Once again, the News Roundup will start in the southwest part of the state, in Natchez. “Tour opens possibilities downtown” states that the Possibilities Tour (which I reported on in the first News Roundup of the year) brought various interested… Read More ›
Demolition/Abandonment
Auld Lang Syne: Friends We Lost in 2015
2015 has been a rough year for Mississippi’s historic buildings. Fire, storms, economic hardship, and public officials with no vision (a class of people who I hope will never receive an iota of sympathy here on MissPres no matter how… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 11-30-2015
How about a quick News Roundup to ease ourselves back into work and life after what I hope was a (take your pick) quiet/relaxing/exciting/adventuresome/food-filled/family-packed Thanksgiving break in which you slept/worked in the yard/cooked/read/ate/watched football/avoided people/shopped on Black Friday/watched football (did… Read More ›
Weather Takes Down Two Okolona Buildings
Two historic buildings in downtown Okolona, the old Merchants & Farmers Bank and its next-door neighbor, met their demise in the bad weather on Tuesday night, according to WTVA. A third building, dating to the 1880s, appears to be in a… Read More ›
Not Good News from Hattiesburg
Rainy weather last weekend cast a pallor that hung over Hattiesburg and provided a mood to match the endangered condition of several of that fair city’s landmark structures. Easton School having been victim of years of neglect by the City of Hattiesburg is… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 10-5-2015
Well, at our last news roundup, times were good in Mississippi football. This time around, not so much. You win some, you lose some, but as we know in preservation, you must get back on your feet, adjust your helmet, and… Read More ›
Fire Fiend Takes Two Historic Buildings in Port Gibson
According to the Natchez Democrat: An abandoned service station and former hotel building were destroyed in the fire, the dispatcher said. The building was once reportedly home to the African-American entertainers of the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, which have a Mississippi… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 9-14-2015
Now that the first hints of fall have arrived, I have the energy to look around and see what preservation news is going on in our little postage stamp of the world. First off, if you’re near Rolling Fork tomorrow,… Read More ›
Commemorating Landmarks Lost to Katrina
There are eight magnolia markers along the coast that feature engravings for the structures lost due to Hurricane Katrina. The drawings were done by Richard J. Cawthon, a historic preservation specialist for FEMA’s Mississippi Recovery Office & former chief architectural historian… Read More ›
Let’s Revisit Ceres, Shall We?
Maybe you remember the little brewhaha over the proposed demolition of antebellum Ceres Plantation, located on the north side of I-20 just east of Vicksburg, beginning in 2009. It had had the misfortune of being bought by the Warren County… Read More ›
46th Anniversary of Hurricane Camille
To mark this occasion let’s look back at a collection of posts as to how we’ve previously commemorated the anniversary of the Gulf Coast’s second-most destructive storm in memory. Last year we marked the 45th Anniversary of Hurricane Camille by taking a… Read More ›
Update on Endangered Holly Springs House
New research by Preserve Marshall County and Holly Springs on the endangered “little white house” behind Holly Springs City Hall indicates it was in fact the original surveyor’s office of Hugh Craft, who came to town as a surveyor for… Read More ›
Another One Bites the Dust
It’s not suspicious at all when a backhoe appears on a Saturday morning behind a historic city-owned building that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been the subject of intense local debate, has been included on the… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 7-13-2015
Murder, mayhem, and money top the list of news items in this week’s MissPres News Roundup.
Is It Historic? Is It Endangered? Is It Worth Fighting For?
On Thursday, October 22, the Mississippi Heritage Trust will announce the 10th listing of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi at the Lowry House in Jackson, once endangered and now undergoing a remarkable transformation. Is there a historic… Read More ›
Sad News From Lake Washington
This morning, I checked my email to find several quick anguished notes from Delta friends letting me know that our beloved Mt. Holly, long endangered but beautiful even in its decline, was in flames. On Facebook, the group called “Antebellum Mansions of… Read More ›
TR’s sights to see in Hattiesburg
You might already be in town for the MHT conference, or you’ll be heading that way this morning. Either way it should be a busy two days with all the sessions planned. Some of my favorite places will be part of… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 3-16-2015
I know you’re probably exhausted, as I am, from a weekend of revelry in celebration of Pi Day, but alas, it’s time to get down to business. First, a nice story on WLOX about the 1913 Webb School in Bay St. Louis,… Read More ›
Wilkinson County’s Forest Home Plantation Burns
Friday, March 6, one of Wilkinson County’s plantation homes, Forest Hill, also known as Shamrock, burned to the ground. It was reported on several Facebook groups dedicated to the Natchez region, including the Natchez, MS, History group and Rodney Remembering,… Read More ›
Modern Mississippi Update
If you haven’t visited the Mississippi Heritage Trust website http://www.lovemsmod.com since its launch you need to stop back by. The posts are piling up and have highlighted some of Jackson and the Gulf Coast’s premier Modern works. They are, in no particular… Read More ›
Gulf Coast Gas Company, Oak Street Facility
From the Walter Fountain Collection-Local History and Genealogy Department of the Biloxi Public Library. This photo from the January 18, 1995 edition of the Sun Herald had the following explanatory text. Click on the image for more detail. The article refers to the enterprise… Read More ›
Holly Springs Gas Reservoir Explodes
The gas well explosion this week in Smith County reminds us of the dangers of any industrial process. A gas explosion more than 110 years ago gives some insight as to why I haven’t been able to find much information on… Read More ›
Crossing the Pascagoula Twenty Years Apart
To shake out the winter dust and get on the road I took a trip to George County. I had several stops to make but I had two destinations with a common thread: crossing the Pascagoula River. The first stop on… Read More ›
Auld Lang Syne: Friends We Lost in 2014
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 ›
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 ›
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.