The origins of the Mississippi Synodical College date back to the opening of a day school for young women, called Fenelon Hall, in the fall of 1864. The school was located in the historic Watson House, which was torn down in 1945. The founders Fenelon Hall, Lizzie Watson (the daughter of the house's owner), and William Clark, wanted to provide education to girls who had few options for education during the Civil War. Years later, Clark opened another school and named it Fenelon Hall, prompting Watson to rename her school the Select School for Young Ladies. Watson changed the name again in 1883 to the Maury Institute and also converted the institution to a boarding school for girls.In 1891, the Presbyterian Church bought the school and changed the name to the North Mississippi Presbyterian College. Over time, the school campus grew. The school was renamed again in 1903 and operated as Mississippi Synodical College. In 1916, this became the first two-year college in the state to be awarded full accreditation. The effects of the Great Depression and decreasing enrollment forced the college to close and merge with another college in 1939. Some of the buildings of the campus were eventually demolished, but this central administration was preserved and became home to the museum in 1970.

The museum is located in the former administration building of the Mississippi Synodical College, which closed in 1939. This postcard dates to 1903.

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Operating from this historic former college building since 1970, the Marshall County Historical Museum preserves and promotes local and Southern history with exhibits and programs that interpret the numerous items and artifacts on display. These include Civil War artifacts, taxidermy animals, Victorian children's books, Native American artifacts, antique books, sports memorabilia, quilts, and clothing. The museum is housed in the former Mississippi Synodical College girls dormitory, which is a contributing property of the East Holly Springs Historic District. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Marshall County Historical Museum

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This walking tour begins at the former campus of Mississippi Industrial College. the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum, and several historic homes before making its way to the downtown area with stops at art galleries, additional museums, and historic buildings. The tour concludes at the former home of the Chalmers Institute, a boys school located in a building that was constructed in 1837.

Established in 1905, this small college provided education and training to generations of African Americans living in Mississippi. In addition to training for careers in mechanical arts and agriculture, the school offered a variety of programs that trained children from preschool to college level with an emphasis on theology, technical training, and music. Over the years, the college curriculum changed with more courses in business, teaching, and liberal arts.  The school consisted of five major buildings, Catherine Hall, Washington Hall, Hammond Hall, Carnegie Auditorium, and Davis Hall (gymnasium). After the college shut its doors in 1982, the campus has since then been bought by the neighboring college, Rust College. The neglected buildings have become a project for a rehabilitation program through several Mississippi funding sources.   In 1980, the campus was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. This historic landmark, which was first founded by the Mississippi Conference of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, has now become a focus of preservation.

The largest auditorium constructed for African Americans in Mississippi, Carnegie Auditorium was completed in 1923 and was a centerpiece of Mississippi Industrial College until it closed in 1982. Founded in 1905 by the Mississippi Conference of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, this former 120-acre campus was once the home to The Mississippi Industrial College. The college was built across from Rust College, another HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) that focussed on the liberal arts. This college offered training in fields ranging from agriculture to mechanical arts. Facing declining enrollment, the alumni acted to save the campus in the 1970s. As part of this effort, the college was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, just two years before the school closed its doors for good. Rust College has acquired the campus buildings and hopes to preserve and repurpose these structures.  

