M. A. MILLER'S SKETCHBOOK OF 1860
                    CORINTH: THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
                       OF A MISSISSIPPI BOOMTOWN

CHAPTER VI - AN ANALYSIS OF MILLER'S SKETCHBOOK AS A TOOL FOR ANALYZING
             THE COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE OF CORINTH

     Having in the previous chapter confirmed the accuracy of  M. A.
Miller's sketches, a confident analysis of the town can now be made.
Miller's  sketches  give an invaluable  picture  of  the architecture
of 1860 Corinth.  While his sketches themselves convey a
considerable amount of material, he gives added information in  his
textural notes about the various buildings.   These  notes give  many
details  not discernible from  the  sketches.   Since Miller's
sketches are monochromatic, he notes the colors of  most of the wood
frame buildings.  If the building was built of brick, Miller clearly
writes "brick" on or near the building.  Where  he fails  to give a
color or designate the building as being  brick, one  must  assume
that the building was an unpainted  wood  frame structure.
Unpainted buildings would have been common in  such a young town where
many of these buildings had just been completed.  The vast majority
of the commercial structures, if  painted at  all, were painted white
or more likely whitewashed.   One  of the  first  buildings Miller
sketched was an  exception  to  this rule.  This building, the  Post
Office, was painted pink.   These color  notations  make his sketches
more valuable in a  way  than photography of the period which recorded
only in black and white.

     The  Corinth  of 1860 had many shops and  stores  where  the
citizens  could purchase a variety of manufactured goods  brought into
town by the railroad. Before the days of the railroad  goods were
shipped into and out of the county through Eastport and  the Tennessee
River.   Now goods could be shipped more  quickly  and easily  by
rail.   Citizens who before had  worn  only  homespun clothes  were
beginning to buy northern made clothes at  the  new mercantile
establishments in Corinth.[1]    Most of these  commercial
establishments were housed in frame buildings many of  which aspired
to architectural sophistication.  The general merchandise
establishments  of  Reese and Sawyers Cash  Store,[2]  Kincaid  and
Sawyers, Sawyers and Whitmore, E. Franklin and Company,  Campbell and
Company on Front Row, Campbell and Company on Main Street and J.C.
Tarkington   were   all  housed   in   two   story   frame
buildings.(Appendix B, Illustrations 57 through 63)  All of these
buildings  had  their gable ends to the street  thus  giving  the
appearance  of Greek temples.  Most of these buildings were
per fectly plain, relying only on the basic form of the building  and
minimal detailing to associate it with the Greek Revival.   Campbell
and Company of Front Row added corner pilasters to the front of the
building to strengthen its architectural pretentions.  J. C.
Tarkington went to the greatest trouble of all of these  merchants
to visually associate his building with the popular  Greek taste  in
architecture.  Tarkington's building was a  simple  two story  frame
building just like all the others except that  Tarkington  added a
huge cornice and four giant Doric columns to  the front  masking the
gable end.  Rather than put his sign over  the front door as did the
other merchants, he proudly placed his name in the center of the
building's cornice.  There was also a balcony on the second level
between the two center columns.

        Tarkington's  building was the most architecturally
significant  of  all these  frame  commercial buildings.  Perhaps
this  second  story served  as living quarters for the Tarkington
family.   This  arrangement was apparently followed at the Kincaid and
Sawyer store located  on  Front  Row and shown by Miller on page  two
of  his sketchbook.   This building has large double doors on the
center of  both the first and second floors.  In his notes,  written
to the  right  side  of the building, Miller says  that  the  "lower
shutters and door (are) yellow" and the "house white".   Miller's
reference to the upper floor of this building as a house seems to
indicate that the second floor served as living quarters for  the
merchant  and his family.  This was a common practice  throughout the
country at the time.  Sawyer's and Whitmore's  building  was larger
than  the others.  Miller, in his sketch on  page  three, gives  the
dimensions of this building as "25 X 75  feet  long". This  building
was located across Franklin Street west  of  the Courthouse.    A
porch was added sometime after the building  was constructed.  This
porch addition can be seen on the east end  of the building facing the
Courthouse.  This addition does not  give the  building  a Greek
temple look.  This building  is  a simple modern porch added for the
comfort and convenience of the customers and merchant alike.  Miller's
treatment of this sketch indicates  that the roof of this porch was
probably a  standing seam metal roof.

