Grass Lawn | |
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
Mississippi Landmark (Grasslawn II) | |
Location | 720 East Beach Boulevard, Gulfport, Mississippi |
---|---|
Coordinates | 30°22′31.91″N89°03′47.76″W / 30.3755306°N 89.0632667°W |
Built | 1836 |
Architect | Hiram A. Roberts |
Architectural style | Greek Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 72000692 |
USMS No. | 047-GLF-0236.2-ML |
Significant dates | |
Destroyed | 2005 |
Added to NRHP | July 31, 1972 |
Designated USMS | January 01, 2010 [1] |
Removed from NRHP | July 16, 2008 [2] |
Grass Lawn, also known as the Milner House, was a two-story Antebellum home located in Gulfport, Harrison County, Mississippi. In 1972, the home was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2005, the home was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. A replica of Grass Lawn, Grasslawn II, was built and was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2010. [1] The new structure was dedicated in 2012 for use in city events, weddings, receptions, and parties.
Grass Lawn was constructed in 1836 as a summer home for Dr. Hiram A. Roberts, a Port Gibson surgeon and owner of sugarcane plantations in Louisiana. [3] The house was located in Gulfport, Mississippi on 235 acres (95.1 hectares) overlooking the Mississippi Sound. Grass Lawn was unique in that it was of wood-pegged construction with timbers of hand-hewn longleaf pine and walls of bald cypress. [4] Heart-pine lumber was used as flooring, and fireplace mantels were composed of either black or white marble. The 2-story home had 10-foot-wide (3-meter-wide) porches supported by box columns.
Through the years, the property was subdivided, and in 1905, John Kennedy Milner purchased the home. Milner later became owner of the Coast Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Gulfport.
In 1972, because of its political, historical, and architectural significance, Grass Lawn was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1973, the Milner Family sold the home to the City of Gulfport. During the next 32 years, the house was used by the city as a community center for both private and public gatherings.
On August 29, 2005, Grass Lawn was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. In the aftermath of the hurricane, government officials committed to construct a period-style replica of Grass Lawn to serve as a visible reminder of historic buildings on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The completed structure was dedicated on July 20, 2012, to be used for city functions, and rented out for weddings, receptions, and other events. [5] [6]
Harrison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 208,621. Its county seats are Biloxi and Gulfport. The county is named after U.S. President William Henry Harrison. Harrison County is part of the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area. The county was severely damaged from both Hurricane Camille on August 17, 1969, and Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, causing catastrophic effects.
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities are both designated as seats of Harrison County. The population of Biloxi was 49,449 at the 2020 census, making it the state's 4th most populous city. It is a principal city of the Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area, home to 416,259 residents in 2020. The area's first European settlers were French colonists.
Gulfport is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi after the state capital, Jackson. Along with Biloxi, Gulfport is the co-county seat of Harrison County and part of the Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, Gulfport has a population of 72,926; the metro area has a population of 416,259. Gulfport lies along the gulf coast of the United States in southern Mississippi, taking its name from its port on the Gulf Coast on the Mississippi Sound. It is home to the U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Seabees.
Long Beach is a city located in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 15,829.
Pass Christian, nicknamed The Pass, is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,307 at the 2019 census.
Moss Point is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 12,147 in 2020, a decline from the figure of 13,704 in 2010. The Moss Point Historic District and several individual buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places' Jackson County listings.
Ocean Springs is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Biloxi and west of Gautier. It is part of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 18,429 at the 2020 U.S Census, down from 18,434 in 2010.
The Beauvoir estate, built in Biloxi, Mississippi, along the Gulf of Mexico, was the post-war home (1876–1889) of the former President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis. The National Park Service designated the house and plantation as a National Historic Landmark.
The economic effects of Hurricane Katrina, which hit Louisiana, Florida, Texas and Mississippi in late August 2005, were far-reaching.
Tullis-Toledano Manor, also known as, the Toledano-Philbrick-Tullis House, was a red-clay brick mansion on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Biloxi. It was considered an example of Greek Revival architecture. The mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Ship Island Light was a lighthouse in Mississippi near Gulfport.
A Mississippi Landmark is a building officially nominated by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and approved by each county's chancery clerk. The Mississippi Landmark designation is the highest form of recognition bestowed on properties by the state of Mississippi, and designated properties are protected from changes that may alter the property's historic character. Currently there are 890 designated landmarks in the state. Mississippi Landmarks are spread out between eighty-one of Mississippi's eighty-two counties; only Issaquena County has no such landmarks.
Antebellum architecture is the neoclassical architectural style characteristic of the 19th-century Southern United States, especially the Deep South, from after the birth of the United States with the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War. Antebellum architecture is especially characterized by Georgian, Neo-classical, and Greek Revival style homes and mansions. These plantation houses were built in the southern American states during roughly the 30 years before the American Civil War; approximately between the 1830s to 1860s.
Mississippi City is an unincorporated community in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community was annexed by Gulfport, Mississippi in 1965.
The Old Brick House, also known as Biloxi Garden Center, was built around 1850 as a modest family home by John Henley, a former sheriff and mayor of Biloxi. The house is situated on Back Bay in Biloxi, Mississippi. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 1987. Although heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the house was restored and re-dedicated in 2011.
In 1870, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad was constructed through the southernmost section of Harrison County, Mississippi, connecting New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A northern transportation route into south Mississippi was provided by the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad at the turn of the 20th century. These railroads provided an inexpensive means for moving passengers as well as goods, and opened south Mississippi to both industrial and recreational development. Rapidly progressing lumber and seafood industries transformed the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the 1920s, and people arrived from throughout the United States to take advantage of the economic boom. Northern tourists were attracted to the Mississippi Gulf Coast because of mild winters and cool sea breezes in summer, before the introduction of air conditioning. Besides the weather, other tourist attractions included seafood restaurants, swimming, golf, schooner races, sailing to offshore islands, and recreational fishing. During this period of economic expansion, grand hotels were constructed along the Mississippi Gulf Coast to accommodate businessmen, tourists, and transient workers. Most of these grand hotels no longer exist; and of the two structures that were still standing after the first decade of the 21st century, neither served as a lodging establishment. Together, these grand hotels represented an important era in the history of the Mississippi Gulf Coast throughout the 20th century.
The Schnull–Rauch House, sometimes referred to as the Victorian Manor and now also branded as The Manor at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, is a National Register of Historic Places-designated Romanesque Revival historic home constructed in the early 20th century at 3050 North Meridian Street, north of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Wiggins Depot was constructed in Wiggins, Mississippi in 1910 by the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad (G&SIRR) to serve as a replacement for the company's original depot that was destroyed by fire in January of the same year. In the later half of the 20th century, the depot was being used only for storage and had fallen into disrepair. In 1999, the depot was acquired by the City of Wiggins and was designated a Mississippi Landmark. During the first decade of the 21st century, the depot was relocated within the city and was renovated for use as office space.
Gulfport Veterans Administration Medical Center Historic District, also known as Centennial Plaza, is a 48-acre (19 ha) compound located in Gulfport, Mississippi. The facility operated as a medical center under the Veterans Administration from the 1920s until 2005, when damage from Hurricane Katrina resulted in its closure. The property was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2010 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
Gulfport Army Air Field Hangar, also known as FBO Hangar and Gulfport Municipal Airport Terminal, was constructed in 1944-45 for use in training combat crews to operate the B-29 Superfortress. Located in Gulfport, Mississippi, the hangar was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011, and was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2012.