Town of Carrollton
Old Corinth Machinery
Cutrer Mansion
Farish Street Historic District
Keesler Bridge
King Edward Hotel
Meadvilla
Mississippi's Historic Public School Buildings
Vicksburg Campaign and Historic Trail
White House Hotel

Update
In the last six years, the city and county have become aware of their resources.  The city administration has undergone changes and is now led by Annie Mae Wilson, a dynamic “little old lady in tennis shoes” and her energetic board.  They have completed a restoration of the Carrollton Community House, a 1936 WPA log building.  They were assisted by MHT past president Robert Parker Adams, who prepared a Historic Structures Report and served as Restoration Advisor.  The city also proposed a joint restoration project for five historic buildings and prepared a grant request for partial funding.  They were unsuccessful in obtaining significant support but remain undeterred.  The board helped the town receive designation as a Certified Local Government through the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in September 2003.  In a landmark move, Carrollton recently adopted its first ordinance, a Preservation Ordinance to protect the town’s historic character.  This proved valuable in confronting an attempt to construct a metal building for a Dollar General Store in the heart of the historic area.  Most recently, the town hall in Carrollton has received a Mississippi Landmark Grant and the building is currently undergoing preservation work.  MHT applauds Carrollton’s preservation efforts and looks forward to continued success for this unique town.

Old Corinth Machinery
Corinth, Mississippi
The building located in Corinth known as the Old Corinth Machinery is the oldest, surviving industrial building in the state of Mississippi. It was built in 1869 by Martin Seigrest, an architect, who built many of Corinth’s buildings including Rubel’s Department Store. In the past, the building housed a woolen factory and machinery which produced sawmill carriages. Today, its Canadian owners have abandoned the structure, allowing it to fall prey to the elements.

Update
A preservation easement has been conveyed for the historic Corinth Machinery Building in Corinth, ensuring that any future changes to the building will be sympathetic with its original character.  Plans are to renovate the building for market-rate apartments.  The Corinth Machinery Building, constructed in 1869, is the oldest documented industrial building in Mississippi and represents the effort to rebuild the state’s economy following the Civil War.  It is of particular importance to Corinth, which was devastated by the battles fought in 1862 over its strategic rail junction.

Cutrer Mansion
Clarksdale, Mississippi
The Cutrer Mansion, an Italian Renaissance villa, was built in 1916 by J. W. Cutrer and his wife, Blanche Clark Cutrer. The interest in the Cutrer Mansion by various groups such as the Clarksdale Heritage Foundation, the Mississippi Heritage Trust, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation is not only due to its architectural significance but also because of its literary significance. Tennessee Williams, one of American’s greatest playwrights, lived in Clarksdale as a youth. The time spent by Williams in Mississippi inspired the writer to model some of his characters after Clarksdale’s prominent citizens such as the Cutrer family and their lavish lifestyles. When the current owners of the mansion, St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, announced plans to raze the structure, efforts began to find a solution that would benefit both the preservation of Mississippi’s history and the needs of the St. Elizabeth’s Catholic school.

Update
Delta State University and the community of Clarksdale put preservation in action by saving this piece of Mississippi’s history, satisfying the needs of the St. Elizabeth’s Catholic School and filling a void in higher education in the Delta.  In the near future, the school buildings and the Cutrer Mansion will serve as the Coahoma County Higher Education Center, a partnership between Coahoma Community College and Delta State University.

In the summer of 2004, $1.6 million in restoration and renovation was completed on the first floor and the exterior of the house thanks to bond funds from the Mississippi Legislature.  Restoration of the second floor and acquisition of furnishings are awaiting an additional $1.5 million in funding through donations or further bond funds. 

Renovation work on the other buildings on the property will begin by the fall of 2005.  The old gymnasium will be renovated into a state of the art conference facility.  Because the foundation of the current educational building is not stable, the building will be razed and rebuilt.  Over $5 million in state and county funds is expected to be spent on the project.  Both buildings should be completed by the fall of 2006.

