Mississippi's Favorite Architecture
In 2007, the AIA Mississippi organized a vote to determine the public's favorite architecture. Almost 24,000 people visited the chapter's website to vote for five favorites from a list of 32. The 12 favorite landmarks shows that Mississippians lean toward history, spirituality, good stories, and sentimental spots. Photos of the sites appeared on a 2008 commemorative calendar. Scroll down to see the top 12 landmarks and a little history about each.
1. Longwood
Natchez | 1859
Architect: Samuel Sloan
Style: Octagon-shaped plan, byzantine onion-shaped dome
Called "Nutt’s Folley," the current structure was built on the old Longwood Plantation. It is known for its octagonal plan, byzantine onion-shaped dome, and the contrast between its ornately finished first floor and the unfinished upper floors.
Samuel Sloan, a Philadelphia architect, designed the home in 1859 for cotton planter Dr. Haller Nutt who ordered the mansion built for his beloved wife, Julia. Work was halted in 1861 at the start of the American Civil War. Dr Haller died of pneumonia in 1864, leaving the work incomplete. Of the 32 rooms planned for the house, only nine rooms on the basement floor were completed.
Haller Nutt's never-finished Natchez home, Longwood, was the last burst of southern opulence before war brought the cotton barons' dominance to an end. Longwood, fortunately, survived decades of neglect and near-abandonment to become one of Natchez's most popular attractions.
2. Windsor Ruins
Port Gibson | 1861
Architect: David Shroder
Style: Antebellum Greek Revival
At one time, the Windsor Plantation covered 2,600 acres. Smith Coffee Daniell II, who was born in Mississippi in 1826, the son of an Indian fighter turned farmer and landowner, constructed the mansion in 1859-1861. In 1849, he married his cousin Catherine Freeland (1830-1903) by whom he had three children.
Basic construction of the house, which was designed by David Shroder was completed by slave labor. The bricks for use in the 45 foot columns were made in a kiln across the road from the house. The columns were then covered with mortar and plaster. There were 29 of these columns supporting the projecting roof line with its plain, broad frieze and molded cornice. This provided protection for the galleries that encompassed the house at the second and third levels. The fluted columns had iron Corinthian capitals and were joined at the galleries by an ornamental iron balustrade.
Skilled carpenters were brought in from New England for the finished woodwork and the iron stairs, column capitals, and balustrades were manufactured in St. Louis and shipped down the Mississippi River to the Port of Bruinsburg several miles west of Windsor.
The mansion cost about $175,000.00 (about 3.5 million dollars today) to build and was completed in 1861. However, Smith Daniell lived in the home only a few weeks before he died at the age of 34. When completed, the home contained over 25 rooms, each with its own fireplace and, among other innovations, featured interior baths supplied with water from a tank in the attic.
On the Main floor, flanking the broad hall, were the master bedroom, a bath, two parlors, a study, and the library. The dining room was located in the hall off this part of the structure. The kitchen was located directly below in the above-ground basement connected to the dining room above by a dumbwaiter. This basement also included a school room, an on-site dairy, several storage rooms, a commissary, and a doctor's office. The third floor of the mansion featured an additional bath and nine additional bedrooms, each with their own fireplace. Above the smaller 4th floor (which had a ballroom, but was never finished) there was a roof-top observatory.
During the American Civil War, the home was used by both Union and Confederate troops. Confederate forces used the roof observatory as an observation platform and signal station. After the capture of the area by Union forces, the mansion was used as a hospital following the Battle of Port Gibson and as an observation station.
The home survived the war and continued to be used for social gatherings in the area. Mark Twain stayed at the home and is said to have used the roof observatory to observe the Mississippi River.
On 17 February 1890, a guest left a lighted cigar on a balcony (it is also said that someone dropped a cigar or cigarette in a pile of wood chips left by carpenters working on the 3rd floor). The family said the fire started around 3:00 in the afternoon. They had planned a seated dinner and had gone into town to pick up the mail. Riding back they saw flames shooting through the shingled roof. The fire burned from top to bottom making it impossible to extinguish, and the house was completely destroyed in the conflagration.
