The East Holly Springs Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Portions of the content on this web page were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document. [‡]
Description
The ninety-five acre East Holly Springs Historic District is located east of the Holly Springs Courthouse Square Historic District. A mixture of residential and institutional buildings arranged on a well-defined grid plan distinguishes the southwest quadrant of the East Holly Springs Historic District. Residential buildings dominate the rest of the neighborhood.
Significance
The East Holly Springs Historic District is the largest of the community's three architecturally significant residential neighborhoods. An outstanding collection of the town's finest Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, and Queen Anne style buildings are located within its boundaries. Salem Avenue, often called "Silk Stocking Avenue" in the late nineteenth century, is dominated by the expansive lawns of Montrose (335 East Salem Avenue), Oakleigh (also known as Athenia and the Fant-Clapp House), and Wakefield, three of the most splendid Greek Revival homes in the area, and Airliewood (385 Salem Avenue) and Cedarhurst (Sherwood Bonner House, 103 Salem Avenue), picturesque Gothic Revival residences (Crocker, Historic Architecture in Mississippi, p.160). Holly Springs' best Queen Anne style residences (L.A. Smith House, Salem Avenue; Cummings-Leech House, East Van Dorn Avenue, 1845,1891; two-story multi-gable-on-hip frame residence) are located within the East Holly Springs Historic District, as are its only Federal style home, Linden Terrace (College Avenue), and French Second Empire residence, Christ Church Rectory (Randolph Street), one of the first buildings designed by architect Samuel Manning Patton (Williams and Patton, New Orleans, Sulley, Toledano and Patton, Chattanooga, Tennessee). (Obituaries, The South, 8 and 15 April 1897). In addition, the East Holly Springs Historic District features several homes designed by Holly Springs architect Spires Bolling, including the Bolling-Gatewood House (220 North Randolph Street, 1858), White Pillars (140 North Maury Street), and Finley Place (Jones-Shuford House, 285 East Falconer Avenue), each distinguished by its octagonal columns. Locally significant examples of vernacular architecture, most notably Italianate Cottages, Bungalows, and Folk houses complement the area's rich variety of high-style architecture. Of the 193 buildings in the East Holly Springs Historic District, only two percent intrude upon its high degree of architectural integrity.
‡ East Holly Springs Historic District, Marshall County, MS, nomination document, NR# 83000960, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
College Avenue East • Compress Street • Falconer Avenue East • Fant Avenue • Gholson Avenue East • Maury Street North • Park Avenue East • Randolph Street North • Roberts Avenue • Route 178 • Route 4 • Salem Avenue • Spring Street South • Van Dorn Avenue East • Walthall Street North • Walthall Street South