Carnegie Auditorium, Mississippi Industrial College 

Ida B. Wells-BarnettIda B. Wells was born on July 16, 1862, just six months before the Emancipation Proclamation. Her mother, Lizzie, was a well-known cook and her father, James, was a carpenter. Using these skills, they managed to provide for their seven children. Presumably, all attended school growing up. When Wells was 16, however, Yellow Fever killed her parents (and her youngest sibling). To support her family, Wells found a job as a teacher. A couple of years later in 1883, she and two of her youngest sisters moved to Memphis, where an aunt lived. There, she got another job as a teacher.An incident the next year sparked her career as a social rights activist. She bought a first-class train ticket but was forced to move to a colored-only car. She sued the Chesapeake &amp; Ohio Railroad company and won initially, but the state supreme court overruled the decision in 1887. In 1892, after some of her friends were lynched, Wells decided to become an investigative journalist. She wrote articles about the lynchings of Black men in newspapers, finding that the claims these men were lynched because of sexual harassment of white women were false. Wells remained an anti-lynching activist for the rest of her life.She became the editor of African-American newspapers called Memphis Free Speech and Headlight. White mobs destroyed the press she used to publish her publication in 1892. That incident and other threats forced her to move to Chicago, where she met her husband, Black newspaper editor Ferdinand Barnett, with whom she would have four children. In the coming years, she traveled to England, Wales, and Scotland on speaking tours.Along with helping found the NAACP in 1909, Wells established a number of other civic and activist organizations. Like many women of her day, she became a staunch supporter of suffrage (the movement advocating for women's right to vote). However, Black women were often dismissed by white supporters. As a result, in 1913 Wells and white activist Belle Squire established the Alpha Suffrage Club, the first suffrage club for Black women in Chicago. It is credited for leading the effort to elect the city's first African-American alderman and later, congressman, Oscar DePriest. Wells unsuccessfully ran for state senator in 1930, becoming one of the first Black women to run for office in the country. The next year, she died of kidney disease on March 25th. Before she passed away, she managed to finish her autobiography which she had begun in 1927.Spires Bolling HouseBolling (his last name is also spelled as "Boling") was from North Carolina and moved to Holly Springs in 1845. He designed several buildings in the city and operated a distillery behind the house. The family lived in the house until 1880 when Bolling died. The next owners lived here until 1901 when they sold the house to Lafayette and Mary Gatewood. The property remained in the Gatewood family for nearly a century until 1997 when they deeded it to a local who then deeded it to the city in 2000. The museum opened at this location shortly after the city acquired the property after years of offering programming and exhibits in a variety of location throughout Holly Springs. According to an interview with museum director Leona Harris, the museum can date its roots back to the 1970s when local citizens began efforts to preserve and share the history of Ida Wells and Holly Springs. Harris credits Margaret Burroughs, a professor at Kennedy-King College in Chicago, with introducing her to the life and work of Wells.

The Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum dates back to community-based exhibits that were located in a variety of locations in Holly Springs from the 1970s until 2000 when this museum found a permanent home in this historic house where Ida B. Wells was born into slavery. The museum is dedicated to promoting the contributions African Americans have made in the areas of art, culture, and history. The museum's namesake, was one of the most influential Americans of the 20th century, a noted African American journalist, activist, and founding member of the NAACP.  The museum is located in the historic Spires Bolling House, which was erected in c.1858 by local architect Spires Bolling, who owned Wells, her mother, father, and several other enslaved persons. The museum's collection contains local family heirlooms and artifacts, and personal items of Wells including memorabilia, awards and belongings. There is also a Genealogy Room that houses records of several local African American families and a an art gallery. The museum offers a variety of educational programming for adults and children as well. The house is a contributing property of the East Holly Springs Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum

Local architect Spires Bolling, who built the house that is now the <a href="https://theclio.com/entry/123902" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum</a>, designed Montrose. Not much information is readily available about Robert McGowan (1832-1894), but Margaret (1828-1871) was the daughter of a prosperous landowner, Alfred Brooks, who, apparently, saved the house from going into foreclosure on two occasions. Sadly, she died during childbirth after the Civil War. Robert sold Montrose in 1878 to a local judge who lived in the house until he died in 1895.After a series of owners, including surgeon Dr. Robert H. Peel (1832-1903) who operated on Union and Confederate soldiers during the war, the city acquired Montrose in 1962. The Garden Club has occupied and maintained the house and grounds ever since. In 1983, Montrose was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property of the <a href="https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/c1525f0b-5ec5-49ab-8375-84516811b566/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">East Holly Springs Historic District</a>.

Erected around 1858 by Robert and Margaret McGowan, Montrose is one of the more striking historic homes in Holly Springs. An excellent example of Greek Revival architecture, the house features a grand two-story portico with Corinthian columns, a lunette window in the pediment, a spiral staircase, marble mantel pieces, parquet flooring, and ornate ceiling medallions. There is also an arboretum on the property. Today, the house is maintained by the Holly Springs Garden Club and is available to rent for weddings and other events. 

Montrose

William Henry Coxe was born to a family whose lineage traced back to English aristocracy (specifically to an English lord). He was born in 1824 in Oglethorpe County, Georgia and had four brothers. The family relocated to Holly Springs in 1836 after Chickasaw Indians were <a href="https://www.nps.gov/trte/learn/historyculture/index.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">forcibly removed</a> from northern Mississippi. They were attracted by the area's fertile lands. In 1842 when was 18, Coxe married his wife, Amelia, and established a plantation, named Galena, shortly thereafter around 10 miles southwest of the town. Many years later, he earned enough wealth to build Airliewood in 1858 (the original plantation house built by slaves was torn down in the 1950s). Unfortunately, Amelia died before it was completed. In the early 2000s, the owners of Airliewood restored and expanded it, and then opened it to the public for tours and events. In late 2011, it was acquired by Rust College. It is unclear whether the college still owns it, but the college planned to use it as a museum and event space. It is difficult to see the house from the street as trees block the view. There is also a fence that surrounds the property. The fence (and the gate) is a replica of the one at the West Point military academy.

