Visit the 10 Most photographic exhibit in a place near you:   Coming soon…more exhibit locations to be announced. If you would like to host the exhibit in your area please call the MHT office to check on the availability and scheduling of the exhibit.

"Each of the endangered places holds  a special place in our collective memory and helps to define who we are as a people, as a culture, as a state. The importance of their continued preservation cannot be overstated. We need these places so that our children's children will understand who they are."

- Thomas S. Howorth
Past President, Mississippi Heritage Trust

On Thursday, April 24, 2003, the Mississippi Heritage Trust (MHT) unveiled the 2003 list of Mississippi's 10 Most Endangered Historic Places. The 10 places listed represent important historic resources around the state that are in jeopardy of being lost if something is not done to save them. On a state level people are realizing the value and importance of historic structures and are using the list to help raise awareness about the most critical places in need of saving and the perils they are facing.

Tivoli Hotel
1927

Biloxi, Mississippi (Harrison County)

The Tivoli Hotel is one of the few remaining Grande Dame resorts of the 1920s - a roaring time when the Mississippi Gulf Coast was known as the American Riviera. The hotel was featured as an apartment hotel with 64 guest rooms on four floors. The first floor contained a striking barrel-vaulted lobby with a magnificent ballroom to one side and the large dining room to the other.

According to the newspaper accounts the Tivoli opened "in a whirl of dancing, a kaleidoscopic blaze of color and a musical festival of barbaric jazz."

Through the years, many attempts have been made to restore the building to its former glory, including plans to turn it into a halfway house, a resort, and a health center. Despite these efforts, the building still sits empty, waiting to be called a Grande Dame once again.

Click photo to enlarge

Update
No progress has been made on saving this site and it is still for sale by the owner.

J.Z. George Law Office
circa 1838

Carrollton, Mississippi (Carroll County)

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the J. Z. George Law Office in Carrollton is important for its association with James Z. George, the state's most dynamic leader in the Reconstruction era. George set up practice in this law office, which was reputedly constructed c. 1838, and occupied the office throughout the majority of his long and illustrious career-which included serving as chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee in 1875, when he directed the political campaign that ended Reconstruction in Mississippi. He became chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1879, and from 1881 until 1897 served in the U.S. Senate, where he introduced the bill to create the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Recognized as one of the most brilliant constitutional lawyers of his day, George is accorded chief responsibility for the 1890 Mississippi Constitution.

George's vernacular Greek Revival law office is vacant and suffers from deterioration.

Click photo to enlarge

Update
The law office is still vacant and suffering from deterioration however, some limited restoration efforts have been undertaken recently.

"The Cotton Pickers" B.P.O.E. Lodge No. 148
1906

Greenville, Mississippi (Washington County)

In its heyday the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elk, No. 148 Lodge, also known as the "Cotton Pickers" Elk Lodge, was the social center for Greenville. Originally chartered in 1890, the "Cotton Pickers" built their once proud Neo-classic home in Greenville in 1906 and opened the doors in 1907. The Greenville Times of February 16, 1907, described the building as including a billiard hall, a barbershop, and a full library decorated with rare and expensive oil paintings and as being lighted by both gas and electricity. The "Cotton Pickers" Lodge has been converted many times since the Elks left. Now the home of the Mississippi Action for Community Education (M.A.C.E.), an organization committed to the preservation and education of African-American culture, the building is in urgent need of help. In the 1990's, M.A.C.E. and other concerned citizens saved the building several times from the bulldozer and had the building designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2002. If care is not taken soon to restore the building, the city could force demolition.

Click photo to enlarge

Update
No progress has made on saving this site.  The M.A.C.E. organization is still trying to find funding to renovate the building.

First Christian Church
1950

Jackson, Mississippi (Hinds County)

The firm of N.W. Overstreet, one of Mississippi's most prolific architectural offices, designed First Christian Church, constructed in the early 1950s. The church was designed in the Gothic Revival style, and is the only building remaining at the corner of State and High Streets as the other buildings have been removed for surface parking.

First Baptist Church purchased the building when the First Christian congregation moved to another location in Jackson.  When word of First Baptist's original intentions to demolish the building got out, a groundswell of local support surfaced to save the building.

All of the decorative stained and leaded glass windows, original pews, woodwork, and the organ, have been removed from the building. If another use is not found for the building, another of Jackson's architectural treasures will be lost and a gateway into the downtown will be diminished.

Click photo to enlarge

Update
The First Baptist Church changed its mind on the demolition of the building and had it designated as a Mississippi Landmark in April of 2003, but it still is sitting vacant. They have completed engineering studies on the building and are looking at possible ways to reuse the building.

The W.J. Quarles House - "Greenvale"
1894

Long Beach, Mississippi (Harrison County)

Known as the "Catalyst for the development of Long Beach," W.J. Quarles moved his family to Long Beach from Tennessee in 1884. Mr. Quarles was responsible for many firsts for Long Beach including organizing the first school in Long Beach in the front part of his house; building the first dry goods store; serving as postmaster when the first post office was set up in his store;and beginning the truck farming industry in Long Beach.

The second home of the Quarles family, better known as "Greenvale," was built in 1894. For years the house stood as one of the city's jewels and was known by some as the birthplace of Long Beach. In 1969, Hurricane Camille destroyed the first and second story gallery. Later in 1998, Hurricane George further damaged the house.