The only remnants today are 23 haunting columns, a few pieces of china, and a set of the wrought-iron stairs and portions of the balustrade. The flight of stairs and the balustrade are now used at Alcorn State University's chapel down the road.
Near Windsor, atop an Indian mound, is a cemetery where members of the family have been buried since the early 1800s. The earliest grave is that of Frisby Freeland, a Revolutionary War soldier.
The actual appearance of the mansion has been mainly conjecture since the original plans, along with all of the Daniell's family photographs and drawings were destroyed in the fire. However, in 1991, historians discovered a drawing by Henry Otis Dwight, an officer in the 20th Ohio Infantry, made while his unit was encamped on the grounds of the home. It is thought that Windsor was the first mansion Union troops encountered following Grant's crossing of the river in May 1863 in his effort to cut off Vicksburg from the south.
Windsor's ruins have appeared in several motion pictures including Raintree County (1957) starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, and most recently in the movie Ghosts of Mississippi with Whoopi Goldberg, Alec Baldwin, and James Woods.
3. Biloxi Lighthouse
Biloxi | 1848
The Biloxi Lighthouse built in 1848 is the only lighthouse in the United States to stand in the middle of a four-lane highway. The lighthouse survived Hurricane Katrina and is reported to be the most photographed landmark on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The lighthouse was built to provide a vital link between the sea and the coastal community dependent on its beacon. The Biloxi Lighthouse has watched over the departure of thousands of sailing vessels and has beamed a welcome to thousands of others.
The design of the lighthouse called for a structural system of cast iron plating with an inner lining of brick for strength and stability. Only one cast iron lighthouse had been built in America, and some people thought the plan to use this relatively new material was risky. The $12,000 contract to build the Lighthouse was awarded to Murray and Hazelhurst of Baltimore, Maryland, a company that built the finest steam engines to power railroad locomotives, factories and ships.
From its completion in 1848 until the Lighthouse was automated in 1939, only six people are known to have held the title of Keeper of the Biloxi Lighthouse. The most important contributions over this period were made by three remarkable women who maintained the light for 74 of the Light’s 91 years of manned service: Mary Reynolds; Marie Younghans; and, her daughter Mirandah Younghans. Marie Younghans became Lighthouse Keeper in 1867 following the death of her husband, and her 52-year career was one of the longest tenures in the history of the U.S. Lighthouse Service; she might have served longer, but she was forced to retire at age 77.
History records the dates and names of more than two dozen hurricanes that have bedeviled the Gulf Coast at Biloxi, including some of the most deadly and most costly storms of all time, including the hurricanes of 1906, 1947, Hurricane Camille in 1969, and of course, Hurricane Katrina in 2005.Before the 1920s, the Biloxi Lighthouse was located on the water’s edge, and waves and storm surges often collapsed the breakwater protecting the structure’s foundations.
Beginning as early as 1854, there were several attempts to protect the lighthouse with various forms of breakwaters, but none were successful. In September 1860, the storm surge from a hurricane was strong enough to undermine its foundations. The damage was so great that the structure tipped some two feet off of vertical. The tilt was corrected in 1866 by excavating some of the sand under the foundation and letting gravity put the structure back to right, but the threat of a similar problem continued until a concrete breakwater was built along the waterfront in 1924.
The Biloxi Lighthouse is so important to its city and the region as a whole that when the U.S. Coast Guard took it out of service in 1967, the City of Biloxi stepped in and received its transfer to city hands in 1968. It has been operated by the city ever since as a Private Aid to Navigation, continuing to guide recreational boats and fishing vessels to safe harbor, as it has since 1848.
The Biloxi Lighthouse was built to aid ships in navigating the Mississippi Sound, which was then the primary entrance to the port of New Orleans, America’s busiest seaport. The Lighthouse also revealed the narrow channel leading from the Sound due north to the city’s small harbor on the front beach. This shallow and tricky route was critical for packets and steamboats to ship and deliver goods and services to the thriving community.