One of the most beautiful homes in Holly Springs, Airliewood is a historic mansion built in 1858 by wealthy planter William Henry Coxe (1824-1865). It is a striking example of Gothic Revival architecture. Notable features include three steeply pitched front gables with ornate woodwork and pointed Tudor-arched windows. In the winter of 1862-1863, Union General Ulysses S. Grant lived in the house and used it as his headquarters. Airliewood is a contributing property of the East Holly Springs Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Airliewood

Edward Cary WalthallBarrett Walthall and his family arrived in Holly Springs from Richmond, Virginia in 1841 (or possibly 1840). Upon arriving he built the original version of the house—a log cabin. In 1848 he expanded it to its current size and appearance. Its most interesting feature is the porch which has paired posts forming arched openings and decorated with millwork trim. Edward C. Walthall was born in Virginia but spent the rest of his childhood in the house. As a young man, he studied law and passed the bar exam in 1852, then opened a law practice in Coffeeville, Mississippi. He was elected district attorney for the 10th judicial district of Mississippi in 1856 and then again in 1859. As noted above, during the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army. He entered as a lieutenant but rose to the rank of brigadier general in late 1862. After the war, he practiced law again in Coffeeville but moved to the town of Grenada in 1871, where he practiced until 1885 when he was appointed U.S. Senator. He was elected in 1889 and served until early 1894. He was then reelected in March of 1895 and served until he passed away on April 21, 1898. He is buried here in Holly Springs.Kate Freeman ClarkWhen Kate Freeman Clark was around 10, she and her mother, Cary Walthall Freeman Clark (1850-1922), moved into the house. Cary's mother, Kate Walthall Freeman (Barrett's daughter), had been living there since 1881. In 1891, Kate Freeman Clark enrolled in the Gardner Institute (a finishing school for women) in New York City. After graduating in 1893, she and her mother went to the Chicago World's Fair (also known as the World Columbian Exhibition) where they saw art on display. Inspired by what she saw, Kate took an interest in art and decided to pursue it.After studying art in Memphis, Tennessee, she moved to New York City in 1894 and enrolled in the Art Students League, where noted American impressionist painter <a href="https://www.theartstory.org/artist/chase-william-merritt/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">William Merritt Chase</a> taught. When Chase opened his own school on Long Island, Kate and other students joined him. Unsurprisingly, Chase had a tremendous influence on her throughout her career. During her time in New York City, she created around 1,000 paintings and presented her work in several shows. For a time, she would submit her work under names such as "Freeman Clark" to prevent any judgement for being a female artist.Unfortunately, Kate gave up painting in 1924. At the time, modernism was gaining in popularity in the art world, which was difficult for her to accept. Furthermore, the death of Chase in 1916 and and her grandmother (Kate Walthall Freeman) in 1919 were very painful. In light of these events, she put her paintings into storage in New York City and returned to Holly Springs, where she lived quietly in the house with minimal contact with others. As a result, few in the community knew of her talent as a painter. She died in 1957 at the age of 81. Before she passed, however, she made arrangements to bequeath many of her paintings and sketches to the city. She also requested that a museum be built to house her work. It opened in 1963 and also contains a few of Chase' paintings.Given its significance, Walthall House is a contributing property of the East Holly Springs Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Walthall House is a small but elegant historic home built by Barrett Walthall (1799-1881) in 1848. His son, Edward Cary Walthall (1831-1898) served as a Confederate brigadier general during the Cvil War and as a U.S. Senator. The house is also significant for its association with noted artist Kate Freeman Clark (1875-1957), who was Barrett's great granddaughter. Clark lived in the house for two periods of her life. In between, she lived and worked in New York City for 30 years. The adjacent building is the Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery, where many of her paintings are stored and on display. The Kate Freeman Clark Trust owns both buildings.



