John Strauther was the first Black mortician in Greenville, Mississippi. His monument is the only one in Live Oaks Cemetery. His wife had this made after he passed.
It is listed as part of the Smithsonian’s Save Outdoor Sculpture program.
Built in 1892, this Moorish Revival synagogue is the oldest in Mississippi.
Glen Allan, Mississippi is located in the Mississippi Delta region of Washington County. Built in 1830, it was one of the first churches in the area. During the Civil War, the stained glass windows were supposedly removed to assist in the Civil War efforts by using the lead in the windows for bullets.
This began the decline of the church building. Unfortunately, it was hit by a tornado in the early 1900s, and the outer brick walls were destroyed leaving most of what you see today.
The Bernheimer House (sometimes known as the Bernheimer Complex) was built by brothers Samuel and Jacob Bernheimer, Austrian Jewish businessmen. The Bernheimers moved to Port Gibson in the 1840s to the town and started a mercantile.
During the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant used the home that was on this site as headquarters during the Battle of Port Gibson. Grant deemed Port Gibson ”a town too pretty to burn,” so it did not experience the type of destruction other towns did. However, the Civil War financially destroyed the Bernheimers, but they eventually rebuilt.
In 1872, the Bernheimer house and commercial buildings on Walnut Street were built together to form the “Bernheimer Complex.” The Italianate house is covered in glass tiles made by the Kokomo Opalescent Glass Company, the oldest American opalescent glass maker. The company is still operating today.
Bynum School, a Rosenwald School located in Panola County, Mississippi, is a one-teacher type school that was built for $1460 in 1925. It’s thought to be the last remaining one-room Rosenwald in Mississippi.
On January 31, 1915, Kelly Mitchell, Queen of the Gypsy Nation, died during childbirth in Coatopa, Alabama. She was buried in Meridian, Mississippi at Rose Hill Cemetery because the city had enough ice to keep the body cool until her funeral, a funeral attended by over 20,000 people. Since her death, people visit from all around the world to leave trinkets on her grave. One reason why folks might leave items is to let others know the grave has been visited and, therefore, the person is not forgotten. For the Queen of the Gypsies, people leave items to attract Kelly to their dreams in hope she will help solve their problems. If you visit, outside of the Mardi Gras beads, you will likely see bottles of Orange Crush because it was supposedly her favorite drink.
Over the years, several attempts to rob her grave were prevented. They often made national news.
