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HISTORIC DISTRICTS
DOWNTOWN STARKVILLE
Starkville's early identity as "Boardtown" disappeared with
the sawmill and the boardwalks, but Starkville has kept the flavor and
character of its "boomtown" years at the turn of the 19th century.
Several restored brick stores front Main Street's wagon-high sidewalks.
Well-preserved churches and the 1925 Hotel Chester add character and charm.
Many downtown buildings date to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
An 1874 fire destroyed most of the original downtown structures, so the
brick replacements are the oldest remaining buildings found in the area.
Surviving buildings include the First Baptist Chapel, the early to mid-20th
century Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches, and the row of
former attorneys offices (now Mugshots Bar & Grill) on the west side of
the Oktibbeha County Courthouse.
The newly-renovated 1920s Hotel Chester is one of Starkville's many sites
listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The former People's
Bank Building at 203 Main and the two-story commercial and residential
buildings on the north side of Main Street are also some of the best surviving
buildings in Starkville.
Surviving south side edifices include the former Rex Theater at the corner
of Main and Washington Streets and the Masonic building nearby. Notice
also the building housing the former Wier Drug Store at 204 Main Street.
Another businessman, Robert Wier, had a barber shop in a small brick building
to the east of the drug store. At the time he was in business, he was
the only black businessman on Main Street.
GREENSBORO STREET HISTORIC
DISTRICT
Greensboro Street was originally part of "Greensboro Road",
a dirt pathway between the now-vanished town of Greensboro in Winston
County and an early riverboat landing along the Tombigbee River south
of Columbus, Mississippi. Cotton wagons were heavy users of this early
road. Homes were built along the road as it came eastward past the Oktibbeha
County Courthouse making Greensboro Street the "neighborhood of choice"
for early merchants and civic leaders beginning in the late 1860s.
Many of the houses were once adorned with beautiful classical porch columns
and three-part entrances. With post-reconstruction came the Victorian
vernacular style houses and cottages. With their irregular shapes, multiple
roofs, and layered wooden shingles, these ornate homes were statements
of financial success and civic hopes.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Colonial Revival homes began
to gain popularity. These large-scale homes were a return to the South's
pre-Civil War styles featuring verandahs and classical columns and entryways.
The "Jacobethan-style" former middle school, the Greensboro
Center, now the headquarters of the Starkville School District, is among
the most architecturally outstanding buildings in Starkville.
OVERSTREET HISTORIC DISTRICT
As post-Civil War Starkville began to grow, property owners south of Main
Street divided up their holdings into city lots. South Jackson, South
Montgomery, and Gillespie Streets remain home to many of the original
houses built during this era. These houses, built close to downtown and
to Overstreet School, form Starkville's largest historic district. Homes
range from ornate Queen Anne and less spectacular Folk Victorians and
Colonial Revivals to mid-20th century Craftsman and Bungalow styles. An
occasional cook's house or smoke house can be seen behind the main houses
and are reminders of another era.
In the early stages of the Overstreet neighborhood, wooden plank walks
connected homes to "distant" Wood and Washington Streets, to
the local school and downtown businesses.
The Ovestreet Elementary School was erected in 1894 as a public school.
It was recognized in 1994 as one of the top schools in the country.
The Overstreet Historic District is bordered by Washington Street to the
west, Wood Street to the south, South Montgomery Street to the east, and
Hogan Street to the north.
NASH STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT
Starkville's youngest official historic district, the Nash Street area,
was originally know as the "East End Land Company Subdivision".
Now Starkville's earliest unchanged subdivision, this quaint neighborhood
of Nash Street homes was built in the 1930s and early 1940s primarily
by people associated with nearby Mississippi State University.
The best examples of substantial 1930s architecture are in this historic
district. Tudor Revival, Craftsman, and Colonial Revival styles can all
be recognized. Examples of Tudor Revival are the homes at 525 University
Drive and 113 North Nash Street.
A fine example of 1930s Colonial Revival design is located at 114 North
Nash. Because of its modern-styled homes and landscaped plans, this 17-home
neighborhood once was known as "The Garden District".
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY
Mississippi State University began as Mississippi A & M College. Although
none of the original 1878 buildings from Mississippi A & M survived,
the MSU campus has a unique collection of early 20th century, classically
detailed, brick buildings. Three are listed on the National Register of
Historic Places: the Industrial Education Building, Montgomery Hall, and
the E. E. Cooley Building. These and several others are Mississippi landmark
buildings.
The twin-towered Industrial Education Building was built and equipped
to train students to make fabric from cotton. The "Textile School"
existed from 1901 to 1914, but the building, with its Italianate towers
and cast concrete trill, still serves as classrooms and offices.
At the western edge of campus, the John M. Stone Cotton Mill, now
the E. E. Cooley Building, once was the centerpiece of "Needmore",
a Starkville neighborhood known for its mill housing. Note the Cooley
Building's central tower and massive early 20th century brick detailing.
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Montgomery Hall, built in 1902 as the "Science Hall", also
served as the library until 1921. Its Beaux Arts classical form and
pedimented facade are often the subjects of art, drafting, and architecture
students. It is named in honor of David Montgomery, an early Oktibbeha
County settler and advocate who helped bring the railroad and college
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COTTON
DISTRICT
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A 20th century developer and designer,
Dan Camp, has rebuilt much of the old "Needmore" neighborhood
and its surrounding area. Now know as "The Cotton District",
this thriving area between campus and downtown was first called "Campton"
after its developer.
What Dan Camp began creating many years ago, out of a simple dream
and his love for traditional architecture, has since been given the
name New Urbanism or Traditional Neighborhood Design, and is being
replicated throughout the country.
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The most photographed area in the city, the Cotton District -- until the
late 1950s -- was a collection of row houses and shanties housing workers
for the nearby cotton mill. With cobblestone alleys and walkways, porches,
balconies, courtyards, and meticulously-landscaped grounds, the Cotton District
pulls people outdoors creating a greater sense of community.
Capture the flavor of Savannah, Charleston, and New Orleans with a walk
through the Cotton District's more than 130 award-winning, brightly colored
properties, including Planters Row, a collection of 28 Charlestonian-style
townhomes, and Seven Sisters, a group of homes named after seven women in
Camp's family. All feature detailed renovations with handcrafted shutters,
dormers, balconies, railings and trim moldings.
DOWNTOWN
STARKVILLE
GREENSBORO
STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT
OVERSTREET
HISTORIC DISTRICT
NASH
STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT
MISSISSIPPI
STATE UNIVERSITY
COTTON
DISTRICT
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