Farish Street Historic District
Jackson, Mississippi
One of the state’s largest economically independent, African-American communities in the state was in what is now known as the Farish Street Historic District. The area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a Jackson historic district. In 1996, the neighborhood was listed on the nation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, primarily because of the threat to what is the largest concentration of shotgun row house (circa 1930-1950) central to a surviving African-American neighborhood. The Farish Street Historic District Neighborhood Foundation in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation has begun implementing a revitalization plan in the neighborhood. Starting with a core group of shotguns, other residential properties will be addressed to further stabilize the area.

A second structure of historic importance is the Alex Williams House. The Alex Wiliams House or Greystone Hotel has stood abandoned for years and, like the shotgun houses, has deteriorated significantly. Built in 1912, the landmark served first as the residence of Mr. Williams, a prominent local African-American business and property owner. In 1950, it was converted into the Greystone Hotel. Today, this resource needs immediate stabilization.

Equally important and integral to the revitalization of the Farish Street Neighborhood is the commercial district. This three-block stretch of turn-of-the-century and early twentieth-century storefronts was the heart of the African-American economic community until integration. Mostly abandoned and deteriorated, these storefronts need immediate attention as well as a coordinated plan for their use.

Update
In the Farish Street Historic District, 39 shotgun houses were rehabilitated for low-income housing utilizing both the Historic Preservation Tax Incentives and the Investment Tax Credit for Low Income Housing.  The Scott Ford House in the District received a Save America’s Treasures Grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the amount of $50,000.  Performa, Inc., from Memphis, was contracted to redevelop and manage a two-block section of Farish Street (from Amite to Hamilton).  Performa is the group responsible for Beale Street in Memphis and would like to develop Farish Street as an entertainment district.  There is also a project in the works for an adaptive reuse project for the George Washington Carver library on North Mill Street.  Sadly, the Noble Hotel has been demolished.

Most recently completed is the infrastructure work (new water, sewer, road and sidewalk) in the two-block area that will be the Farish Street Entertainment District.  Unfortunately, during the work in this area, one of the historic buildings along Farish Street, the Brown Furniture Co. building, collapsed into the street before it could be stabilized.  Since the completion of the infrastructure work, multiple businesses have committed to locating in the entertainment district, including two at the site of the former Brown Furniture Co. building.

Keesler Bridge
Greenwood, Mississippi
Lack of interest and maintenance affects not only historic buildings but also other structures such as bridges. Keesler Bridge, which serves as the main corridor into Historic Downtown Greenwood, is a swing type bridge called a Howe Truss. Built in 1924, it has carried traffic across the Yazoo River for 74 years and is designated as a Mississippi Landmark. To lose a structure of such significance would mean to lose a piece of the past that bridges the past, present and future of a city and makes a historic district complete.

Update
The Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History awarded a $256,000 Mississippi Landmark Grant to the City of Greenwood and Leflore County for the Keesler Bridge.  These funds were used in conjunction with a $1.2 million TEA-21 grant awarded by MDOT to restore this significant piece of historic engineering.

The bridge was reopened in September of 2003.

King Edward Hotel
Jackson, Mississippi
Built in 1923 by New Orleans architect William T. Nolan on the same site as two previous prominent hotels, the King Edward was significant as a hub of social and political activity in Jackson, the state capitol of Mississippi. The hotel closed in 1967 and has remained vacant for the 31 years, suffering extensive damage. Today the decaying structure is part of the West Capitol Street Historic District, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is designated as both a Mississippi Landmark and a Jackson Landmark. Several proposals throughout the years have been made to save the landmark, but non have come to fruition.

Update
The Jackson Redevelopment Authority (JRA) has accepted the development proposal of Historic Restoration, Inc. (HRI) out of New Orleans to redevelop the property.  Currently, HRI and JRA are in the process negotiating an agreement for the renovation of the historic hotel.

Meadvilla
Washington, Mississippi
Built around 1808, Meadvilla was the home of Cowles Mead, Secretary of the Mississippi Territory. During the later territorial period, the house served as a tavern and stagecoach stop operated by Moses Richardson. In 1828, Meadvilla became the home of Benjamin L. C. Wailes, scientist, historian, first state geologist, and first President of the Mississippi Historical Society. A significant example of Federal style architecture, the house is now severely threatened by deterioration.

