Mississippi River Commission Building, Vicksburg MS

History

In 1876, Vicksburg, Mississippi, received a devastating blow when the Mississippi River changed its course, cutting off the city from the waterfront. Two years later, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a massive project to divert the Yazoo River south, ultimately bringing river commerce back to Vicksburg in 1903.

In anticipation of increased trade and to house needed engineering and weather offices, the federal government purchased a lot on the corner of Crawford and Walnut streets in 1889. The design for a new federal building was executed in 1889 under the auspices of supervising architect of the U.S. Treasury Department William A. Freret. Construction began in March 1890 and proceeded under Freret’s successor, James H. Windrim. Tenants began moving into the building the following year. When it opened, the building had a weather observatory on its roof and served as a post office, courthouse, and signal office, in addition to housing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Customs Service, and Internal Revenue Service. After complaints from early building occupants, installation of a heating system was completed in 1893, and a plumbing system was finished in 1894.

Between 1912 and 1915, due to the growing needs of the city, the building was expanded. Completed under supervising architect Oscar Wenderoth, the addition nearly doubled the building’s size. By the 1930s, another population boom again resulted in demands for more space, and the post office and courts relocated to a new building. In 1944, the Mississippi River Commission (MRC) moved into the 1890s building. The MRC was established in 1879 to improve the river channel and navigation, protect the banks, prevent destructive floods, and promote commerce and trade. Today, it continues to provide policy advice and engineering direction on the Mississippi River basin to the president and Congress.

In 1993, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building in the Uptown Vicksburg Historic District. During the 1990s, comprehensive building rehabilitation included roof repair, restoration of the main entrance, paint color restoration, brick repair, and electrical and HVAC upgrades.

Architecture

When designing the Mississippi River Commission Building in 1889, William A. Freret used the Romanesque Revival style, popular in the second half of the nineteenth century and characterized by picturesque massing, heavy masonry, towers, asymmetrical rooflines, and Roman arches. Located three blocks uphill from the waterfront on the western edge of the Uptown Vicksburg Historic District, the building sits on the northeast corner of the block bounded by Walnut, South Washington, Crawford, and South streets.

The building’s picturesque massing is emphasized by a combination of strong verticals, defined by projecting wall planes, and horizontals, established by molded belt courses. The walls are further enlivened by a variety of rich detail, including elaborately molded brick trim and terracotta panels. Facing east, the Walnut Street facade is broken into three forward and two recessed planes, with the two sections to the south comprising the 1915 addition. The basement forms a rusticated plinth of quarry-faced, irregularly coursed stone, which levels with the slope of the land. Gray granite steps, flanked by squat, round stone newel posts with a carved spiral pattern, lead to the current main entrance. The entryway, comprised of three sets of double wood doors with iron and terracotta surrounds, is topped by transom windows and a band of intricate terracotta molding depicting human faces entwined in a spiraling vine.

The first and second floors are visually divided by a molded brick belt course accentuated with copper flashing. Most of the windows on the first, second, and third floors are set in Roman arches with connecting imposts. A small arched window, resting above the plinth on the north end of the facade, is surrounded by terracotta voussoirs with a rinceau pattern. Pediments above the entrances have high-relief terracotta panels, raking copper cornices, eye windows with radiating voussoirs, and finials. A combination of intersecting hips and gables form the level above. Corbelled brackets support the cornice of the 1890s sections, while the 1915 addition has dentils. A gray slate roof tops the building.

On the northeast corner, the octagonal tower is fitted with brick pilasters topped by a wood cornice with a copper skin, arches with radiating voussoirs, and an elaborately decorated parapet wall with cast iron finials, reflecting the larger finial topping the tower’s slate roof.

The north elevation has design features similar to those found on the facade. Divided into three bays, the entrance was approached from quarter-turn granite stairs with newels decorated with acanthus leaf details cut into the stone. Although the original doors have been removed and replaced with windows, the original iron light fixtures with ball globes remain. A circular window on the first floor, under the tower, has terracotta panels with the rinceau pattern also found in the arched window on the facade. Though more utilitarian, the south and west elevations also repeat many of the attributes mentioned, including arched windows, molded brick surrounds, and belt courses.

The entrance opens to the main lobby, the most richly decorated interior space. Cast from molds created from the original terracotta columns, reproduced faux marble columns with gilded Corinthian capitals rest on a checkerboard marble floor. The lobby features original oak paneled wainscot. The original grand staircase has turned balusters and replicated wood wainscot. Installed in the 1990s, a spiral staircase leads from the third floor to the top of the tower.

Significant Events

1889: Land purchased

1890: Construction begins

1891: Building occupied

1892–1894: Heating and plumbing systems installed

1912–1915: Addition constructed

1935: Postal offices and courts vacate

1944: Building becomes headquarters of the Mississippi River Commission

1993: Listed in National Register of Historic Places as part of district

1992–1999: Building restoration and rehabilitation

Building Facts

Location: 1400 Walnut Street

Architects: William A. Freret; Oscar Wenderoth

Construction Dates: 1890–1891; 1912–1915

Landmark Status: Listed in National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building in the Uptown Vicksburg Historic District

Architectural Style: Romanesque Revival

Primary Materials: Brick and Terracotta

Prominent Features:

• Molded brick, terracotta, iron, and copper details

• Elaborately decorated tower with parapet and finials

• Picturesque massing