Walthall House & Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery

The courthouse is the second built for the county. The first, a wood-frame structure, was built in 1837 but was burned down by Union troops in 1864 during the Civil War. Construction of the present courthouse did not begin until 1870. It originally had arched windows on the second floor (see image of postcard below) and was expanded in 1926 to include wings on the west and east sides. Elements of the Colonial Revival architectural style were added to the building as well. The rest of the historic district includes several commercial buildings immediately surrounding the courthouse square. Most of them date to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Marshall County Courthouse has served as the seat of county government since its construction in 1872. It is situated prominently in the center of Holly Springs and is the centerpiece of the Holly Springs Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Designed in the Italianate style, the courthouse features pedimented porticos on the north and south sides and a clock tower on the roof. It houses the offices of the Marshall County Circuit Clerk and the 18th Chancery District Court.

Marshall County Courthouse

Harvey Washington Walker was born on May 21, 1819 in Fairfield County, Ohio. He studied law as a young man and moved to Holly Springs around 1838. Over the coming years, he became a successful lawyer and prominent figure in the community. He played a key role in the establishment of the Mississippi Central Railroad in 1852 and, as noted above, became its president. During the Civil War, despite staunchly opposing secession, Walter fought for the Confederacy and became an army colonel and judge advocate, which dealt with court martial cases.When the Union army arrived in Holly Springs on November 29, 1862, Walter offered the house to the Grants. It is not clear whether General Grant stayed in the mansion but he left Holly Springs on December 4th and relocated to the town of Oxford. Julia and Jesse Grant (and a family slave named Jule) moved in sometime in early December but did not stay long either and moved to Oxford to be with General Grant. They left just in time. A Confederate cavalry contingent from General Earl Van Dorn's army arrived in Holly Springs on December 20th to capture the town and seize Union supplies and munitions.The Walters moved back into the house after the war. Tragically, during the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878, Walter and his three sons died. In 1889, his widow sold the house to their daughter, Irene, who married Oscar Johnson, a founder of the International Shoe Company in 1911 (it is now known as Furniture Brands International). The house remained the in the Johnson family until 1983. Subsequent owners have renovated it as well as the surrounding grounds.Walter Place sits on a 15-acre property and features a two-story portico with Corinthian columns and two octagonal towers. Inside, the large home has twelve bedrooms and bathrooms. It was a finalist in the 2020 Mississippi Heritage Trust’s Heritage Awards.

When this historic Holly Springs mansion was sold in 2011 for $15 million, it became the most expensive home in Mississippi. Not only is the property an outstanding example of Greek Revival and Gothic Revival architecture, but it was also the temporary residence of Union General Ulysses S. Grant's wife, Julia, and their son, Jesse, in early December 1862 (it is unclear whether Grant himself stayed here). At the time, Grant was in the midst of a campaign to capture the strategic town of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The house was built in 1860 for its namesake, Harvey Washington Walter, who was the president of the Mississippi Central Railroad. Walter Place is a contributing property of the Southwest Holly Springs Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a private home and not open to the public.

Walter Place

The school building was constructed not long after the town of Holly Springs was established. Residents bought $22,650 in bonds to complete the project and the first school to occupy it was the Holly Springs Literary Institute. In 1838, it became the University of Holly Springs—the first university in Mississippi. The university only operated until 1839, however. The Methodist Church bought it and opened a law and medical school, which operated until 1843. The building remained vacant until a Presbyterian minister named Rev. Sam McKinney, who was born in Ireland, established the Chalmers Institute. It was named after a Scottish Presbyterian minister named Thomas Chalmers.The institute lasted much longer than the other schools. It closed in 1878 when the Yellow Fever epidemic swept through the community, killing many residents. The next school to occupy the building was the Holly Springs Normal Institute. It also operated for many years, closing some time in the early 20th century. The building was then converted into a private residence. Eventually it was abandoned and fell into disrepair several decades later. Given its historical significance, the building was added to the <a href="https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/64000411_text" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Register of Historic Places</a> in 1982. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has supported Preserve Marshall County &amp; Holly Springs's effort to preserve the building.

The Chalmers Institute building has significant historical connections to the city. It was once the home of four schools in Holly Springs: Holly Springs Literary Institute (a boy's school), the University of Holly Springs, a Methodist law and medical school, and another boy's school called the Chalmers Institute. Built in 1837, it is one of the oldest structures in the city. It is currently owned by the Preserve Marshall County & Holly Springs, Inc., which has worked to preserve and restore it since acquiring the old building in 2009.

Highlights of Holly Springs Mississippi

Marshall County Historical Museum

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information