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March 4, 2016
Benton County Courthouse (1873)
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Benton County Courthouse (1873)

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The Stewart House (left in picture) was a two-story frame home built in about 1874 by Mary and Annie Stewart. The Stewart sisters were Scot-Irish immigrants to Holly Springs who had lived in the town since the 1850s. The sisters were milliners by trade (designers of women’s hats), and had originally opened their millinery store (seen on the right of the picture) next to their eventual house. The Stewarts were able to build their “dream house” after many years of saving. Sadly, their dream house would soon turn into a nightmare. The house was the site of one of the most tragic and horrific episodes of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878. While most of the town had fled from the Fever, the Stewart sisters had refused to leave the town and their beloved home. Mary Stewart died of Yellow Fever on September 17th, and her sister Annie, driven mad by both the plague and grief, refused to allow anyone to remove her sister’s body from the house. Ten days later, Annie succumbed to Yellow Fever herself, and both sisters left the house for good (at least in body, as their ghosts were said to haunt the old house). Stewart descendants owned the house for forty more years. Eventually the Elk Lodge (center of picture) was built, and the Stewart House attached to it. The Stewart House was destroyed in the 1940s, leaving nothing but an empty lot and the ghosts of the doomed Stewart sisters. #hillcountryhistory #hollysprings #hollyspringsms #mississippi #mississippiinhdr #hdr #mississippihouses #mshousestories #architecture #archilovers #architecturephotography #architectureporn #archi_ologie #historicbuilding #historicpreservation #houseportrait #oldhouse #oldhouses #oldhouselove #townsquare #townsquarelife #smalltown #smalltownlife #yellowfever

On this day, in 1878, former Mayor A. W. Goodrich died of Yellow Fever, becoming the first of many citizens of Holly Springs to die from the Fever. Just days earlier, the first victims of Yellow Fever died in this house, known today as the “Yellow Fever House”. This structure, the oldest brick building in Holly Springs, was built in 1836 as the first land grant office in Marshall County. After serving as an office for several decades, the building became bachelors quarters in the last part of the 19th century. William Holland, the hero of the Yellow Fever, died in this house at the end of the Fever. The building has been used as a residence for much of the 20th century. #hillcountryhistory #hollysprings #hollyspringsms #mississippi #mississippiinhdr #hdr #mississippihouses #mshousestories #architecture #archilovers #architecturephotography #architectureporn #archi_ologie #historicbuilding #historicpreservation #houseportrait #oldhouse #oldhouses #oldhouselove #townsquare #townsquarelife #smalltown #smalltownlife #yellowfever #yellowfever1878

This weekend is the annual Holly Springs Pilgrimage Tour of Homes and the Behind the Big House tour of surviving slave quarters. Even though the weather may not completely cooperate, this is still the perfect weekend to come explore our town's historic architecture and hear the stories of those who built, lived and died in them. Included in the tour of homes are Montrose (1860), Colonsay Cottage (1840), Finley Place (1857), Live Oaks (1848/1882), and Shadowlawn (1840). In addition, four church buildings will be included on the tour: Christ Episcopal Church (1858), the Methodist Church (1849), Anderson Chapel (1988, though the congregation dates to 1889), and the old St. Joseph's Catholic Church (1841), now known as the Yellow Fever Martyrs Museum. Two museums will also be included on the tour: the Marshall County Historical Museum, located in the old Mississippi Synodical College dormitory (1903) and the Ida B Wells-Barnett Museum, located in the old Boling-Gatewood House (1860). The Behind the Big House tour will be located at two fabulous antebellum homes and their associated slave quarters: The Hugh Craft House (1851) and Burton Place (1848). In addition, the Welcoming Ceremony for Behind the Big House will be located at the historic Chalmers Institute (1837), the first university authorized by the State of Mississippi (take that, University of Mississippi!) As you can see, there is an enormous amount of history and architecture on show this weekend in Holly Springs. In addition to the houses, churches and museums, our beloved Hill Crest Cemetery will be the host to two walking tours with historic characters on Saturday. I will be portraying our most famous local architect, Spires Boling, who built several of the buildings listed above. #hillcountryhistory #hollysprings #hollyspringsms #mississippi #mississippiinhdr #hdr #mississippihouses #mshousestories #architecture #archilovers #architecturephotography #architectureporn #archi_ologie #historicbuilding #historicpreservation #houseportrait #oldhouse #oldhouses #oldhouselove #townsquare #townsquarelife #smalltown #smalltownlife #hollyspringsgardenclub #hollyspringspilgrimage #behindthebighouse

In honor of African-American History Month, this is the Isaac Chapel Rosenwald School, a significant survivor from one of the most important educational ventures for African-American children during the 20th century. The Rosenwald Fund, created in the early 20th century by Julius Rosenwald, President of the Sear Roebuck Company, and Booker T. Washington, President of the Tuskegee School, helped establish hundreds of schools for African-Americans during the Jim Crow "separate but equal" era in the South. The Isaac Chapel school, which educated several generations of black children, is one of only a dozen surviving Rosenwald schools in Mississippi. Isaac Chapel Rosenwald School received "Landmark" status (the highest form of protection for a historic structure in Mississippi) in 2017. #hillcountryhistory #hollysprings #hollyspringsms #mississippi #mississippiinhdr #hdr #mississippihouses #mshousestories #architecture #archilovers #architecturephotography #architectureporn #archi_ologie #historicbuilding #historicpreservation #houseportrait #oldhouse #oldhouses #oldhouselove #townsquare #townsquarelife #smalltown #smalltownlife #africanamerican #africanamericanhistory #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #rosenwaldschools

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Lost History: Stewart House (1874)

Lost History: Holly Springs Christian/Reformed Baptist/Campbellite Church (1836)

The Yellow Fever House (1836)

Dr. Isham G. Bailey House (1842)

Lost History: Hickory Park (1840)

Sylvestria (1836)

Live Oaks (1848/1882)

Isaac Chapel Rosenwald School (1922)

Shadowlawn (1840)

Sims-West House (1854)

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