Along with the freight came daily shipments of the U.S. Mail and steadily increasing numbers of passengers. As early as the 1830s, Biloxi was a summer retreat for residents of New Orleans who escaped the steamy streets of the city and flocked to the cooler breezes of the Gulf Coast.
Construction of the Lighthouse and the adjacent cottage for the Lighthouse Keeper was completed in only six weeks. The Light at Biloxi began to shine in May of 1848. Lighthouse Keepers Marie Younghans, Mirandah Younghans, and W. D. Thompson.
The tower was completed and placed in operation in 1848. The tower was 45 feet from the base to the lantern room and displayed nine lamps. The first keeper was Marcellus J. Howard. Miss Mary Reynolds, with a "large family of orphan children" was appointed keeper on 11 April 1854. She remained in service until the Civil War and owed her appointment to Governor Albert Gallatin Brown.
4. The New Capitol
 Jackson | 1901-1903
Architect: Theodore C. Link
Style: Beaux Arts
The state capitol is the third capitol building built in the capital city of Jackson. The first building was completed in 1822, the second building in 1833 and the current capitol building was completed in 1903. The building was erected on the site of the old state penitentiary and was designed by Theodore Link, an architect from St. Louis, Missouri. The building cost $1,093,641 dollars, which was paid by the Illinois Central Railroad by the back taxes they owed the state.
In 1979-1983, the capitol building underwent a complete restoration, which cost $19 million. The renovation remained true to the original building and strived to maintain the original design when at all possible.
The Beaux Arts style building was designed to house all branches of the Mississippi state government. Currently, only the Legislature and the executive branches are contained in the capitol. The judicial branch is housed in the Gartin Justice Building across High Street.
The capitol is 402 feet long and 180 feet to the top of the dome. The dome interior contains 750 lights which illuminate the blind-folded lady representing "Blind Justice" and four scenes: two Indians, a Spanish explorer and a Confederate general. The eagle which sits atop the dome is made of solid copper coated with gold leaf. The eagle is 8 feet high and 15 feet wide.
On the first floor, the Hall of Governors is located. Portraits of Mississippi's governors since the creation of the Mississippi Territory in 1798 are on display. The State Library and the Supreme Court chambers, now both committee meeting rooms, are located on the second floor. The Legislature is housed on the third floor, along with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House's offices. The public viewing for both chambers is located on the fourth floor.
The grounds of the capitol building contains one of the 53 replicas of the original Liberty Bell and a statue erected in memory of the ladies, mothers, sisters, wives and daughters of the Confederate soldiers. Among the trees on the grounds are the state tree, the magnolia, along with two Japanese magnolias. The battleship figurehead is from the second USS Mississippi. The ship was sold to Greece in 1914 but the figurehead was presented to Mississippi by the United States Navy in December 1909. The Mississippi State Capitol is designated a Mississippi landmark building and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
5. Dunleith
Natchez | 1847
Architect Unknown
Style: Greek Revival
Photo: Teri Corley
Dunleith stands on the site originally occupied by "Routhland," a house built by Job Routh and his wife during the late 18th century. Their daughter, Mary, a widow at only 15 years of age, took Charles Dahlgren as her second husband and inherited the house.
Tragic circumstances led to the naming of Dunleith. In 1855 lightning struck a chimney, and Routhland burned to the ground. Dahlgren built a new house in its place in 1856, but his young wife died just three years later. In order to settle the estate, Charles sold the house to Alfred Vidal Davis for $30,000, and Davis gave the house the Scottish name of Dunleith.
Dunleith was built in Greek revival style, with twenty-six Tuscan columns surrounding the house. The brick and stucco columns support a double gallery with intricately designed wrought iron railings spanning the columns. Jeffersonian windows extend from the floor to the ceiling on the first floor, providing ventilation and easy access to the gallery from any room.
