The 1830s was a bumper decade for Mississippi architecture, and as we will see in this week’s Tag Tuesday, for architecture in other states too. Exemplified by the Mississippi Statehouse (now the Old Capitol) and the Governor’s Mansion, the Greek… Read More ›
Capitols Old & New
MissPres at 10: The Old Capitol’s Red Brick Phase
Preservation in Mississippi is 10 years old today–can you believe it? Traditionally, we take the day of our anniversary to go back to the subject of the original MissPres post, the Old Capitol: not just one of Mississippi’s most historic sites and… Read More ›
Friday Film: New Capitol’s New North Terrace (and Vermont marble floor)
You have to click through to the video, but it’s worth a look at the just completed North Terrace renovation and for the story of how they found the original marble quarry. Can’t get enough of the New Capitol?
MissPres at 9: The Old Capitol’s First (?) Hurricane
Today is this little blog’s 9th anniversary, and since our first post ever was about the Old Capitol, each year we celebrate by revisiting this National Historic Landmark and the storms, both literal and figurative, it has endured and overcome…. Read More ›
MissPres Word of the Week: Pediment, Broken Pediment
E.L. Malvaney has a submitted request for this MissPres Word of the Week, emailing along the photo below saying, “…Another word I’ve recently thought of that should be a word of the week is “broken pediment.” I suppose to break the… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 8-22-2017
Busy week in the world of Mississippi Preservation. Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. Last Tuesday a public meeting in Hattiesburg was held to determine a course of action for the former Mount Carmel Baptist Church on Main Street. According to… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 5-9-2017
Let’s start this week’s roundup big news of the National Historic Landmark plaque dedication ceremony at the New Capitol.
New Capitol Presentations Available Online
If you were not able to attend last month’s lectures at Mississippi State on Restoring the Mississippi State Capitol, fear not! The presentations of both Jennifer Baughn (MDAH Chief Architectural Historian) and Lawson Newman (WFT Architects) have been made available online… Read More ›
Two Friday Puzzles For Two Preservation Events
This Friday we’ve got two puzzles for two preservation-related events that are taking place: one today and one tomorrow. Today (3/24/17) at Mississippi State University is the Dan and Gemma Camp Classical Lecture: Restoring the Mississippi State Capitol, to be… Read More ›
Friday Film: Mississippi’s New Capitol
Today’s Friday Film is part of the Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s “Mississippi: A Thread Through Time.” As part of the state’s bicentennial this year MPB has produced a new series of one-minute documentaries. A new story will be presented each week. Several weeks… Read More ›
MissPres at 8: Oh Bilbo, where are our columns?
Today is the last in our four-part 8th blog birthday series about the renovation of our Old Capitol in 1916-17, as recalled in 1949 by the assistant secretary to the Capitol Commission, A.S. Coody. This project saved this important and… Read More ›
MissPres at 8: Spiral staircases and magnificent timbers
As you read today’s post, the third in a four-part series celebrating Preservation in Mississippi’s 8th birthday, remember that this article, “Repair of and Changes in the Old Capitol,” was written by A.S. Coody in 1949. This section of the… Read More ›
MissPres at 8: It seems to have been generally accepted that the old capitol could not be restored.
Yesterday’s post began our special birthweek series, a partial reprint of A.S. Coody’s 1949 article “Repair of and Changes in the Old Capitol.” We cut him off in the middle of a long section called “The Movement for Restoration,” just after… Read More ›
MissPres at 8: Repairing the Old Capitol, 1916-1917
The movement for a “restoration” of the old state house was begun in 1903. The proposal was that the building be restored to its original condition and used as an historic landmark, possibly by the Department of Archives and History. The reports of architects who examined the building were adverse, and it was accepted as true that the building was dangerous, and likely to collapse at any time.
Mississippi Capitol Earns National Landmark Status
I didn’t plan on taking a vacation from the blog this week, but how could I have known the Cubs would take me through such a nerve-wracking World Series and making me stay up so late on Wednesday to get them through those… Read More ›
Friday Puzzler: A Tale of Two Domes
Here is a Friday puzzler for all you puzzle masters out there. You might be familiar with “Tale of Two Domes” a saga in which architect George R. Mann claimed that the Mississippi New Capitol building’s dome is based on… Read More ›
Newspaper Clippings: Two millionth Chevy climbs Capitol steps
A friend sent me this article from May 1926, and I’ve filed it away in the folder labeled “Couldn’t Happen Nowadays” and tagged it “Too Good to Keep To Myself.” Enjoy! Two Millionth Chevy Climbs Capitol Steps The two millionth… Read More ›
A New Capitol Thanksgiving
Mississippi’s beloved New Capitol moved a big step toward becoming a National Historic Landmark last week, according to the MDAH Historic Preservation Division’s Facebook post: This Monday at the historic Charles Sumner School in Washington DC, Ken P’Pool, Mississippi’s Deputy… Read More ›
New Capitol Nominated for NHL Status
According to the MDAH Historic Preservation Division Facebook page: We are excited to announce that at its November 2015 meeting, the National Park Service’s Landmarks Committee will be considering whether to recommend the Mississippi State Capitol for National Historic Landmark… Read More ›
Mississippi Unbuilt: A Capitol at Vicksburg
In the banner of the Vicksburg Weekly Whig appear the names of Marmaduke Shannon, Publisher and Proprietor, and James K. Carnes, Editor. I’m not sure which one of them is responsible for this zinger of an editorial, but it deserves an… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 6-15-2015
Well, I have played hookey from the news roundup for so long that my list of articles was starting to really look at me askance, so to catch us all up, how about one of those Cliff Notes versions that… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 5-11-2015
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a proper news roundup, so we have lots to catch up on (or “on up which to catch”?). A couple of stories and videos in the last few weeks have kept us updated… Read More ›
Digital Preservation: Reality or Mirage?
Today is this little blog’s 6th birthday, and in keeping with tradition, we will revisit the Old Capitol, a touchstone of Mississippi’s preservation movement. This year, I’ve been thinking a lot about a statement that came out of the mouth… Read More ›
Mississippi Unbuilt: A Holabird & Roche Capitol
You may recall a 2012 post, “Mississippi Unbuilt: 1897 New Capitol,” about a proposed New Capitol for Mississippi, designed by the Memphis firm Weathers and Weathers, that was never built although it received full-page treatment in January 1897. Perhaps the… Read More ›
Twin Domes: Arkansas’ State House Commissioners Visit Mississippi
Well, it’s been a long time since we heard of our old friend George Mann, the architect of the Arkansas Capitol, and his nemesis, George Donaghey, so when I spied this little article in the Daily Clarion Ledger, May 21, 1903,… 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!
Mississippi Time Travel
If you are a Google maps user you may have noticed that Google finally took me up on my idea to make multiple generations of its street views visible. (It’s scary to think if I say stuff loud enough in… Read More ›