2021
900 Block of John R. Lynch Street
Jackson
Named for the first African American elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives, John R. Lynch Street is the gateway to Jackson State University. Significant historic sites along the corridor include the COFO Office, Mt. Olive Cemetery, Masonic Temple, Ayer Hall, and NAACP Headquarters. To the east of campus, Lynch Street now consists mostly of vacant lots, with four buildings in yjr 900 block serving as a reminder of what was once a bustling African American commercial district. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Chambliss Shoe Hospital was operated by Jesse R. Chambliss from 1936 until the 1970s. A prominent leader in the African American community, Chambliss was a founding member of the Jackson Negro Chamber of Commerce and State Mutual Savings and Loan and organized the first African American Boy Scout Troup in Jackson. The central building once housed the Ebony Theater, which was opened in 1947 by Dr. A.H. McCoy, who also owned the Ritz Theater on Farish Street. Following the shooting deaths of Philip Gibbs and James Green by Jackson police in 1970, Lynch Street was closed off and the once-thriving African American business district entered a decline. Today, the buildings of the 900 Block of John R. Lynch Street stand vacant, damaged by fire and the ravages of time.
Oakland Chapel and Oakland College Cemetery
Alcorn
Oakland Chapel and Oakland College Cemetery are a reminder of the early history of what today is Alcorn State University. Founded by the Mississippi Presbytery in 1830, Oakland College prospered under the leadership of the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Chamberlain. When constructed in 1838, Oakland Chapel housed recitation and library rooms, space for chemical apparatus and an observatory in the cupola, uniting the religious and academic activities of the college in one building. After Dr. Chamberlain was assassinated for speaking out against the evil of slavery, the college entered a decline. In 1871, the State of Mississippi purchased Oakland College for $40,000 and established Alcorn College to educate newly freed African Americans. Hiram R. Revels, the first African American to be elected to the United States Senate, served as the school’s first president from 1871 to 1882. Today, inappropriate alterations and deferred maintenance due to a lack of funding threaten Oakland Chapel. While Alcorn recently secured a $500,000 stabilization grant from the National Park Service, more funding is needed for the complete restoration of this National Historic Landmark. Located at the edge of the campus, Oakland College Cemetery is the final resting place of Dr. Chamberlain. Missing markers and deteriorating monuments reflect decades of neglect.
Birthplace of Barq’s Root Beer
Biloxi
Edward Charles Edmond Barq, Sr. had a passion for pop. Born in New Orleans in 1871 to French parents, Barq studied soft drink formulation in France before moving to Biloxi and constructing the Biloxi Artesian Bottle Works in 1897. Here Barq experimented with formulas for various soft drinks which resulted in the production of his now-famous Barq’s Root Beer. Located on a residential street not far from the Gulf of Mexico, this small gable-roofed structure is typical of Biloxi’s turn-of-the-century commercial buildings. It was here that Barq and his wife sold their drinks, mixed the formulas in large pots in the backyard and sterilized and refilled glass bottles until the operation moved to a larger plant in 1936. By the 1950s, there were over two hundred Barq’s bottling plants throughout the United Stated. Years of neglect along with a beating from recent storms have left the birthplace of Barq’s barely standing, with the north side of the building braced against collapse. This place, which speaks to the entrepreneurial spirit of Biloxi’s early residents, will be lost if action is not taken to stabilize the structure.
Dumas Drug Store
Natchez
After graduating from the Illinois College of Medicine in the 1890s, Dr. A.W. Dumas moved to Natchez and established his medical practice. At the time, it was one of the few private facilities that would treat African Americans in the state. Dr. Dumas went on to serve as a co-founder of the Mississippi Medical and Surgical Association and president of the National Medical Association. Along with his two sons, Dr. Dumas operated his medical practice for 44 years. The building which housed his office and a drug store was an anchor of the African American business community in downtown Natchez. Today, Dumas Drug Store has been vacant for over 35 year and is slowly being lost to time. Windows and doors are missing, leaving the building open and vulnerable to vandalism. The rear wall is in danger of collapse. If immediate action is not taken to stabilize the structure, it will soon be lost.
Jackson Zoo
The problems facing the Jackson Zoo and the neighborhood of West Jackson are myriad and complex. But no problem ever got fixed by walking away from it. Located in 110-acre Livingston Park, many of zoo’s distinctive Mississippi Landmark buildings, like the Rhino Building and the castle on Monkey Island, were constructed using native sandstone by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. Generations of Mississippians have strolled these lovely grounds and learned about the incredible diversity of animal life on our planet. Thirty years ago, events like Zoo Blues drew over 10,000 visitors from around the country to Jackson and its zoo. Today, with the entrance of the Jackson Zoo overlooking boarded-up buildings, attendance has dropped significantly. Lack of visitors translates into funding woes, with the zoo making the difficult decision not to maintain its accreditation with the Association of Zoos and Aquarium in 2016. Rather than wasting time and energy debating the possibility of moving this 100-year-old institution to a location that is not fighting for survival against urban blight, poverty, and crime, Mississippians should come together to address the needs of the stalwart residents of West Jackson and once again make the Jackson Zoo a place of pride for our state.