     In addition to the general merchandise buildings, there were
several  specialty  shops in town.  A.H. Young's  Drug  Store  on
Front   Row   is   shown  on  the   second   page   of   Miller's
sketchbook.(Appendix  B,  Illustration 64)  This drug  store  was
located in a small gable roofed, one story, frame building fronted
by  a false facade.  At the top of this false  front  is  the store
sign.  The entire building was painted white.  The door was located
in  the  center of the front between  two  bow  windows. These windows
are the most striking architectural feature of  the building.
Apparently  Miller was impressed by them for  he  not only draws them
as bow windows but also writes "bow windows" just below  his sketches.
Several other buildings seemingly  had  bow windows.   While Miller
does not label them as such he does  draw them like the windows on
this drug store.  An unlabeled  building two  doors down from Young's
drug store had bow  windows(Appendix B, Illustration 65) as did J.H.
Robbins store next door.(Appendix B,  Illustration 66)  Reese Sawyers
Cash Store, Kincaid and  Sawyers,  E. Franklin and Company, and
Campbell and Company on  Main Street  also had bow windows.   Other
businesses located  in  Corinth  were Blakes Bakery on Front Row
next door to Young's  Drug Store,  T.M.  Parson's  Tailor shop also on
Front  Row,  several grocery  stores, blacksmith shops, buggy shops,
livery  stables, and  saloons, all in a variety of simple  functional
structures. In addition to these permanent stores, Corinth also had a
market house shown by Miller on page four.(Appendix B, Illustration
67) This building was a long, low structure with a cupola  presumably
containing  a  bell at one gable end.  The end  below  this  bell
appears  to be filled in with lattice work.  Miller did not  make any
notes as to the location of this building, nor does  he  describe it
in detail.  The market house was probably used by local farmers when
they brought their produce into town to sell.

     Miller  gives a lot of attention to the various  signs
displayed  by  the merchants. On the first page of  his  sketchbook,
Miller  shows a cobbler's shop on Fillmore Street south  of  Main that
had a sign in the form of a  large black boot hanging  over the
door.(Appendix  B, Illustration 68)  This sign  continues  a centuries
old tradition of using images to advertise wares rather than  words.
Shull's Picture Gallery was located in  the  same building  as this
cobbler's shop.(Appendix B,  Illustration  69)[3] Shull's  sign  was a
simple wooden plaque hanging on a  rod  with "Shull's Picture Gallery"
painted on it.  That this gallery  made photographs  is  substantiated
by a skylight on the roof  of  the building  presumably lighting the
studio.

     The building located behind this one was the Polk Building. This
two story frame building had a full length  gallery  across both
floors.  This building's name was very clear to see  because it  was
printed on a large board that was placed on the  roof  of the
gallery.   The Aetna Insurance Company was  located  on  the first
floor of this building.(Appendix B, Illustration 70)   Most merchants
simply  painted their name across the  front  door  of their
establishment in very simple block letters that  could  be clearly
read from a  distance.  A livery and sale stable  located on  Front
Row  and shown by Miller on the  second  page  of  his sketchbook
included a painting of a horse above the  sign. (Appendix B,
Illustration 71)  Apparently the sign of the Corinth House hotel was
unusual because Miller describes it in more detail than the others.
This sign was blue with yellow Roman letters. (Appendix B,
Illustration 72)

     Corinth  had several large brick structures in  1860.   This fact
is remarkable when one considers that Corinth was barely six years
old at this time.   The first brick building  sketched  by Miller
was  Kemper's Clothing Store located on  the  corner  of Jackson
Street and Front Row. (Appendix B, Illustration 73)   This large  two
story building is shown on this page from its  Jackson Street  side
while the next page shows its main  entrance  which faced  Front
Row.(Appendix B, Illustration 74)   In  addition  to this main
entrance, there was a side entrance on Jackson  Street. The second
floor was reached by means of a stair clearly  visible in  the Front
Row elevation.  Miller gives the added  information that this building
had an iron front.  This iron front was probably  one of the
earliest, if not the first, cast iron  facade  in Tishomingo  County.
This building had a  detailed  cornice  and window  hoods probably
also made of cast iron.

