Through the wonders of the internet you can now see every MoMA exhibit ever. Earlier this month the Museum of Modern Art in New York made their complete exhibition history, including photographs, archival documents, & exhibit catalogs, available online. The 86-year-old Museum… Read More ›
For the 200th anniversary of his birth, the Avery Library at Columbia University featured an exhibition exploring the legacy of Andrew Jackson Downing. The exhibit… “…showcases several editions of Downing’s publications and those of his many successors. It offers a glimpse into… Read More ›
It’s football time again folks. This reminded me of an excerpt of a news roundup from this spring… Rick Cleveland’s article “Hometown teams are what make Mississippi, Mississippi” highlights a Smithsonian exhibit that is about to begin touring Mississippi. “In… Read More ›
To commemorate the 160th anniversary of Louis Sullivan’s birth (which I foolishly missed on September 3rd) I’d like to pull from the archives a newspaper clipping regarding his most noted apprentice Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright visited the Mississippi Gulf Coast as a guest… Read More ›
I like this postcard because of its obvious hand-tinting, but Richton has changed so much since its boom years as a lumber producer that I couldn’t really find where this view was taken. My best guess is that this is… Read More ›
This mid-week news round-up is less varied than last week’s round-up, but it still features some good information. Starting off with some concerning news regarding several large rehabilitation projects in both Gulfport and Natchez. In Gulfport, Virginia attorney Robert Lubin… Read More ›
In July of 1945, the Hattiesburg J.C. Penney store at 122-126 W Pine Street suffered a significant fire. This provided an opportunity for the company’s branding efforts to be put to use with a complete rebuilding of the store. Sixteen… Read More ›
This is my first attempt at a news roundup so please be forgiving. If you have any additional information about any of these stories, or if you have your own preservation news from your neck of the woods, please let… Read More ›
The Dairy Freeze in Crystal Springs opened up c.1951 at the intersection of Hwy 51 and what I believe was old Hwy 27. With Hwy 51 being the main drag between Jackson and Baton Rouge / New Orleans, the stand likely… Read More ›
As a way of commemorating the 47th anniversary of Hurricane Camille this week, let’s look back at two structures that are prominent features of the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s skyline. While it is apparent that disaster shapes our physical environment in what is lost, as… Read More ›
I admit, I’m watching the Olympics while writing this week’s news roundup, so . . . just fair warning, may be a little abbreviated. At Hinds Community College in Raymond, word came on August 1 of a fire at Williams… Read More ›
Bruce Goff designed two houses in Mississippi during his career. The Gryder House (1960) in Ocean Springs is a frequent topic here on MissPres. The other Goff design was the Gutman House (1958) in Gulfport. It is likely not as… Read More ›
Last week’s post regarding the rise in popularity for modern & ranch houses throughout the South brought up the question, when did air conditioning become a standard feature in home construction? Kremser’s Sheet Metal Works was apparently one of the first local… Read More ›
This article, published in 1973, reminds us that only 40 years ago, the preservation movement was still so embryonic that no one could figure out how to save Mississippi’s grandest residential street, North State Street (aka U.S. Highway 51), which… Read More ›
The Library of Congress needs our help! That’s right, our defacto national library, the second largest in the world, has some historic images of Mississippi buildings that are unidentified. These images are the work of Frances Benjamin Johnston, whose 60-year career as… Read More ›
Recently, a MissPres reader sent me the link to John Margolies’s obituary. You may not know the name, but if you enjoy mid-century commercial Modernism, you’ve probably seen his images of neon signs, interesting roadside vernacular architecture, and other sites… Read More ›
Comments by architect Bruce Goff about his two Mississippi Coast houses, the groovy Gryder House in Ocean Springs and the spaceship Gutman House in Gulfport. Plus the best construction sign award goes to “We Don’t Like Your House Either.”
June 8 is the birth date shared by architects Bruce Goff and Frank Lloyd Wright. While Wright, born in Wisconsin in 1867, is better known, Goff, born in Kansas in 1904, is one of the few architects that Wright would… Read More ›
I recently saw a Pascagoula real estate listing that caught my eye. The former Pascagoula National Bank at 535 Delmas Avenue is on the market. Originally built in 1938, the bank is the only building I am aware of that R…. Read More ›
New Orleans architect Rathbone DeBuys has been mentioned many times over the years here on MissPres, but recently I was surprised to see we have never had a feature post dedicated to his work in Mississippi. This was something I had not discovered until I found… Read More ›
Edwards High School Gymnasium, designed by architect James Manly Spain in the Art Moderne style, was constructed 1941 by the National Youth Administration (Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Historic Resources Inventory). Only a year prior, Governor Paul Johnson vetoed… Read More ›
From Ingomar Mound to Prospect Hill Plantation, from parapets falling to gravestones standing up and “Wade” handwritten on a sill, the MissPres news roundup has got it covered.
Several emails about upcoming events in Mississippi preservation came through my inbox last week and I thought all MissPresers would want to know. Here they are, in chronological order (and they’ve all been placed on the MissPres calendar, for your… Read More ›
Today is Jane Jacobs’ 100th birthday, so here’s a post to celebrate her centennial. Check out the Google Doodle dedicated to the inimitable Ms. Jacobs. On a recent trip, I finally found just the right book to carry me through… Read More ›
As the Magnolia State blooms, what’s been going on in the historic preservation world this last week? Several articles have highlighted the Legislature’s last-minute re-authorization (seems like the Leg did a lot of last-minute stuff this year) of the historic… Read More ›
Today’s post is brought to you by our inveterate architectural tourist, Neel Reid, who also reported on last year’s Mad Mod Eastover tour. ————————————————— It’s easy to overlook Modernist commercial architecture. Coming into a world where cars dictate the layout… Read More ›
We’ve previously had a brief introduction to architect George F. Barber here on MissPres. Barber, who lived in Knoxville, TN from 1888 until his death in 1915, did a significant mail order plan business across the United States. The Knox County… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 