Delta Electric Power Association (DEPA) moved into its new suburban office building—among the first of its type in the state—only a few years after the opening of U.S. 82 in 1953. Overlooking a wide green lawn, this two-story concrete and glass building symbolized the modern agricultural economy made possible by the electrical service the association provided. The building’s crisp rectangular form, the transparency of the first-floor glass wall, and the cantilevered, textured masonry screen emphasize efficiency through structure and materials rather than applied ornament. DEPA formed in 1938 as a rural electric cooperative, a nonprofit membership organization established under the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), and operated in thirteen Delta counties.
Next door at 1608 U.S. 82, the Museum of the Mississippi Delta occupies the former Billups Petroleum Company offices (1957). A long cantilevered canopy shades the ribbon windows of this one-story textured brick building.