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 ›
Mississippi Towns
Mississippi Unbuilt: A Holabird & Roche Capitol
You may recall a 2012 post, “Mississippi Unbuilt: 1897 New Capitol,” about a proposed New Capitol for Mississippi, designed by the Memphis firm Weathers and Weathers, that was never built although it received full-page treatment in January 1897. Perhaps the… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 1-26-2015
You know what a two-week gap in news roundups means? Lots of catch-up! ———————————————— The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation recently gave a $2.5 million gift to the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, now under construction… Read More ›
Update on Mississippi Landmark Status for the Meridian Police Department
Although the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Board of Trustees voted to place the Meridian Police Station under consideration for Mississippi Landmark status in October 2014, it did not bring up the request to designate the Meridian Police Department as a Mississippi Landmark… Read More ›
MLK in Jackson, 1963
“The first “legal” civil rights march in the history of Mississippi. It was clear we were going to march come Hell, Blood, or Mississippi — and we did: 6,000 of us.” Question for Jacksonians–what street is this?
Architect Pics: Sidney V. Stratton
With winter’s cold weather upon us it might be fun to think of a warm weather vacation. On the other hand, imagine escaping the August heat of Mississippi and traveling to Atlantic City, New Jersey. That’s what amateur photographers and brothers Robert Livingston… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 1-12-2015
How about a little news roundup to get us back into the news in this New Year? There’s hopeful news out of Pascagoula, where the stunning Modern/Googie-style high-rise building built as the Pascagoula-Moss Point and later occupied by Hancock Bank… Read More ›
Going Inside: Lefleur’s Restaurant, Jackson
On Wednesday, MissPres set a new record for most views in a day, 2,383, and most of that was on the strength of one post, Tom Barnes’ Lost Mississippi: Jacksonian Highway Hotel/Lefleurs Restaurant, originally published in May 2011. That post… Read More ›
Old News: No-bid State Contracts
File this nugget from Jackson’s Northside Reporter, Sept. 21, 1961, in the “Nothing New Under the Sun” file and cross-reference in the “Shocked! Shocked!” folder. This editorial was presumably written by Hazel Brannon Smith, who published the Reporter in those days,… Read More ›
Suzassippi’s Mississippi: First 2015 road trip to 101 Places–Elvis Presley birthplace
We haven’t visited a 101 place in a while, so it seemed fitting to jump into the new year with a stop off at one of the most famous of the 101 Places in Mississippi to See Before You Die–the… Read More ›
National Register 2014: Historic Districts
As you know, National Register listings can be either individual places, as shown in Wednesday’s post, or larger groups of buildings known as historic districts. Historic districts can be as small as a handful of houses in a rural community or… Read More ›
National Register 2014: Individual Listings
I know yesterday I promised a post about the buildings that were proposed but not approved for Mississippi Landmark designation, but I’m still working on some background research about that subject, which is more complex than transparent, so instead we’ll… Read More ›
Mississippi Landmarks 2014
Today’s end-of-year list is of all the buildings that the Mississippi Department of Archives and History designated as Mississippi Landmarks. Often confused with the National Register, which is administered by the National Park Service, the Mississippi Landmark designation is completely under the control of the MDAH Board of Trustees, and it is the stronger designation because it gives MDAH the authority to review any proposed alterations to the landmark, including demolition.
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 ›
Happy Hanukkah Y’all! 2014
A holiday that is celebrated with fried food? What Mississippian wouldn’t like that? Tonight (really Dec. 23, but I pressed the “Publish” button too soon) will be the eighth night of Hanukkah. MissPres is marking the occasion with photos of the Congregation Beth Israel… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 12-22-2014
One happy story for this week’s Christmas reading. Clarion-Ledger writer Sherry Lucas reported this weekend that the Merrill-Maley House, built around 1910, on Jackson’s N. State Street finally has a new owner after years of standing vacant. Left in the middle… 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.
New Deal in Mississippi: Columbus Post Office and Mural
The Columbus post office (1937-1939) in Lowndes County is another of the federal buildings funded and constructed by the New Deal Administration. In the case of Columbus, the result was a Stripped Classic building, which was described as …largest and… Read More ›
Taking an Architectural Tour this Christmas?
Suddenly the Christmas season has snuck up, and I’ve been remiss in alerting the MissPres universe to the special architectural tours and open houses around the state, starting this coming weekend. Feel free to add in the comments any tours… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 12-1-2014
All the preservation news that’s fit to print, from Jackson to Natchez, from Meridian to Vicksburg, from Holly Springs to Rodney, and even some historical archaeology thrown in because it’s Monday!
Are You In the Mood for MOD?
Are you in the mood for fun, quirky and quite fantastic architecture? So are we! At times misunderstood when constructed, modernist buildings are now considered the “new historic,” with a whole new audience of enthusiastic building-huggers awakening to the creative… Read More ›
Charnley-Norwood House Is “Best of the South”
A big congratulations to all involved in the painstaking restoration of the Charnley-Norwood House, which received the Best of the South award from the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians (SESAH)! Designed by Louis Sullivan on the beachfront in… Read More ›
New Deal in Mississippi: Macon Community House
Macon’s Emergency Relief Administration-financed community house was constructed in the Craftsman bungalow style, and is currently used as the American Legion Hut, Post 63 for Noxubee County (Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Historic Resources Inventory; Barrow, 2001, NRHP nomination… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 11-17-2014
News updates from Jackson, Greenwood, DeSoto County, Waverley Mansion, and Ocean Springs.
Preservation in Mississippi 