Now the house, which is vacant, is at the mercy of vandals and the elements. The family still owns the home and would like to see it restored but does not have the funds to do so. They are also facing increased pressure to sell the property for commercial development, which requires demolition of the house.

Click photo to enlarge

Update
No progress has been made on saving this site.

(Old) Hattiesburg High School
1911 & 1921

Hattiesburg, Mississippi (Forrest County)

The old Hattiesburg High School actually consists of two buildings, the rear section built in 1911, and the more imposing and highly decorated section on the front constructed in 1921. Robert E. Lee, a popular and prolific Hattiesburg architect, designed the front addition in the Jacobethan style, a style thought to be more "cheerful" than the Neoclassical and Collegiate Gothic styles. One of the more whimsical features of the building is the presence of separately labeled "Girls" and "Boys" entrances on the front. The school, like many downtown schools around the state, was closed in the 1960s, and the building subsequently served as offices for the school district, and later as an antiques mall. The large structure has stood vacant and deteriorating for several years and is threatened by neglect and vandalism. The Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association owns the building and would like to redevelop the building but funds have been limited.

Click photo to enlarge

Update
The Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association acquired the building in 2003 and has teamed with the Southern Mississippi Arts and Restoration Team to further restore the building.  Currently, design schematics are being completed and, once funds become available, the building will be the home of a museum and the Art Department at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Pearlington Cemetery
One of the oldest cemeteries in Hancock County, Pearlington Cemetery is believed to date to the territorial period, but the earliest marked grave is 1824. The cemetery contains the graves of some of the earliest and most prominent settlers in Hancock County, including that of General George H. Nixon, who was a veteran of the War of 1812, and was elected to the first Mississippi State Legislature. The cemetery association has limited funds to maintain the cemetery, which has suffered at the hands of vandals who have broken headstones and stolen gates, benches, urns, and statues.

Click photo to enlarge

Update
In November of 2004, MHT hosted a Cemetery Preservation Workshop in Biloxi to help people deal with these issues.  The event attracted people from all over the state to attend educational sessions led by speakers from around the nation.  The workshop served as a great resource for participants to learn about the many aspects of cemetery preservation.

The Robert Johnson Birthplace
circa 1905

Hazlehurst, Mississippi (Copiah County)

Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, May 8, 1911, but spent much of his early life in levee camps and on plantations in the northern Delta. Johnson began playing harmonica and associating with older blues musicians and later abandoned the harmonica for the guitar.

Many have dubbed Robert Johnson the father of modern rock and roll, and he is considered one of the most prolific artists of the early blues musicians. Although he did not live long enough to become as popular as many other blues artists, his music continues to influence musicians. Popular covers of his songs have been recorded by modern artists such as Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many more.

Not only was Johnson a legendary bluesman, he was the subject of legend. Robert Johnson is supposed to have traveled to the crossroads near midnight to sell his soul to the devil, in exchange for being able to play anything on the guitar.

His birthplace was constructed circa 1905 and was moved nearly a mile from its original location when the interstate highway was constructed. The property is currently vacant and is rapidly deteriorating.

Click photo to enlarge

Update
The property is still detroitrating and no progress has been made on stabilizing the structure or retuning it to its state when Robert Johnson lived there.

Rodney Presbyterian Church
1832

Rodney, Mississippi (Jefferson County)

Few today can imagine as they drive through the tiny hamlet of Rodney that this was once a thriving river town, considered so full of possibilities that it almost became the capital of Mississippi.

Rodney Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1832, in the Federal style, extremely rare in religious architecture in the state. The building witnessed the rapid growth of the town in the 1840s and 1850s, as well as the slow decline, after the Mississippi River changed its course in the 1860s. The church even saw a bit of action during the Civil War as the Union gunboat USS Rattler bombarded the town with shells, which left scars on the church building that can still be seen today. By the turn of the century, Rodney's population had declined considerably, and in 1923, the church, with a congregation of only sixteen members, lost its last pastor.

The Mississippi United Daughters of the Confederacy obtained the building in 1966, receiving a grant to restore it. Since then, however, funds to maintain Rodney Presbyterian have been low, and the building, among the oldest surviving churches in Mississippi, has slipped into another period of decline and is threatened by deterioration from the elements.

Click photo to enlarge

Update
No progress has made on this site.

Indian Mounds
100 B.C. - 1700 A.D.

Statewide

Most of the Indian Mounds in Mississippi are on privately owned land. As a result, many mounds in the state have been irreparably damaged or completely destroyed by modern development and looting. Indian mounds therefore are critically endangered cultural sites.

Mississippi mound sites mark centers of social and political authority. Every mound has its own chapter to tell in the unfolding story of the human past. Opportunities to discover more about these mounds and their builders disappear daily as erosion, farming, urban development, and looting continue to degrade these sites. Untold numbers of the old monuments have already been lost, and secrets of our nation's past have vanished with them. The mounds that remain stand as a testament to the vitality, diversity, and creativity of their makers, who developed the complex societies of long ago. It is up to us to protect the mounds that are left so that future generations can continue to experience the wonder of these dramatic memorials of ancient times.

Click photo to enlarge

Update

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History contuinues to monitor the Indian Mound sites across the state they are aware of to make sure further destruction does not occur.

View updates for 10 Most lists of 1999, 2000, and 2001

Home | About Us | Programs | Events | Get Involved | Partners & Links | Legislative