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Historic District expansion set, Part II |
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Monday, 28 December 2009 |
By GWEN SISSON
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With the expansion of the Greensboro Street Historic District, the district is more inclusive of a variety of architectural styles and lifestyles of the time period.
Earlier this year, the Greensboro Street Historic District added 66 “new resources” to the existing 46 historic structures.
A little history...
According to the paperwork submitted to the Department of Archives and History, the original Greensboro Street Historic District (NR 1982), includes 46 structures with a period of significance of 1860s-1920s and clearly reflects community development through the built environment in the City of Starkville. The resources included in the original boundaries of this historic district are all located along Greensboro Road, historically a main transportation route leading west from the town of Greensboro which until 1871 had been the Choctaw County seat.
As originally listed, this district contains excellent examples of architectural styles common to the area, spanning the different periods of the district’s growth. The earliest is Greek Revival, (evident in the houses at 410, 413, and 522 Greensboro Street) a style that continued to enjoy popularity in this area, even after it had declined in most other regions. Reflecting the area’s period of economic recovery during the Reconstruction Era, these houses exhibit Greek detail with simple columned porches and through window and door details.
The house at 404 Greensboro Street features the use of Greek, Italianate, and Gothic details to produce an unusual eclectic ensemble. Several Queen Anne houses (306, 504, 515, 518, 601, and 607 Greensboro Street) were built between 1880 and the turn-of-the-twentieth century, but the buildings that had the most obvious visual impact on the neighborhood were the Colonial Revival and Four-Square houses (evident in the houses at 425, 508, 513, 514, 515, 520 Greensboro Street). Their use of mass, Doric or Tuscan columned verandahs, fan-lighted entrances, and other classical details mirrored the prosperity enjoyed by the community from 1900 through the First World War.
By 1920, neat bungalow residences began to dot the neighborhood (evident in the houses at 309, 311, 502 Greensboro Street); versions were both large and small, brick and frame. One of the most outstanding structures within the district is the Old Starkville High School building constructed in 1927 in the Jacobethan Style. It is one of only a few buildings of this design in Mississippi.
The new expansion
According to the MDAH paperwork, this Update and Boundary Increase Amendment expands the boundaries of the Greensboro Street Historic District to include 77 additional resources, 66 contributing and 11 non-contributing. These resources are located on streets adjacent to, or parallel with, the Greensboro Street corridor.
The extended boundary includes an area to the north and east of Greensboro which historically has been home to the African-American community since the late nineteenth century, according to the survey conducted by the United States Works Progress Administration in the late 1930s. This survey indicates the placement of both religious and educational structures constructed for African-American citizens in the vicinity of Greensboro and Louisville Streets.
Michelle Jones, Special Projects Office, Historic Preservation Division, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Greensboro Street Neighborhood resident, and expansion co-author said although some resources to be added were built within the original listing period of significance, most were constructed after 1929. While many of the homes along Greensboro included in the original nomination were occupied by political, social, or civic leaders, those built a block from the main thoroughfare were typically more modest and reflected the working or middle class homeowners.
Jones said the inclusion of properties constructed after the 1920s illustrates how this historically significant residential neighborhood continued to develop through the Depression era, World War II, and the post WWII period.
The Update and Boundary Increase Amendment extends the end date of the Period of Significance to 1958 to include homes built after the Second World War, and the early date to 1834 in order to include the historically significant 1834 Presbyterian Cemetery which contains the gravesite of the first mayor of Starkville, David Ames.
Jones said with the extended Period of Significance the district now stands as the best example of more than a century of residential growth pattern and the construction of both vernacular and classically inspired architecture within the City of Starkville.
Architectural styles within the expanded boundary reflect those found in the original district and include Queen Anne, seen at 312 Main Street and 305 Louisville; Colonial Revival, illustrated by 501 and 503 Louisville; and Neo-Classical at 219 Louisville Street and 108 Raymond Street. Detailing that reflects Tudor, Mission, and Craftsman influence can be seen on relatively modest homes throughout the expansion area. For example, 307 and 212 Louisville, 200 and 202 Yeates, and 203 Earnest Jones Drive are representative examples that reveal the influence of the eclectic movement through form and/or details.
