I have a bit of fondness for architectural oddities, and the Benwalt Hotel in downtown Philadelphia, with its impressive Quonset Hut roof, was a definite Oddity when I took these pictures in 2006. Beneath that rather awkward veneer is a… Read More ›
Historic Preservation
William A. Stanton on Ceres Plantation
A reader who took a special interest in the Ceres Plantation story a few weeks ago headed over to the state archives building to do a little digging into the history of the place. After picking through the WPA records… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 3-5-2010
This is my first News Roundup. It will be longer than Malvaney’s News Roundups normally are as I have gathered news from the last several weeks from these papers. Many of these stories are from small town Mississippi newspapers, printing… Read More ›
A New Contributor to MissPres
I’m very very happy–really you don’t know how happy–to announce that our news roundup today will be brought to you courtesy of our newest official Preservation in Mississippi contributor, W. White. Most of you know W. White from his astute… Read More ›
Abandoned Mississippi: Mt. Holly, Lake Washington
On my recent trip to Greenville, I swung through the Lake Washington community to check on Mt. Holly, the Italianate antebellum mansion that I had heard was falling into disrepair. As you may recall, Mt. Holly was one of the… Read More ›
Still No Roof on Eaton School
Note: This post has been heavily modified to remove strong language. Driving past Hattiesburg yesterday under a brooding sky, I decided to swing by Eaton School, which I supposed must have a new roof by now, given that the Hattiesburg… Read More ›
Reflections On A Success Story
As I swung open the doors at 235 West Capitol Street on the 4th of January, 2010, I could barely contain myself. The once rotten shell of the King Edward had become a shining beacon of light and warmth. As… Read More ›
Pigeons to Pearls…The King Edward Flies Again
Thursday, the 17th of December, 2009, was an important day for downtown Jackson. Developer David Watkins snipped a scarlet ribbon and the King Edward was back in business after forty-three years of solitude. Arduous as the task was, Watkins and… Read More ›
Ceres Plantation Update
Since we won’t be having a news roundup this week, I wanted to get this link out to those of you following the Ceres Plantation saga in Warren County. As you remember, the Warren County Port Commission owns the property… Read More ›
A Preservation Philosophy That Doesn’t Kowtow to the Green Movement
For those of you who were around these parts way back in April, 2009, you might remember that my post “Green = Energy Efficient?” took on an op-ed piece by National Trust president Richard Moe published in the New York… Read More ›
When Budget Cuts Hit Home
Well, after an unexpected four-day weekend for some of us in central and southern Mississippi (and maybe stretching to a 5-day weekend for some who get off for Mardi Gras), it’s back to the daily grind. If you enjoy snow… Read More ›
Before and After: Mississippi River Basin Model
There’s a new blog on the block, and I think a good number of you might want to add it to your blog reader. Created by “Kodachromeguy” and based in Vicksburg (I think this is the third photo/history blog from… Read More ›
Goodbye Old Capitol
Since the very first post on Preservation in Mississippi last year was about the opening of the New Old Capitol, I decided it would be fun to just have the first post of every year be about the Old Capitol,… Read More ›
Paying Forward to Haiti
There’s no question that the recent Haiti earthquake was one of the most significant human disasters in our generation. Seeing the miles of destroyed buildings has also brought back memories of our own disaster, Hurricane Katrina. Obviously, there are many… Read More ›
A New Look for a New Year
As all of you no doubt know, Tuesday begins the second year of Preservation in Mississippi, The Blog. I always like to start a new year with a fresh look, so instead of getting plastic surgery, I’ve done a little… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 1-22-2010
I’m always nervous to report a slow news week for fear I’ve missed something important, but I have full confidence that if I do fail miserably at my reportorial task, diligent MissPresers will set me right as quick as a… Read More ›
Patience, Grasshopper
I’ve thought alot about the King Edward lately, as much about the preservation story of the last 40 years than about the recent grand re-opening. I realize that it’s dangerous to use the King Edward story as a model for… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 1-4-2010
While y’all were celebrating the holidays, some even basking in the sun of Trinidad (*cough* Carunzel *cough*), I’ve been diligently scanning the newspapers and other media for stories that might interest MissPres readers. I’ve also been watching with a small… Read More ›
Looking Back at 2009
Happy New Year, Y’all! Before we blast off, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at last year’s MissPres statistics. Ok, maybe not interesting to you, but interesting to me. MissPres got started on February 9, 2009,… Read More ›
National Register 2009 (Part 2)
The second of a two-part retrospective on the National Register of Historic Places listings for Mississippi this year. As with the first part from yesterday, all of the below including photos has been provided by our kind-hearted preservationist friends at the… Read More ›
National Register 2009 (Part 1)
Well, we come to the granddaddy of them all, the National Register of Historic Places. What places have been listed this year and why are they important? Ask and you shall receive, the Bible says, so I came hat in… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 12-21-2009
Since I skipped the News Roundup on Friday in favor of a bunch of King Edward pictures, and since this Friday is Christmas, when I hope all of us will be spending time with family and/or friend(s) instead of checking… Read More ›
King Edward Hotel Open Again
Forty-four years after closing its doors, after suffering decades of neglect, vacancy, vandalism, and deterioration, Jackson’s landmark King Edward Hotel, the standard for glamorous 1920s hotels, re-opened for business yesterday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony. As every speaker said, this was… Read More ›
Overstreet Interview, Part 3
Here we are at the final segment of N.W. Overstreet’s 1940 interview at the Portland Cement Association’s Spring meeting published as “An Architect Reviews Five Years with Architectural Concrete.” If you missed the previous two segments, make sure to read… Read More ›
CHPG Project Pictures
Ok, I’ve finally scrounged up photos of all the projects given grants in MDAH’s latest round of the Community Heritage Preservation Grant program. I always find it helpful to put a picture with the dollar amount so that I can… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 