Jackson Sites

Originally Bailey Junior High School, this historic building is "two stories and a basement in height and, due to sloping site, part of the basement is entirely above grade. The basement contains locker and shower rooms, a cafeteria, kitchen, club rooms, assembly room, industrial-arts rooms, shops, workrooms, and laboratories. On the first floor are the gymnasium, band room; domestic-science department including an apartment, a sewing room, and a cooking room; also 12 classrooms, rooms for the fine arts and natural sciences, the auditorium with its stage, a clinic, and administrative offices. The second floor contains the bleachers for the gymnasium, 10 classrooms,...

The Public Works Administration W1183 funded constructing for new buildings and improvements for five Hinds County schools in 1938-1939. Forest Hill School used funds to construct a vocational building, auditorium, gymnasium, and home for the vocational teacher. They used a $24,000 bond issue to supplement the PWA funding for a loan of 151,986 toward estimated cost of all 5 schools of $337,746, approved 6/22/1938. Bids were advertised October 1938; first contract awarded 11/10/38; construction began 11/14/1938; and was completed 12/4/1939 for a total of 322,153. The school was demolished in 1987.

Governor’s Mansion, constructed 1839-1842 in Greek Revival style, was “redecorated” in 1935. Architect Albert hays Town was involved in the “work with the interior and exterior getting a thorough going-over with repairs and redecorations. Some alterations were made to the interior, the roof repaired, electric wiring renewed and floors refinished” (Improvements completed, 1935, p. 5). The total expenditure was $9,813. The family of the governor was moved from one suite of rooms to another as rooms were renovated one-by-one. Lena Brock supervised the renovation job, and as part of the process, secured a pre-Civil War table c.1840 for use in...

The terminal building was constructed in 1936 for the Jackson Municipal Airport (then called Davis Field). The airport continued to expand with new runways and other amenities funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) until 1941, including use of the field for pilot training during WWII. The terminal building is currently undergoing extensive restoration.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed buildings at the Jackson Zoological park in Mississippi. Several newer buildings are attributed to the WPA by some sources; however, the only ones documented WPA structures are the zoo's former rhinoceros house, old concession stand, and old restrooms.

The James O. Eastland federal post office and courthouse was constructed in 1933-34. It is a "five-story, limestone, Art Deco interpretation of a classical building" (www.gsa.gov). A new courthouse recently replaced this one, and the Eastland building is now privately owned.

Now privately owned, the James O. Eastland federal post office and courthouse was constructed in 1933-34. The building contains a controversial New Deal mural painted in 1938 by Simka Simkovitch titled "Pursuit of Life in Mississippi." After being covered up for decades, the mural was rediscovered in 2011. The mural "shows African-Americans picking cotton and playing the banjo alongside a white family... The mural, which is in the main courtroom on the fourth floor, had been hidden behind a curtain since the 1960s when the first African-American judge appointed to the federal court in Mississippi ordered it to be covered, historians said. The...

The rustic style pavilion was constructed in Livingston Park, currently home to the Jackson Zoological Park.

The Georgian-Revival building that houses the MS FWC is owned by the state of Mississippi and was  constructed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The state has the right to terminate the lease on the "highly valuable piece of land" on which it sits. Concern has been expressed among some historic preservationists that the changes may present a threat to the building at some point in the future.

Multiple New Deal work relief agencies conducted work at the Mississippi State Capitol during the Great Depression. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) approached the Mississippi state government to put painters to work during the Great Depression. Taking color cues from mosaic tiles in the Senate chamber, the WPA painted, among other areas, details of the main rotunda dome. After a more recent renovation, Spartanburg, S.C.'s Herald-Journal reported that "Both chambers wear the duplicated colors of a gaudy 1935 Works Progress Administration paint job." The Federal Emergency Relief Administration supplied $200,000 toward a $400,000 improvement and repairs program for state buildings. In addition...

The former state capitol was one of 20 state institution renovations completed in 1934. In August, funds were approved in the amount of $200,000 by Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and supplemented with a $200,000 allocation by the Mississippi legislature. Improvements at the old and new capitols were part of the project. Painting and redecoration of the woodwork, new roof, and paving of curbs, gutters, and driveways was completed for the old building. The old capitol building was allotted $5,459.84 for painting and widening and paving driveways, and paving curbs and gutters.

The state health board of Mississippi was allocated $5,420.31 to erect an extension to the laboratory for the health department located at the Old Capitol building in Jackson. The new addition to the laboratory was completed in November 1934 with funding from ERA. The addition included a "new and modern animal pen, with a concrete floor" (Union Appeal, 1934, p. 1). The pen, and its "cyclone proof iron fence" was for animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, and white mice, used in the manufacture of serum. The laboratory tested animals suspected of rabies in order to provide anti-rabies treatments.

State Charity Hospital Improvements in Jackson MS was built with federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) funds in 1935. $18,000 was allotted for the Charity hospital project. N. W. Overstreet was the architect for main building and nurses home renovations in 1934-1935. The hospital was constructed in 1912, closed in 1955, and demolished prior to 1962.

The boys' dormitory at the State School for the Blind was designed by architects Hull & Drummond in 1934 as part of a $220,000 project using state funds and ERA funds with WPA labor. The new brick 2-story dormitory was constructed to relieve crowded conditions at the school, and cost in excess of $40,000. An additional $3,587 was awarded in September 1935 in order to complete the dormitory. It was used in the Gilfoy School of Nursing after the school relocated in the late 1940s, and was demolished c. 2005 in order to build a parking lot.

The State School for the Deaf, originally constructed 1906-1908, removed a wall and rebuilt one wing on the east wing in order to correct surface drainage damaging the wall. The project, financed by ERA and the state legislature replaced glass, plastered walls, and updated electrical and plumbing systems for a total cost of $39,938.25. The facility was demolished in 1951 following the construction of a new school.

The Art Moderne building was Public Works Administration (PWA) Project Miss. 1279. Along with principal architect E. L. Malvaney, there were 8 architects, the builder/contractor, foundation contractor, and a sculptor who worked on the building.

The historic Liberty Grove school was constructed 1934 by architect James Manly Spain in a one-story Colonial Revival style. CWA funds provided $22,000 toward the $32,000 school building. The award for the construction contract was to be submitted by the CWA board. In 1939, the Liberty Grove school was part of PWA project W1183 to fund construction and improvements for five Hinds County schools. Liberty Grove school received funding to construct a gymnasium and four additional classrooms. A bond issue for $21,000 was set for October 18, 1938 and approved. PWA funds for all five schools was $151,986 loan toward...