        The  Hopkins  and Polk  store is the next brick building shown
by  Miller.(Appendix B, Illustration 75)  This store, located on the
southwest  corner of Fillmore and Main Streets, was two stories in
height,   topped by  a  "square flat roof".  Miller did not make a
sketch  of  the front  of  this building.  The rear was very plain
with  a  door located in the center of the first floor and four
windows on  the second  floor.    The side of the building had
"Hopkins  &  Polk" painted  on  the wall just below the cornice which
was  probably made of cast iron.  Just below the names of the
proprietors is  a row of four stabilizing rod ends clearly shown by
Miller.

        Hyneman's  Mill,  shown on page three,  is the next  brick
structure recorded by Miller.(Appendix B, Illustration 76)  This large
four story building was situated with its longer end parallel to  Main
Street  on  the south and with its entrance facing  the  railroad
tracks  to  the west.  This structure was most  likely  a  cotton
textile  mill.   Located on the roof above the west  end  of  the
building  was a bellfry presumably used to signal  the  beginning and
end of the working day.   Also shown on this page is a  brick building
which housed a Millinery shop.(Appendix B,  Illustration 77)   This
building was a two story building with its  gable  end facing Polk
Street.

     The  courthouse, shown on page three, was the  first  court-
house built in Corinth.(Appendix B, Illustration 78) In 1859  the
county was divided into two chancery and circuit court  districts with
Corinth being the seat for one of these districts.   Jacinto remained
the seat for the other district. In 1857  Mitchell  and Mask, the two
men who first surveyed the town, gave block no.  85 in  the center of
the town as a location for a city hall.   After Corinth was made a
county seat a combination city hall and courthouse  was  built on this
site.[4]  This building is  the  building sketched  by Miller.
Official records state that  the  building was  built of wood.[5]  But
Miller's sketch clearly shows  a  brick building.  Although no other
images of this building are known to exist,  the fact that the
courthouse was built of brick  is  born out  by a letter written by a
Union soldier stationed in  Corinth during  the  Civil  War. In this
letter, which he  wrote  to  his family,  he  states that "Corinth is
a good size town and  has  a brick  courthouse".[6]   This  building
resembled  the  Jacinto courthouse  and could have been built by the
same man,  Mr.  J.J. Blythe. (Appendix B, Illustration 78)  The
Jacinto courthouse  was to have been originally built of wood, but the
plans were changed to build it of brick.[7]  Perhaps the same thing
happened when  the Corinth  courthouse was built. [8]

        Both of these courthouses have many elements in common.  The
Jacinto  courthouse was to be "40 X 56 feet; first  story  twelve feet
in the clear; second story, thirteen feet... four rooms  and a
twenty-two foot hall on the first floor, and a court room  and two
jury rooms on the second floor".   These were the specifications given
when the courthouse was to be built of  wood. The plan and dimensions
were not changed when the building was  built except to accommodate the
brick construction.[9]  The Jacinto courthouse  still  exists
today; the  Corinth  courthouse  burned  in 1880.[10]

     Despite  the  similarities,  these two  buildings  were  not
identical.   The Corinth courthouse was square in plan while  the
Jacinto courthouse is rectangular.  The Jacinto courthouse has  a five
bay front and rear with three bay side walls.  Two  doorways open
into  the center hall from the front and rear,  creating  a familiar
center hall, double-pile plan.  The stairway rises in  a side hall off
the center hall.  The second floor contains a large courtroom  over
the center hall and two of the rooms below.   The remaining space on
the second floor is divided between the stair-hall and two jury
rooms.   The Corinth courthouse was a bit  more complicated.  The two
sides shown by Miller are on the south  and the  west.  The north and
east sides were probably  identical  to the  two  shown.  In the
center of each side was a  doorway  with sidelights and transom.  The
Jacinto courthouse has two pairs  of double  doors  with transoms.
The location of the doors  on  the Corinth courthouse suggests a Greek
cross plan.  On each side  of the doors of the Corinth courthouse were
two windows.  The second floor  had  six windows per side centered
over the  ground  floor doors and windows.

