“The Gibraltar of the Confederacy,” “The Hill City,” “The River City”—Vicksburg’s nicknames emphasize its topography, its situation on one of the Mississippi River’s highest bluffs, and its lightweight glacial loess soil that erodes into steep ridges and deep ravines. Though occupying the northern edge of the old Natchez District, Vicksburg’s location at the confluence of the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers aligned its fortunes more closely with the rich cotton lands of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta region to the north.
Founded in 1811 by Methodist minister Newet Vick and platted in 1826 by his son-in-law John Lane (whose 1830s house survives at 905 Crawford Street), Vicksburg by the time of the Civil War thrived on both river and rail traffic. Its strategic position on the Mississippi made Abraham Lincoln exclaim, “Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.” In 1863, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant crossed the river near Port Gibson and fought their way to Vicksburg via Jackson. The siege of Vicksburg lasted from May 18 to July 4, 1863, and drove civilians into hastily dug-out caves for shelter from the regular bombardment. Confederate general John C. Pemberton finally surrendered on July 4, 1863, and the city remained under Union occupation for the duration of the war. Its key transportation facilities made it valuable again during Reconstruction, and by 1870, Vicksburg had surpassed Natchez as the state’s most populous city, a position it held until 1910, when railroad hubs at Meridian and Jackson with more connections gained dominance.
Vicksburg’s city plan parallels the river, and while the original grid laid out by the Vicks in the 1820s is easy to navigate, later subdivisions—many developed along an extensive streetcar system—tend to follow the ridge lines, curving to such an extent that it is easy to lose one’s bearings. Historically, large estates and upper-class houses for whites lined the high points, with middle-class and African American neighborhoods terraced below.
Vicksburg’s architectural refinement began in the 1830s, and its postbellum buildings befitted its status as the state’s largest city. From 1899, after streetcars enabled development of suburbs south of the Alabama and Vicksburg Railroad, Vicksburg’s cotton factors and merchants built some of the most innovative residences in Mississippi at the time. Midwestern influences brought by the railroad and the river, especially from Chicago, are prominent. Just north of the concrete Cherry Street railroad bridge is the state’s first junior high school, Carr School (1924, W. A. Stanton), a looming Tudoresque presence now converted to apartments. Twentieth-century buildings have slowly made their way into Vicksburg’s Pilgrimage, an annual historic home tour begun in 1936 as an homage to the Old South.
Two generations of the Stanton family were the city’s best-regarded architects. William Stanton (1840–1908), born in Natchez, moved to Vicksburg soon after Confederate service in the Civil War. His largest project was the Church of the Holy Trinity (YB9). His son, William A. Stanton (1870–1948), known as W. A. Stanton, studied architecture at Cornell University, which gave him the academic credential he used to advertise his practice. The Stantons designed many of Vicksburg’s landmarks, but despite their local prominence, out-of-state architects won important public and residential projects. The Stantons, along with Vicksburg contractors Curphey and Mundy, received few commissions beyond Warren County.
One aspect of building where Vicksburg led the state was in the production and use of concrete block. Local newspapers noted that Vicksburg was the first in Mississippi to have a concrete-block building (1905, Bonelli Building; demolished) and, in 1906, the first to produce concrete block on a large scale. Like all of Mississippi, Vicksburg lacked quality building stone, a deficit felt keenly by merchants and planters who aspired to houses they observed in their travels. Concrete blocks made possible by Chicago-based H. S. Palmer’s 1900 concrete-block machine provided a stone-like material.
River traffic and associated industries remain important, along with the Waterways Experiment Station (WES), the headquarters for the Engineer Research and Development Center of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Founded in 1930, WES covers 673 acres, including a smaller National Register—listed historic district, and is a leader in flood-control modeling and the study of hydraulic engineering.
Writing Credits
If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.
SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.