Aladdin likely shipped kit houses into Mississippi for nearly the entirety of their eighty-one year existence, but the Aladdin plant in Hattiesburg operated for less than three years between 1919 and 1921. One of the ledger orders was for a Plaza model requested by a “Sledge & Gillis” to be shipped to Sledge, Quitman County, Mississippi.
A couple of weeks ago, a reader named Mark noted in a comment to an Industrial Mississippi post: The Jackson plant of Armstrong Flooring (formerly Armstrong Cork and Armstrong World Ind) is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2017. It’s been… Read More ›
Another somewhat quiet week in the Mississippi preservation world this week. Everyone must be too focused on that great Mississippi State football victory to do much of anything else. Here are a few stories have popped up. Fitting in with… Read More ›
Vicksburg’s famous Cedar Grove Inn overlooking the Mississippi River is on the market for $1.199 million dollars, offered by Ernesto Caldeira of Dorian Bennett Sotheby’s International Realty of New Orleans. You may recall that Mr. Caldeira is also a longtime… Read More ›
I present to you for your weekend perusing pleasure the following book: Architectural Concrete for Small Buildings published in 1937 by the Portland Cement Association. The book is available to view online over on archive.org thanks to the Association for… Read More ›
As I think I’ve mentioned before, one of “those projects” on my List of Things To Do, is to go through my postcard collection, which I’ve scanned, and add a location to each one when possible. At times, it’s easy… Read More ›
Back in the September 5th round-up, Thomas Rosell mentioned the upcoming Mississippi Valley State University lecture series on The Chitlin’ Circuit, the name that emerged for the African American music venues under segregation. I am familiar with several Chitlin’ Circuit venues on… Read More ›
It’s been somewhat quiet in the Mississippi preservation world this week, but a few stories have popped up. In McComb, a judge directs the owner of a historic theater to either repair or demolish the partially collapsed theater. Terrance Alexander… Read More ›
Recently, we’ve seen a spate of important landmark buildings up for sale around the state: Mt. Hope, Gillespie-Jackson House, among others. It seems to me that what they have in common is that they were saved or lovingly preserved by… Read More ›
This post is the first in a series to identify Aladdin Company kit houses that were manufactured locally and shipped to sites within Mississippi. Thanks to Cindy Catanzaro and the Clarke Historical Library in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan we’ve had an opportunity to see the… Read More ›
I admit I’m spending far too much time this week glued to my television and/or computer watching the latest updates on Hurricane Irma. Something I do when I’m watching too much TV is to sort through stacks of papers that… Read More ›
I’ve pretty much fallen in love with masonry screens since I first started noticing them a few years ago. Most popular in the 1950s through 1970s, these decorative concrete block are a low-cost way to create a wall, provide privacy… Read More ›
I hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend. As we keep a wary eye on Hurricane Irma, let’s jump into this week’s roundup. Another week, another story about a vehicle damaging a historic structure, this time in Biloxi. Despite… Read More ›
This week’s Friday is a Gas post is not about a specific brand of station, but rather a specific type of station form. This week’s stations represent two contrasting ideas in the architecture world: the “Duck” vs. the “Decorated Shed.”… Read More ›
The Johns-Manville plant operated in Natchez from 1947 to 2002. I came across this article when it first opened. Johns-Manville Sets Date For Completion Natchez Plant To Cost $5,000,000 Natchez, April 12–Construction of the large Johns-Manville unsulating board plant at… Read More ›
Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. This last Monday, a car did significant damage to a historic church in the Silver Creek community of Lawrence County. The Silver Creek Baptist Church, built in 1899, was struck in the southeast… Read More ›
Twelve years ago, the rest of the world was watching on their TVs scenes from the Mississippi Coast and New Orleans that were very similar to what we’re watching on our smart phones from the Texas coast today. After Katrina… Read More ›
This week’s Friday is a Gas post is not about a specific brand of station, but rather a specific type of station form. This week’s stations represent the antithesis of the full-service station: the booth form gas station Aberdeen, Mississippi… Read More ›
It’s hard to imagine now how fast tall buildings went up back in the day when labor was relatively cheap and huge forces of men could be thrown onto a project. The year 1929, which as we all now know… Read More ›
The recent post by Thomas Rosell on photographer John Margolies “roadside Americana” images had some wonderfully intriguing photographs. I thought it might be fun to trace a few of them. The Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts has been featured before on… Read More ›
Busy week in the world of Mississippi Preservation. Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. Last Tuesday a public meeting in Hattiesburg was held to determine a course of action for the former Mount Carmel Baptist Church on Main Street. According to… Read More ›
Two antebellum houses in Starkville, the Gillespie-Jackson House and The Cedars, have recently gone on the market, according to the Commerical Dispatch, and unfortunately, the Gillespie-Jackson property is being offered as a commercial or mixed-use development, which seems to imply the owners… Read More ›
During the c.1950-1970s, Phillips had two station types: an oblong box, and the batwing or gullwing design. The latter of these was my holy grail of gas stations. I honestly thought I would never find one in Mississippi, let alone… Read More ›
This August marks the 48th anniversary of Hurricane Camille. We mostly think of hurricanes having an impact on the coastline but they do indeed have a far reach. In the Clarion Ledger article below you can see reports from both… Read More ›
I confess, at first glance, I had no idea what would have prompted John Margolies–as featured in Thomas Rosell’s post in July–to take a photograph of Pud’s Package Liquor on Route 49, Gulfport, even for the sign and the vivid… Read More ›
Let’s jump right into this week’s roundup. Tonight in Hattiesburg there is a public meeting to determine a course of action for the former Mount Carmel Baptist Church on Main Street. Hattiesburg City Council will hold a public hearing at 5 p.m…. Read More ›
If you’ve always dreamed of a country retreat that’s near enough to civilization to get groceries or go to a restaurant but far enough out to see the stars and enjoy the sound of frogs and crickets instead of highway… Read More ›
