though), but I’ve heard from a couple of sources that after what appears to me to be a study with… Read More ›
Internet Archive Brings Us Picturesque Vicksburg
Catching up on my e-mails after my internet-less vacation, I found one from MissPreser Charles Bell, who passed on a link to a booklet I’ve been trying to buy with no success, Picturesque Vicksburg: A Description of the Resources and… Read More ›
Hopeful Update on Matty Hersee
A real vacation, in my opinion, does not include the internet or e-mail, so last week I tried to stick to my philosophical beliefs and avoid the digital world. It helped that the hotel charged $15/day for internet access and… Read More ›
National Trust “This Place Matters Community Challenge”
We’ll give everyone one more “light post” day to ease back from the MissPres vacation last week. On June 1, The National Trust for Historic Preservation opened voting in their 2011 This Place Matters Community Challenge. This year, they are… Read More ›
Vacation Postcards: Marshall Motel, West Point
MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past. “Got here about 10:00 p.m. Left Pensacola at 2:00 p.m. Colder here. Love, Margarette”
Vacation Postcards: Miramar Hotel, Pass Christian
MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past.
Vacation Postcards: Motel Dixiana, Vicksburg
MissPres is on vacation this week, but we’re sending postcards back from Mississippi’s past.
Lost Mississippi: Jacksonian Highway Hotel/Lefleurs Restaurant
The Jacksonian Highway Hotel was built at 4800 Highway 51 North (later Interstate 55 North), in an area only just beginning to blossom with commercial development. Construction was begun in April 1955. George Wilkinson and his partners at Crestline Development (later known as the Athens Investment Company) set out to build something more than just another motel.
Lighthouse Churches, By Land and By Sea
I drive Highway 49 south of Jackson often. One of the landmarks for this otherwise fairly boring stretch between Jackson and Hattiesburg is the Jesus Name Tabernacle near Florence (click on the link to hear a rousing gospel chorus), which… Read More ›
Demolishing History Before It Becomes Historic
Those of you who watched last night’s excellent and evocative PBS American Experience documentary “Freedom Riders” saw clips of the riders walking into Jackson’s Tri-State Trailways station and then walking almost right back out into the police wagon to be… Read More ›
Mississippi Architect, December 1963: Neshoba General Hospital
Today and tomorrow, we’ll look at a couple of articles from the December 1963 issue of Mississippi Architect, a monthly publication undertaken by the Mississippi chapter of the AIA from March 1963 through March 1965. If you recall, the posting… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 5-3-2011
The news was not fun to read this week. Reports from the damage of the tornadoes in Mississippi (and Alabama of course) are still coming in, with new information added each day. We’ll keep on it and report what we… Read More ›
Abandoned Mississippi: First Christian Church, Jackson
Jackson’s First Christian Church doesn’t exactly fit in with some of our other Abandoned Mississippi sites. It doesn’t sit crumbling, left alone in the woods or out in a field, far from the city. From the outside, in fact, the… Read More ›
They Fought the Feds and the Feds Won
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit in on a lunchtime roundtable discussion at the Society of Architectural Historians meeting hosted by the Louisiana chapter of the Modernist preservation group DOCOMOMO (a slightly difficult but fun-to-say… Read More ›
Lawrence County’s River Road Listed
As some of you may recall, last June we ran a post about the efforts of a group in Lawrence County to get their historic river road designated as a Mississippi Landmark. (Actually, as it turns out, the group was… Read More ›
Newspaper Clippings: Leflore County Courthouse (1904-05)
I spent a little time at the state archives this weekend scrolling through the microfilm newspapers. It was packed Saturday morning, and competition was fierce for the two remaining microfilm copiers in service. One thing I’ve learned in my years… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 