Temple Theater
Meridian
The Temple Theater was constructed by the members of the Hamasa Shrine in 1923 after they outgrew their existing building. Architect Emile Well designed the theater, with its Moorish Revival exterior and Byzantine-themed interior, to include a 600-seat ballroom and a 1,600-seat theater with a stage that was second in size only to the Roxy Theater in New York. For 40 years, the Hamasa Shrine contracted with the Saenger Theater chain to provide movies and other entertainment. The Temple has hosted a wide range of artists over the years, including Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson. The Hamasa Shrine completed a restoration of the building in the 1970s, but the contract with the Saenger Theater ended around this time and the theater fell into disuse. Businessman Roger Smith purchased the Temple in 2009 and reopened its doors to the public for a variety of music concerts and community events. After twelve years of striving to produce quality entertainment for southeast Mississippi while also working as the handyman to address the myriad maintenance needs of the 98-year-old theater, Roger is ready to pass the baton to the next caretaker for this downtown Meridian gem.
Broadmoor Store
Gulfport
Built in 1940, the Broadmoor Store is located at the intersection of the historically White Broadmoor Place neighborhood and the historically Black Soria City neighborhood, both of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Once a thriving corner store that was the go-to spot for groceries and gossip, the Broadmoor Store served as a beacon of diversity and inclusion for neighbors who were otherwise separated by segregation. Operated by the Hutchison and then Doleac families, people who grew up visiting the store still point to where the check-out counter was located and share childhood memories of buying candy and sodas. A survivor of many storms, the Broadmoor Store has been vacant for over fifteen years but is still structurally sound and ready to be repurposed to meet a new need for these two historic neighborhoods.
Unita Blackwell House
mayersville
Unita Blackwell was 31 when she was galvanized to attempt to register to vote in 1964 by a Civil Rights worker with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Unita went on to become a full-time SNCC field secretary and served as a member of the executive committee of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She later filed suit against the Issaquena County Board of Education in protest of the school’s suspension of 300 students, including her son, for wearing Freedom pins. In 1976, she became Mayersville’s and Mississippi’s first female African American mayor, a position she held for 25 years. An advocate for rural housing and development, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship Genius Grant in 1992 for her part in creating innovative solutions to housing and infrastructure problems in Mississippi. Early in their marriage, Unita and her husband Jeremiah lived in a simple shotgun house he had inherited from his grandmother, Miss Vashti. Though the family later built a modern brick home, Unita kept the shotgun house, saying it reminded her of where she came from. Both houses are currently vacant and in poor condition. Family members and Civil Rights activists have expressed an interest in restoring the buildings to tell the incredible story of Blackwell’s lifelong fight for Civil Rights.
Triangle Cultural Center
yazoo city
A landmark in downtown Yazoo City, the Triangle Cultural Center was constructed in 1905 as the Main Street School. Owned by the city, the building is home to the Sam Olden Yazoo Historical Society Museum, William Duke Carter Collection of Antique Tools, Yazoo City School of Dance, Dennis Heckler Art Gallery and Studio, and Mississippi Delta Barn Quilt Trail and is also host to numerous art and music classes and events. Today, the building has numerous maintenance issues that make the future of the Triangle Cultural Center uncertain. The south wall was damaged by lightning four years ago and today is unstable and in danger of collapse. Water has infiltrated the building and flooded the basement, creating a hazardous condition. The air conditioning system in the theater is no longer operational, making this space unusable. Other issues such as sewer leaks, faulty plumbing and roof damage prompted hundreds of Yazoo City residents to nominate their beloved art center to this year’s list of endangered historic places in the hope of stemming the downward slide of demolition by neglect.
Town of Fort Adams
Located on the Mississippi River, the site of Fort Adams was first settled as a mission by Father Albert Davion, who worked to convert the Tunica Indians to Christianity in 1698. After the Revolutionary War, the United States and Spain signed the Treaty of San Lorenzo in 1795, setting the boundary between Spanish West Florida and the United States at the latitude 31 N, six miles downriver from Fort Adams. At one point, over 500 troops were located at Fort Adams. In 1801, the Choctaw Indians ceded 2,641,920 acres of land to the United States at the signing of the Treaty of Fort Adams. The fort served as the United States port of entry until the 1803 Louisiana Purchase when Governor Claiborne transferred the troops to New Orleans. The fort continued to operate until the War of 1812. By the 1840s, a bustling river port had grown up near the site of the fort but dwindled after the river bypassed the town. Little remains of Fort Adams but a few bricks, uniform buttons, and cannon balls. Located on private land, the site of the fort has been retaken by forest. Subjected to repeated flooding by the Mississippi River, the town of Fort Adams today has only a few houses and two churches remaining.