Enclosed within the 14½ inch thick walls is 9,500 square feet of floor space. The floors are made of heart pine, with cypress baseboards painted to look like oak. Italian marble mantle pieces adorn each fireplace, and elegantly designed ceiling medallions enhance the chandeliers hung throughout the house.
6. Beauvoir
 Biloxi | 1859
Architect: James Brown
Style: Cottage
The house was built by James Brown, a wealthy plantation owner from Madison County, Mississippi. The house was started in late 1848 and was completed in 1852. The house was built as a summer home for his wife and his (eventually 13) children. It was then called Orange Grove, due to the Satsuma Oranges being grown on the property. Mr. Brown died in 1866 and his widow continued to own the property until 1873 when she was forced to sale the property at public auction to pay and satisfy the taxes due on her husband's estate. Frank Johnson, a land speculator purchased the house for taxes and then sold the house and property three months later.
Sarah Dorsey was the next owner of the property and when she first looked out over the Mississippi Sound from the front porch of the house, she said "oh my, what a beautiful view - that's what I am going to call this property: Beauvoir! (Which is French for beautiful view or beautiful to look at). From that point on - the property was known as Beauvoir.
In 1877, Jefferson Davis was looking for a quiet retreat to write his books and papers. While inspecting property on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, he paid a courtesy call on Mrs. Dorsey (a family friend). He told her of his plans to try to find a place to write his books and papers. She encouraged him to stay at Beauvoir in one of the two pavilions in from of Beauvoir House to write his books. He agreed to do so only if he paid $50.00 a month for room and board. After two years, he fell in love with the property and he wanted to buy it. She in turn wanted to sell it to him, so they agreed upon a selling price of $5,500.00 dollars to be paid in three payments. He made the first payment and six months later, Mrs. Dorsey died. At that time he found out he was her sole heir and he eventually inherited the house along with other property.
Jefferson Davis died in 1889. His daughter, Winnie then inherited the property and when she died in 1898, Varina, Jefferson Davis' widow inherited the property. Mrs. Davis sold the property to the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans with two stipulations. The first was that the property be used for a Confederate Veterans Home for the veterans and or their widows at no charge to them and that was done from 1903 until 1957 when the last three widows were transferred to a private nursing home in Greenwood, Mississippi, when it was no longer practical to keep them at the site. The second stipulation for the sale of the property was that it be used as a memorial to Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Soldier; and that has been done from 1903 until the present time.
7. The Old Capitol
Jackson | 1839
Architect: William Nichols
Style: Greek Revival
The Old Capitol served as Mississippi's seat of government from 1839 to 1903, then as office space for state agencies, and finally as home to the state history museum from 1961–2005. Severe damage from Hurricane Katrina forced the building to close to the public, and it is now undergoing a $13.2 million restoration. It is scheduled to reopen in January, 2009. The museum’s new focus will be on the history of the building, with exhibits on government in action, the history of Jackson as the state capital, and the importance of historic preservation.
8. Woodworth Chapel
Tougaloo College, Jackson | 1901
The Chapel, constructed in 1901, has played an important part in the history of Tougaloo College, as well as the state's Civil Rights history. Many influential people involved in the struggle for African American equality spoke at the chapel from its pulpit including: Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. However, over the years, soil movement, structural inadequacies and deferred maintenance led to the Chapel's extreme deterioration. In the 1930's masonry repairs were undertaken and iron tie rods were added to combat the movement of the walls, however the trusses continued to spread, pushing the balcony and west wall out eight inches. In the late 1970s, two steel towers were constructed to support the buckling gable end walls, due to the severity of the structural instability the building was closed in the mid 1980s. Around this time, the original tower belfry was destroyed in a storm.
In 1998, the college received a grant from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Fund to work on the structural stabilization and restoration of the chapel. To preserve the integrity of the chapel's interior spaces every effort was made to preserve or replicate the original materials, including the ornamental wood elements, even the wood pews and pulpit were restored to their original character. The Chapel's rehabilitation also included the reconstruction of its original pipe organ using pieces from another 1885 organ. The original pipe façade remains, and its stenciled design and carved woodwork restored. On the exterior the original windows were restored and the original tower cupola reconstructed from historic photos. The missing tower clock was replicated and now rings with the original bell.