Update
The house, a significant example of Federal-style architecture, is still unoccupied and vulnerable to the elements, which will only add to the deterioration of the property.

Mississippi's Historic Public School Buildings
Statewide
Built of solid materials and designed in unique architectural styles, Mississippi’s Historic Public School Buildings once served as the heart of the neighborhoods in which they stand. Nationally, communities have faced an unfortunate trend of constructing new buildings for education as the solution to upgrading school facilities. Because of this philosophy, historic neighborhood public schools often are left vacant to deteriorate or to be demolished.

Update
The first two rounds of the Community Heritage Preservation Grant program, passed by the Mississippi Legislature, have aided numerous schools around the state, including the Rosedale School in Bolivar County ($130,000), Franklin Academy in Lowndes County ($100,000) and the old Ocean Springs High School in Jackson County ($150,000), which now houses a performing arts center and community offices.  Smaller schools, such as Burton School in Prentiss County, have also received grants through this program, providing community centers for rural areas.

The third round of the Community Heritage Preservation Grant program awarded $3.78 million to twenty projects in the state in 2003.  Schools included were:  Sadie V. Thompson School in Natchez, $100,000 for roof repairs and exterior renovations; Corinth Junior High School, $200,000 for exterior renovation; Stewart M. Jones School in Laurel, $200,000 for exterior renovation and roof repair; Franklin Academy in Columbus, $225,000 for interior renovation; and Bowmar Avenue Elementary School in Vicksburg, $200,000 for exterior renovation.  All schools—except for Sadie V. Thompson School—are still operating as public schools.  The Thompson School functions as a Boys and Girls Club.  As a result of this support, the sites may continue to serve their respective communities for many years.  More grant money will be available in the fourth round of the Community Heritage Preservation Grant Program with money becoming available in late 2005 to help more worthy preservation projects like historic schools.

Vicksburg Campaign and Historic Trail
Vicksburg, Mississippi
The story of the siege is the focus of a beautiful national military park … but outside the park boundaries, the fields, bayous and country roads where the rest of the Vicksburg campaign was waged are threatened by the forces of time, change and neglect. The very existence of this significant resource is little known, its historic value underappreciated, and its potential for heritage tourism untapped. As a result, landmark buildings are crumbling and inappropriate development threatens unprotected sits such as the Coker House at the Champion Hill battlefield site, Pemberton’s Headquarters in Vicksburg, the Old Raymond-Utica Road, and the Shaifer House outside Port Gibson. A comprehensive strategy for education, planning and management is essential to save this hallowed ground where bravery and sacrifice shaped the course of history.
….. Excerpt from the National Trust for Historic Preservation … 11 Most Endangered Historic Places

Update
As part of a comprehensive, statewide Mississippi Civil War Trails project, funded through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) grant program, two of the most historic structures in the Vicksburg Campaign region are slated for renovation.  Both the Coker House, located on the Champion Hill Battlefield, and the Shaifer House, located on the Port Gibson Battlefield, will have their exteriors restored.  Interpretive markers will relay the significance of each site, and plans to construct an interpretive trail in Raymond are also being made.  The tour stops will closely follow the Mississippi Operations in the Campaign & Siege of Vicksburg guide, published in 1999.

White House Hotel
Biloxi, Mississippi
In 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Walter White opened their residence overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. By 1910, the White House Hotel and its expanded grounds were a popular Biloxi beach resort offering golfing, motoring, relaxing, fishing, tennis, and boating. Additions to the original house in 1923 were in the Spanish Colonial Revival style and constitute most of the present vacant hotel. Today, as part of the West Beach Historic District, it sits vacant ready to be restored to its past glory.

Update
Owner James S. Love III, whose father ran this beach resort from 1940 to 1972, announced in 2001 that this grand hotel would be restored for use as a first-class hotel.  Renovation work on the hotel has begun, however it is currently on hold due to the lull in the tourist industry after September 11th.   

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