According to Jones, the years included within the expanded late period of significance; 1930-1958, witnessed profound social and economic change for the Starkville community. The Greensboro Street neighborhood grew after the Depression, as did Starkville as a whole, as the area experienced a significant increase in the need for housing due to the proximity to Mississippi State College (formerly Mississippi A&M), now known as Mississippi State University. To accommodate this need, unpretentious bungalows such as those found along the western district boundary were constructed. Additionally, small rental properties such as the duplex at 414 A&B West Main Street and the garage apartment at 416 West Main Street were added behind residential structures throughout the community.
Jones said the extensive number of homes built during the 1940s and 1950s illustrates how working and middle class families increasingly attained home ownership in the boom years after the war. Additionally, residents in the district in many cases subdivided their lots and encouraged their children to build near their childhood homes. Several generations of both the Gunn and Reynolds families owned and lived in homes along Greensboro Street.
According to Jones, the unpretentious Minimal Traditional, (400 Main Street) Ranch (101 Raymond) and simple vernacular homes found within the expanded boundaries contribute to the district’s character by reflecting the rhythm, scale, and materials of their older neighbors. She said by including the homes of a more socially, economically and culturally diverse spectrum of Starkville’s residents, this district truly represents the continuing evolution of this dynamic neighborhood.
Jones also said a known archaeological site is present within the district boundaries. A mound, about five feet high and 100 feet in diameter, is located on the property of 524 Greensboro Street. She said it has not been tested to determine significance.
“The research conducted during the expansion of the Greensboro Street Historict District/National Register District preserves all of Starkville’s history for future generations,” said Carol McReynolds Davis, a Greensboro Street neighborhood resident in the expansion area on Louisville Street.
Davis’ house at 501 Louisville Street was built by her great-grandfather, Wiley Bartley Pearson who bought the land in 1904 and finished building their family home in 1911. Pearson also built the “twin” house at 503 Louisville Street, also within the expanded area.
National Register listing
According to Bill Gatlin, National Register Coordinator for the Historic Preservation Division of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the National Register of Historic Places was established by the Preservation Act of 1966, recognizing that federal projects were having a detrimental affect on historic properties and sought to establish a listing of places important to the history of the country at the national, state, and local levels. An Amendment to the Act in 1986 allowed for federal tax credits to be gained by persons rehabilitating houses and buildings listed on the National Register. In 2005, the Mississippi Legislature passed a law that allowed homeowners to receive a state tax credit for rehabilitations to their homes.
Gatlin said a resource may be listed to the National Register of Historic Places individually or within a district. There are no individually listed properties within the Greensboro Street National Register District. However, resources listed within a district receive the same benefits (tax credits specifically), recognition, and protection from federally funded projects.
Gatlin said Starkville has three National Register districts, Greensboro Street, Overstreet School, and Nash Street.
The role of the Starkville Central Neighborhood Foundation
Jones said in March 2007, Starkville Central Neighborhood Foundation worked with the city on an enabling Preservation Ordinance that would have established a local historic preservation commission to assist the city with public planning related to historic resources. Jones said it gave the guidelines for establishing local historic districts; however it did not name any local districts.
“After two public hearings at which the only people present spoke in favor of the ordinance, the Board voted to take it under advisement,” Jones said.
Jones said local Historic Districts, which the City (Board of Aldermen) could designate if the Board of Aldermen were to pass the enabling ordinance, would ensure that the affect on the historic integrity of the building would be taken into account during rehabilitation and more importantly demolition.
“But whether or not the city ever designated a single Local Historic Districts is somewhat beside the point,” Jones said. “Passage of the enabling legislation would simply be a way that the city could pronounce that these historic neighborhoods are important to the character and long-term growth of our community and a group of persons considerate of historic preservation would be consulted when the neighborhoods were being affected. Moreover, the City is missing valuable opportunities for federal and state grants by declining to pass a preservation ordinance establishing a local preservation commission.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 December 2009 )
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