Built 1925 USMS # 049-JAC-5917-NHL-ML Designated USMS September 21, 2001 Phone +1 601-353-7762 Architect Wyatt C. Hedrick | NRHP Reference # 02001388 Designated NHL August 18, 2004 Opened 1925 Added to NRHP 21 November 2002 | |
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Location 1119 Pinehurst Street, Jackson, Mississippi Address 1119 Pinehurst St, Jackson, MS 39202, USA Architectural style Tudor Revival architecture Similar Old Mississippi State Cap, Medgar Evers Home Mu, Mississippi Children's Museum, Mississippi Museum of Natural S, Mississippi Governor's Mansion Profiles | ||
The Eudora Welty House at 1119 Pinehurst Street in Jackson, Mississippi was the home of author Eudora Welty for nearly 80 years. It was built by her parents in 1925. In it she did all her writing, in an upstairs bedroom. Welty created the garden over decades. The house was first declared a Mississippi Landmark in 2001, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2004. This was part of a raised awareness of the significance of authors and literary life in the United States.
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The house was restored by the Eudora Welty Foundation and State of Mississippi. In 2006 the house and garden were opened to the public as an author's house museum. The renovation of the house and garden is part of a larger effort to celebrate and promote Mississippi's literary heritage as a means of developing tourism to the state.
The Garden
This garden was designed by Chestina Welty, Eudora Welty’s mother in 1925. The garden was often referred to by Eudora and her mother as a labor of love. It is located in the back of Eudora Welty’s childhood home and is a popular tourist attraction. Visitors are able to come and explore the vast amount of different types of flowers growing in the garden. The garden has a rose garden section, woodland garden section and a camellia flower collection. Chestina Welty put enormous effort into the design of the garden, she wanted a different type of flower to blossom for each season. For example, hollyhocks usually appear in the garden during the summer months. Some of the flowers in this garden even appear in Eudora Welty’s stories, such as Flowers for Marjorie.
Recent Events
On December 18, 2014, a fire occurred at Commons Hall, which is located on the same grounds as Eudora Welty’s birthplace. Commons Hall is a place that people use to host family reunions, parties, weddings, wedding receptions and many other types of social events. The fire was first noticed by a Commons Hall employee at approximately 7:30 a.m., it started in the fireplace chimney and ended up traveling to the attic. The fire was ruled to be accident by investigators. No individuals were hurt and no historic artifacts were damaged. However, severe damage was done to the building itself that will cost around a million dollars to fix.