9. St. Richards Catholic Church
Jackson | 1968
Architect: Tom Biggs
In 1968, Monsignor Josiah Chapham talked with Tom Biggs architect and Frank Katchmasic liturgical consultant about a new Saint Richard's Roman Catholic Church. The three men working together disigned a building for which the architectural firm Biggs, Weir, Neal, Chastain received a 1972 AIA Honor award from the Mississippi chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
10. Governor's Mansion
Jackson | 1841
Architect: William Nichols
Style: Greek Revival
First occupied in 1842, the Mississippi Governor's Mansion is the second oldest continuously occupied governor's residence in the United States. In 1975, it was designated a National Historic Landmark, making it at that time one of only two state gubernatorial residences to receive this honor. In January 1833, the Mississippi legislature appropriated funds to build a capitol building and a "suitable house for the Governor." Delayed by a serious depression caused by the Panic of 1837, construction of the Governor's Mansion was not begun until 1839, the same year that the Capitol building was completed. In January 1842, Governor Tilghman Tucker and his family moved into the Mansion, which had been constructed for a cost of approximately $50,000.00. Both the Capitol building (Old Capitol) and the Governor's Mansion were designed by architect William Nichols (1780-1853), a native of Bath, England. William Nichols designed the Mansion in the period's most popular architectural style: Greek Revival. Architectural historians consider the Mississippi Governor's Mansion to be one of the finest surviving examples of the Greek Revival style in the United States.
11. Chapel of the Cross
Madison | 1850
Architect: Frank Wills
Style: Gothic Revival
Built in 1848 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, the Chapel of the Cross is an example of Gothic Revival design with a lofty bell tower, tall narrow windows, and an arched, side entrance. It was placed "at the summit of a gentle rise about one-fourth mile from Annandale" plantation where Margaret Johnstone, benefactress of the Chapel, lived.
The noted English architect, Frank Wills, is credited with the design of the Chapel, and the Rev. John Freeman Young residing at Annandale plantation supervised the construction with the help of local craftsmen. Workers from Annandale and nearby Ingleside plantation hewed by hand the lumber from oak trees growing on the plantation to make the beams and baked the brick.
The original design sketch, entitled "Sketch of A First-Pointed Church," and its accompanying ground plan were modified to meet the needs of a small congregation. Only the nave and the chancel were utilized, omitting transepts and tower, but the diminutive results were ecclesiological excellence, even to the orientation of the chancel eastward and south porch.
Inside, the wooden roof trusses echo the lancet shapes of the exterior; wide heart-pine floors and warm-white plastered walls capture the gentle, simple spirit of this medieval English style. The altar, bishop's chair and railing darkened with age are of carved oak imported from England. The baptismal font is fashioned from one piece of unpolished Italian stone. The arched entrance floors were cut from two pieces of solid oak trimmed with hand-shaped molding. The pews and chancel furnishings were from New Orleans. The inside roof is said to replicate the floor of an ark.
The Chapel was consecrated on July 19, 1852 by Bishop William Mercer Green.
12. Bailey Jr. High School
Jackson | 1937
Architect: N.W. Overstreet
Style: Modern
Built in 1938, Baily Magnet's art-deco building has been marveled as an architectural wonder. It was recently voted as a top architectural site by the state chapter of the American Institute of Architects.[3] It's architect, N.W. Overstreet, made the cover of a 1938 Life magazine for the school's forward look and his revolutionary technique of formed-in-place concrete. The marvel lies in the details which include carved stone reliefs of Andrew Jackson (the namesake of the city of Jackson) with his troops and Chief Pushmataha with his braves, allies in the Indian wars, at the front footsteps of the building. The halls are terrazzoed and the great auditorium has ornate columns and a stylized horse-and-rider sculpture.
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