I was in Monticello (Mississippi) a while back when a handsome former service station caught my eye. It is unmistakable as a Texaco station built in that fuel company’s “Matawan” style, so named after the site of the first location of… Read More ›
Modernism
MissPres News Roundup 3-27-2017
This is our last round-up for March. It’s hard to believe that we are about to enter the second quarter of 2017 already. Let’s jump right on in to this week’s roundup. Since our last news round-up, MDAH has hosted another preservation… Read More ›
Two Friday Puzzles For Two Preservation Events
This Friday we’ve got two puzzles for two preservation-related events that are taking place: one today and one tomorrow. Today (3/24/17) at Mississippi State University is the Dan and Gemma Camp Classical Lecture: Restoring the Mississippi State Capitol, to be… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 3-20-2017
Round ups might become an every-other week event if my schedule doesn’t let up soon. I still feel a little behind on the preservation goings on in Mississippi but let’s jump right on in to this week’s roundup. Since our last news… Read More ›
Small Homes in the New Tradition: Architect’s House in Springdale, Arkansas, William Oglesby, Architect
Yes, I know that the blog is Preservation in Mississippi and this house is in Arkansas, but Malvaney has posted about New Orleans multiple times so I have an excuse for this bit of mission drift. An aside every once… Read More ›
Small Homes in the New Tradition: Weekend Cottage near Jackson, Mississippi (Champion Lodge), Robert Overstreet, Architect
The benefit to constantly looking for architectural history books to add to my library is that I never know exactly what I will come across next. In this case, it is a (rather beat-up copy) of Small Homes in the… Read More ›
Preservation Presentations This Week
Here is a reminder about two free preservation related lectures that are taking place this week.
Modernism in Natchez: Natchez High School
Can there be any Modernism in Natchez, home of the Natchez Pilgrimage? The answer, my friend, is yes.
See MoMA’s 1932 Modern Architecture: International Exhibit for Yourself
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 ›
Newspaper Clippings: Hattiesburg’s Ultra Modern J.C. Penney
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 ›
Bruce Goff’s Mississippi Work in His Own Spoken Words
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.”
Happy Birthday Bruce Goff & Frank Lloyd Wright
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 ›
Summer Events for MissPresers
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 ›
Mad Mod Delta Tour Report
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 ›
Paul Rudolph in Biloxi (Richard Neutra too)
In 1953, the fourth annual conference of the Gulf States Region of American Institute of Architects was held in Biloxi, on Sept. 17-19. The theme of the conference was “Serving the People of the New South Through Architectural Progress” and there was a strong focus… Read More ›
Industrial Mississippi: Manufacturer’s Record 1946
In January 1946, Manufacturer’s Record, whose byline was “A Publication for Executives,” published an issue dedicated to the business opportunities in Mississippi. A friend sent me this copy, and it contains a treasure-trove of information about all those mid-20th-century industrial buildings, many… Read More ›
MissPres News Roundup 1-25-2016
Yes, it is our last News Roundup of January. Just because The X-Files was on TV last night, do not forget that it is January 2016, not January 1996. Once again, the News Roundup is beginning in the southwest part… Read More ›
Mid-Century Mississippi: To VA Hospital or Not?
Back before Jackson’s Veterans Administration Hospital became “Sonny Montgomery Medical Center” and before the building expanded into a labyrinth designed to confuse veterans and their families, the land it sat on was owned by the State of Mississippi. It had… Read More ›
Buildings of Mississippi State University–Patterson Engineering Laboratories
This is the inaugural post in what I hope will be a regular series of posts regarding the buildings of Mississippi State University. I should naturally focus the first post on an important, widely known building of historical prominence such… Read More ›
Happy Hanukkah Y’all! 2015
Looking back at Hanukkahs past, before looking forward…. Hanukkah 2014 and Chris Risher’s beautiful temple both celebrated the Temple Beth Israel in Meridian. For Hanukkah in 2012 we looked at not only some of the historic sacred places across the state, but also at buildings… Read More ›
Then & Now: Sheraton Motor Inn
Today’s Then and Now is a lesson in the life-cycle of hotels in our throw-away society. If you’ve driven down I-55 in Jackson recently, you’ve seen the former Sheraton Motor Inn just north of the Northside Drive exit, but you… Read More ›
Mid-Century Mississippi: Fondren’s First National Bank
Today’s blast to the past is just a nice little Modernist bank building in my Fondren neighborhood that I’ve always admired. It’s one of the earliest drive-through banks I’ve documented, since I started noticing drive-through banks, prodded by Thomas Rosell… Read More ›
Meridian, You’re Blowing My Mind!
News came yesterday from MDAH’s Historic Preservation Facebook page that at the request of Meridian Mayor Percy Bland, the MDAH Board of Trustees designated Chris Risher’s Modernist gem, the Meridian Police Station, at their monthly meeting. This only days after the… Read More ›
46th Anniversary of Hurricane Camille
To mark this occasion let’s look back at a collection of posts as to how we’ve previously commemorated the anniversary of the Gulf Coast’s second-most destructive storm in memory. Last year we marked the 45th Anniversary of Hurricane Camille by taking a… Read More ›
Mississippi Modern Exhibit
If you find yourself in or near downtown Jackson, be sure to swing by the Old Capitol Museum, where “Mississippi Modern,” a photographic exhibit of Modernist buildings around the state, is on display from July 14 through November 15, 2015. The… Read More ›
Mississippi Architect, March 1965: Whitten Jr. High School
The last issue of the first run of Mississippi Architect, published monthly from February 1963 through March 1965, highlighted Whitten Junior High School in Jackson, a building constructed in 1960 as a close twin of Chastain Middle School in northeast… Read More ›
Preservation in Mississippi 