Marshall County Historical Museum (1903)

Lois Swaney-Shipp (Founder and Former Curator)

Marshall County Historical Museum (1903)

This building was constructed in 1903, by the Mississippi Synodical College as their new Administration building. It was built on the original spot of Hull Place, the antebellum mansion which was moved north on the same lot when this building was built. The Administration Building was designed by St. Louis architect Theodore Link, who had come to Holly Springs at the beginning of the 20th century to oversee a major restoration of Walter Place and other homes in the same area.

This building was used as administration offices and dormitories for the Mississippi Synodical College for several decades, before the College closed in 1939. Unlike other buildings associated with the College, such as Watson House and Hull Place, this building was spared from destruction in the 1940s. It was owned by Marshall County for several decades.

In 1970, the Marshall County Board of Supervisors planned to demolish the building to create new parking space. The Marshall County Historical Society, led by President Lois Swaney-Shipp, rallied to help save the building and opened the Marshall County Historical Museum in the old building. Outside of a brief period when the Museum was located on the Square (due to repairs conducted on this building), the Museum has remained here for nearly 50 years. Lois Swaney-Shipp was the unifying presence at the Museum for many decades, and although she no longer works at the Museum, her influence is still strongly felt there.

The Marshall County Historical Museum has been described by many visitors as more of an “eccentric grandmother’s attic” rather than a traditional museum, and the Museum proudly acknowledges this description. The Museum holds a large and ecclectic collection of books, historical clothing and uniforms and other artifacts associated with Marshall County and Holly Springs, including a dollhouse village, flags, weapons, paintings and much more.

For more information on the Marshall County Historical Museum, visit their website here.

The Marshall County Historical Museum (original Mississippi Synodical College Administration Building) is three-story hipped-roof brick building, with rusticated stone applied to first floor facade and a single-bay pedimented entrance portico. It is built in the Renaissance Revival style.