Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation

02/09/2024

01/29/2024

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11/15/2023

08/22/2023

06/17/2023

04/28/2023

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO MAKE FOOD RESERVATIONS FOR TOMORROW, APRIL 28TH!! Call 601-631-2997 or email [email protected] BEFORE 5:00pm!!

04/27/2023

Fisher Funeral Home was located in this building at 916 Grove Street from 1891 to 1944. Frank Fisher was born in Canada and when his father died, early in Fisher’s life, his mother brought him to Vicksburg. After working for several businesses, he was hired by J. Q. Arnold, an undertaker. During this time, Fisher became a firefighter with the Vicksburg Volunteer Fire Department and ascended to the position of chief and held that rank during the infamous “Famous Dry Goods fire” on Washington Street when collapsing walls buried forty-two people including firemen. He also survived the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878, stating to the Vicksburg Evening Post that it was the “most trying period in my life. In three months our firm buried 1,362 people. The record day was sixty-three burials for us.” In 1891, Fisher left Arnold’s firm to open his own funeral parlor choosing the large house on Grove Street that had housed the warehouse for Spengler’s Sash and Doors. The paper reported that Fisher “has received his stock, parlor furniture, samples of all cases, caskets, and coffins” and the furniture for the parlor- “lounges, rockers, easy chairs, writing desk, etc.” He also had purchased a “beautiful goat’s hair rug to be placed in the center of the room under where the coffin or casket will be placed.” Fisher was active in the Mississippi Undertaker’s Association, becoming president, and was one of the first who realized that, in the shipping of cadavers, a danger presented itself to general public and that there needed to be laws to safeguard the public health. He was one of the first Vicksburgers to purchase an automobile and was the first to purchase a car tag in Vicksburg. He was also a “devotee” of motor boating. The Post reported that “one day his boat got afire in Lake Centennial and Mr. Fisher had a thrilling race to get to shore before the boat was consumed.” The paper said that after that, he “lost some interest in motorboating and turned his attention to automobiles.” In 1905 he bought a Reo 16-horse car that would run 35 miles an hour (very fast for the day) and carry five people. He also said that the car had two new features- an emergency brake and a Gabriel whistle that sounded like a locomotive whistle. During his early years, Fisher would use his horse-drawn hearses as ambulances and later he converted one of his Cadillacs into an ambulance, outfitted by Christian and Brough (the building remains today). The Post reported that this “machine is the first motor ambulance to be used in Mississippi.” At this time he still used horse drawn hearses to transport caskets because he said that he wasn’t ready for a “motor hearse.” Fisher Funeral Home continued in this building until 1944 when it moved to Cherry Street. As late as 1959, a member of the Fisher family still lived in the house. The building was destroyed by fire and the commercial building in the photograph was constructed. Nancy Bell, Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation.

04/27/2023

The opening of the Carroll Hotel on October 10, 1893 almost didn’t happen. A stock company composed of leading citizens of Vicksburg was formed in 1890 for the purpose of raising the funds necessary to build a new Vicksburg hotel. The company, headed by E. C. Carroll, hired architect Thomas Sully, a principal in the New Orleans firm of Sully, Toledano and Patton, to design the building that would be located on Clay Street, on the southeast corner of Walnut. The construction was advertised for bids throughout the southeast with the firm of Jackson and Helbert from Chattanooga winning with a low bid of $80,000, after taking $8,000 off of their original bid after it was decided that the brick could be made in Vicksburg instead of being shipped in. By late in 1891, the project was in trouble and the hotel company had a new builder, Robert Morrison. An inspection of the progress by Sully in January 1892 resulted in the rejection of “office furniture, railing, counter, etc. put in by a Birmingham, Alabama firm, as unsatisfactory and will not be received.” Cost overruns continued to plague the project and in 1893 the stock company was in default and the incomplete building was advertised in a trustee’s sale to be held on April 18. The members rallied, however, selling bonds to investors in New Orleans on April 15, and the sale was averted. Work continued and the hotel bar was the first to open on September 22, 1893. The newspaper reported that the bar, located in the southwest corner of the hotel, has a “massive elegant antique oak bar with great bevel plate mirror in the alcove of the bar, decorated with samples of rare wines and liquors, and a profusion of the finest cut glass and silverware.” The hotel’s billiard hall then opened, followed by the rest of the hotel, named the Carroll Hotel after the president of the stock company, on October 10. The Herald reported that the hotel was “modern, systematic, and up to date” with “large and airy rooms, passenger and freight elevators, electric bells, city gas, river water, and steam heat all through.” Architect Thomas Sully was born in Mississippi City, MS, the son of a cotton merchant. He studied in New Orleans, Austin, TX, and New York City and opened his office in New Orleans in 1881. He became one of the most prominent Louisiana architects of the late 19th century. The Carroll Hotel was called the Jefferson Davis Hotel by 1954 and it was demolished in 1967 and the parking structure that is currently on the site was constructed. Nancy H. Bell, Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation.

04/27/2023

The three residences in this photograph were built about 1875 on the east side of Cherry Street between South and Harrison streets (1511, 1513, and 1517). The first two are two-story three-bay galleried townhouses with Italianate detailing. The brick house has a later porch in this photograph and a bay window on the right side, out of the photograph and was a more traditional example of the Italianate style. 1511 was the home of J. M. Phillips, a cashier at First National Bank in 1886; Sam and Maude Pitts, who traded in wool, hides, and cotton in 1906; B. H. Stein, president of Stein-Pierce Wholesale Grocers, Grain and Produce and cotton factors in 1918; Charles and Ida Bobb in 1924; and Laurence Miller, a manager with WOBC radio in 1959. 1513 was the home of R. B. Chapman, a conductor with the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad in 1886; George Batchelor and his family in 1906; Louis Emmich, a sales manager with S. Schwartz and Company, wholesale grocers and cotton factors in 1918; Louis Emmich with Emmich Brothers Grocers in 1924; Tommie Bedford in 1935; and Albert Wood and Estelle Van Norman, a hostess at the Old Southern Tea Room in 1959. These two buildings were demolished for additional parking for First Presbyterian Church. 1517 was the home of J. D. Smith, also a conductor with the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad, in 1886, and Mrs. S. M. Phillips, widow of William, in 1906. In 1918, the house was home to Rudolph Weil, who owned a wholesale brokerage and insurance firm, S. L. Weil, who was a cotton classer, and Blanche and Max Meyer, a clerk with the Teller Grocery Company. The house was demolished in 1959 to make way for the telephone exchange building. Nancy Bell, Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation.

02/18/2023

The Cook Off is TOMORROW! Don't forget to come get your fill after the Mardi Gras parade!

02/18/2023

TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY!! Get your Mardi Gras on at the parade and then find all the gumbo you could want just a couple of blocks away! Get your tickets on eventbrite.com or at the door!

02/09/2023

Thanks to the Tourism Recovery Fund (TRF) created by our state legislature in 2020, Mississippi was #1 in the nation for tourism economic recovery from the pandemic. This momentum led to record visitor spending in our state in 2021, too.

Round 2 of these funds are now being distributed, and Visit Vicksburg is thankful for the opportunity to have the tools available to build a stronger, more resilient tourism sector for our state.

Thank you to our state leaders and legislators for your trust and confidence in us to be a driving force in economic recovery for Mississippi’s 4th largest industry: tourism.

Special thanks to our local champions Delbert Hosemann, Briggs Hopson, Representative Oscar Denton, Mississippi House District 55, and Representative Kevin Ford!