In the Spring of 1936, HABS photographer James Butters visited the John Ford House in the Sandy Hook community just north of the Louisiana/Mississippi line on the west side of the Pearl River. The house must have impressed him because… Read More ›
Historic American Building Survey (HABS)
NPS plans to demolish . . . er . . . “remove” several National Register-listed Tupelo Homesteads. Tell them what you think by June 28!
Eight houses located on the east side of Old Hwy 45/North Gloster and one house on the west side of Old 45 in Tupelo are proposed for removal (demolition) by the National Park Service, America’s premier historic preservation agency. The… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Jack Boucher, photographer
The HABS photographers assiduously remained out of their own photos of the nation’s historic buildings, so recently when I was trawling around newspapers.com (I’m not addicted. I can stop whenever I feel like it) I was happy to find a… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Concord Quarters, Natchez
Concord Quarters was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in January, and I believe this is the first individually listed slave quarters building (apart from a main house) in Mississippi. That’s fitting, since Concord, the c.1790 home of… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Lowndes County Courthouse
With its impressive domed clock tower, round-arched windows, and modillioned portico, the Lowndes County Courthouse seems to characterize the confident neoclassicism of the early 20th century. But in fact, it is a somewhat rare antebellum courthouse, built in 1847 and… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Stealing an Alabama HABS Structure – “Jacinto” Doctor’s Office
A bit of a clickbait title if I am honest, but Mississippi does have one of Alabama’s HABS structures. Located on the Old Tishomingo County Courthouse Square in Jacinto is a diminutive but vividly painted and striking building. Yet almost… Read More ›
Mississippi’s National Historic Engineering Landmark
Malvaney’s post at the end of March about the Historic American Engineering Record(HAER) drawings made me think about one of my favorite trivia questions. What is Mississippi’s one National Historic Engineering Landmark?
HABS in Mississippi: Rodney Presbyterian Church
As a reminder about the recent formation of the Rodney History and Preservation Society and how you might want to join in its mission to preserve remaining structures in historic Rodney, especially the Rodney Presbyterian Church, today’s HABS post is dedicated… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Col. Moore House, Winona
When I first started this post, I didn’t know where in Winona the Col. Moore House was, or even who Col. Moore was, and unfortunately, the sparse record in the MDAH Historic Resources Database informed me that it was no… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Dr. C.M. Vaiden House, Vaiden
The MDAH Historic Resources Database says about the Dr. C.M. Vaiden House, which it also calls Prairie Mount: “Like nearby Malmaison and Indian Mound, this was a large, elegant two-story porticoed mansion in the “Bracketed Greek Revival” style. Having been… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Stanton Hall, Natchez
HABS photographer Lester Jones took a grand total of one photo of Stanton Hall in 1940, and because there are no photographer’s notes, it’s not clear why this grand historic home, now a National Historic Landmark and open daily for… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Oakland Chapel, ASU
Strangely enough for a National Historic Landmark (and one of the 101 Mississippi Places To See Before You Die), we really don’t appear to have great information about the construction of Oakland Chapel at Alcorn State University. Originally built as… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Hope Farm, Natchez
According to the MDAH Historic Resources Database: “Hope Farm is thought to have been constructed in the late 18th century, making it one of the oldest buildings remaining in the state. It is believed that the house was constructed by… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Skipwith House, Oxford
Unlike yesterday’s Rice-Stix Factory in Water Valley, you won’t have a chance to visit today’s featured building when you attend next week’s ListenUp! preservation conference. Probably designed and built by architect Gustavus M. Torgerson in 1876, the eclectic, Second Empire-style… Read More ›
HABS in Mississippi: Rosalie, Natchez
In last week’s series, “Cataloguing HABS in Mississippi,” Virginia Price introduced us to the Historic American Buildings Survey, begun in the 1930s, and explained how the federal program worked in Mississippi. Architect A. Hays Town, later known for his creative… Read More ›
Cataloguing Mississippi for HABS: Early Recording Efforts
The following list of buildings and sites was taken from documents in Record Group 515 at the National Archives. Twelve buildings were recorded through measured drawings in the 1930s, and in 1939 additional places were considered. The resulting list, entitled “Structures Proposed for Measurement,” was compiled by the state office led by District Officer Emmett J. Hull.
Cataloguing Mississippi for HABS, Part 3
In the final episode of this three-part series about HABS in Mississippi, Virginia Price explores the dominance of the old river towns Natchez and Vicksburg in the HABS collection for Mississippi, and the consequent impression that the Greek Revival style constituted Mississippi’s architectural golden age.
Cataloguing Mississippi for HABS, Part 2
In Part 2 of 3 in a series about HABS in Mississippi, Virginia Price explores the role and work of Mississippi’s first two district officers, A. Hays Town and Emmett J. Hull, and compares Mississippi’s HABS documentation to other states. Plus, C.H. Lindsley, mystery man extraordinaire, appears unexpectedly.
Cataloguing Mississippi for HABS, Part 1
If you’ve hung around this blog for a while, or if you’re a regular on various Facebook groups, you’ve probably seen beautiful black-and-white images of buildings, or even floorplans and detail drawings, with the citation “HABS” or the spelled-out version… Read More ›
Bungalows in the Historic American Buildings Survey
Today’s post combines two recent series here on MissPres: bungalows and structures documented by the National Park Service’s Historic American Building Survey (HABS). I ran across this interesting page maintained by the Library of Congress. It highlights a cross section… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 