In an inexplicable decision, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Board of Trustees today voted 5-2 to allow the Simpson County School District to demolish the 1938 Mendenhall High School Auditorium. Mayor Steve Womack of Mendenhall set the tone… Read More ›
Leon Charles Weiss was a busy man. In addition to an independent practice, he was a partner in four other firms throughout his life. So busy he had to pose for this photograph while catching up with his correspondence. I… Read More ›
After taking a few weeks off from my might-never-end quest to document all the New Deal Administration properties in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, I was back on the hunt again this week. I was intrigued by this building–the Clarksdale Civic… Read More ›
Today’s post is a reprint from Mrs. N.D. Deupree’s “Some Historic Homes of Mississippi,” from Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, Vol. VII (1903). The Ford House One of the most delightful methods of history study is by acquaintance with… Read More ›
As we celebrate our nation’s birthday and reflect on the right to free expression that we enjoy as Americans, the precarious future of the 1938 Mendenhall High School Auditorium is foremost in my mind. Despite the fact that this Mississippi… Read More ›
Summer is officially here – and with it the heat and humidity we in the South love (or is it loathe?) so much. Here’s what’s been going on in preservation since our last roundup. Some of you may have seen… Read More ›
In the quest to document all the PWA-funded buildings on the University of Mississippi campus, here is yet another of the contributions to campus made by the New Deal administration of President Roosevelt. A few weeks back, a reader referred… Read More ›
While we’re starting our twitter-like news feed on the MissPres page, I’ve been off a couple weeks so we’re due a traditional round-up as well. The biggest news the past couple of weeks have been the municipal elections around the… Read More ›
MDAH recently announced the addition of the Fred Daniels collection to their Flickr photostream. The Daniels family managed a studio in downtown Jackson: The Daniel, Al Fred, Photograph Collection consists of 586 photographs from three studios managed by the Albert… Read More ›
As you may recall, the Mississippi Heritage Trust’s executive director, David Preziosi, moved on to Texas last fall and MHT announced its open position. It took a while, but I think it was worth the wait: last week MHT announced… Read More ›
…conditions in Mississippi were worse than at any time since the Civil War (Harry Hopkins, 1936, Spending to Save: The Complete Story of Relief). With a state government in bankruptcy, Mississippi welcomed the federal funds that finally began to trickle down… Read More ›
Just a handful of stories from around the state this week: News out of Corinth is the report that an unauthorized demolition in the Historic District was halted because the owner did not have the proper permits to tear down the building. … Read More ›
Ya’ll all know I’ve been fascinated the past few months with the New Deal architecture. I was recently lunching with a history professor and telling her about this new passion and she exclaimed, “I was shaped by the New Deal!”… Read More ›
While much of the news around the state this past week was centered around the municipal elections most communities held this week, but we managed to find a good number of preservation stories this week as well. We’ll start off… Read More ›
The other day I was surfing the Society of Architectural Historians Digital Resources webpage scoping out all the neat links. When checking out the pages I always keep my eagle eye out for Mississippi connections. So I was very excited… Read More ›
Whether you call it a masonry screen or a concrete block screen, I sort of fell in love with them first when Malvaney (not the original) wrote In Praise of Masonry Screens. Then, Thomas Rosell whetted my appetite with a little Screen… Read More ›
Happy Preservation Month! A couple of our stories relate to events being held this month – some specifically noting that they are for Preservation Month, others that aren’t, but are still in pretty cool historic places. First up is this… Read More ›
Monday, May 13, 9:30 a.m.–noon at the Old Capitol Museum. Cruising the Capital. Join architectural historian Todd Sanders for a tour of Jackson by trolley. A box lunch and discussion of Jackson preservation projects will follow at the Old Capitol Museum…. Read More ›
The mural by Lucile Blanch in the Tylertown post office can claim something that few other post offices can. Not only did the artist (also known as Lucille Blanch, Lucile Lunquist Blanch, Lucile Lundquist-Blanch, and Lucille Lundquist-Blanch) actually paint the… Read More ›
April is wrapping up quickly – which means that Preservation Month will soon be here. If any Miss Pres readers have events to share for our special month – let us know and we’ll get them on the calendar. One… Read More ›
We’ll have our regular News Roundup on Monday, but this was a story that we wanted to single out to share with the MissPres world. Thanks to our friends at MDAH for allowing us to share this release – and… Read More ›
Whenever a large new building is built, or we move into a huge new house, two or three times bigger than we have ever had, there’s a period of delusion in which we can’t see how we will ever fill… Read More ›
On making my first trip to Natchez several years ago, I was curious as to why there was a circular “park” just before one crossed the Mississippi bridge to Vidalia. It is next to the tourist information building, and I… Read More ›
Just because I took a week off from doing a roundup doesn’t mean that the news took a break. Events are still on the calendar – and I hope that in the next round up we get to share a… Read More ›
Natchez’ 1938-39 auditorium was a product of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, Project number 1350 in Mississippi (Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Historic Resources Inventory database). Its “broad, hexastyle pedimented Doric portico” (which is an architectural term… Read More ›
We don’t have a subscription to the digital Oxford Eagle edition, but our Oxford friends have been rumbling recently about a preservation issue that’s been in the news. The controversy sprang from a demolition request for an 1890 Queen Anne… Read More ›
Good planning before a bricks and mortar preservation project will save time and money and usually result in a better quality project. The grants below are for this planning phase. If your town is a Main Street community you might be interested… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 