     The use of a square plan for the courthouse at Corinth could
relate to the fact that Corinth was begun as a purely  commercial
venture.  The city surveyors did not plan the town to be a center for
county government so consequently there was no hierarchy  of planning.
The city was surveyed and marked off into equal square blocks.  When
the courthouse was built it had to conform to  pre-existing
conditions. Jacinto, on the other hand, was planned  as a  county
seat from the very beginning.  The  courthouse  square here  set the
scale for the entire town, which then  grew  around it.   The county
records show that the "court square was  located and  the  entire
tract of land ordered surveyed  into  lots"   in accordance with the
act creating the county which stated that the seat  of  government
should be located not more than  five  miles from  the  geographical
center of the county.[11]   At  Jacinto  the courtsquare and
courthouse were the starting point for the  town. At  Corinth,  the
courthouse was placed at the center of  a  pre-existing  grid.   The
countyseats of  Oxford,  Lafayette  County (1837) and Holly Springs,
Marshall County (1836) date from  about the same time as Jacinto.  The
courthouses erected in these three towns are all rectangular in plan
and are very clearly the  focal point of the entire county. [12]  The
location of the courthouse  at Corinth was determined not by politics
but rather by economics.

     A building related to the courthouse in function but not  in
design was the "caliboose" or county jail. (Appendix B,  Illustration
80)  Miller's sketch is the only known image of this  unique building.
Just where it was located is not known.  Miller  gives no clue as to
its location in his sketchbook.  His sketch on page ten shows the
building drawn and labled with a circle around  it. The  other
drawings on this page have no location either and  are labled and
circled similarly.  The caliboose was a square  Gothic building  with
a tower at each corner and a  crenelated  parapet. The  walls,
probably brick, were stuccoed and scored to  simulate ashlar masonry.
The entrance doorway was in the form of a  Tudor arch with two small
windows or niches to either side.  The towers had two rectangular
windows each, one above the other.  There are various  explanations
as to why the county jail  looked  like  a little  castle.  The most
likely reason is simply one  of  taste. The  Gothic Revival was then
popular because of  publications  by tastemakers such as A. J. Dowing,
A.J. Davis, William Ranlett and Samuel Sloan.  Many of the houses in
Corinth were decorated  with Gothic  elements so it was a natural
progression to  apply  these same decorations to the county jail which
otherwise would  probably have been a simple square brick structure.
Another reason is the  association that Gothic architecture had with
authority  and confinement.   Possibly the man who designed and built
the  caliboose  was  familiar with John Haviland's Gothic design
for  the Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania.(Appendix B,
Illustration  81)   This  prison, built in  1823-25,  was  a
castellated medieval  fortress.[13]  Many later prisons across the
country  were built  in this style including Mississippi's State
Penitentiary, designed  and  built in 1836-41 by William Nichols who
was  then State Architect.(Appendix B, Illustration 82)[14]  If a
local builder based his design for the Corinth caliboose on a larger
model, it was probably this building.  Whatever the source of his
idea, the designer of this building gave Corinth one of the most
unusual county jails in the area.

     Of the four church buildings sketched by Miller in 1860 only one
was built of brick.  This building was the Christian  Church located
on   the   southeast  corner   of   Main   and   Taylor
Streets.(Appendix  B,  Illustration 83)  This  building  was  de-
stroyed  during the Civil War and the present building  built  in the
1870's.  Now known as Waldron Street Christian  Church  this newer
building is the oldest church building still used for  its original
purpose in Corinth.  The 1860 building, shown  on  page seven of
Miller's sketchbook, was a one story building five  bays deep.  Miller
gives the building's dimensions as  "40 X 60".  The west  front  had
two sets of double doors, each surmounted  by  a transom.   On the
western end of the roof was a bell tower.   The other  three  church
buildings, the  Methodist,    Baptist,  and Cumberland Presbyterian,
were all of frame construction.   Miller gives the color scheme of the
Methodist church only.(Appendix  B, Illustration  84)  This two story
building, also on  page  seven, was  painted white.  The two doors on
the western  side  opposite the  courthouse were painted yellow.  The
shutters for  the  four windows on each side of the building were
painted green.  The windows on the second floor, four to a side and
one over each  door, did  not have shutters.  On the western end of
the roof was   the bell tower.  Miller gives the dimensions of this
building as "36 X 60 feet".  Why he gives the dimensions of these two
church buildings  and  not the others is not known.   He occasionally
gives dimensions throughout the sketchbook but with little
explanation for  why he does so.  Perhaps those buildings which he
liked  the most he measured.

     The two remaining church buildings belong to the  Cumberland
Presbyterian  and  Baptist churches.  These buildings,  shown  on
pages three and four, are almost identical. (Appendix B, Illustra-
tions  85 and 86)  Both are simple gable-roofed  structures  with the
gable end toward the street.  Both have two doorways in  this gable
end  and  each has four windows to a  side.   The  Baptist church
building  has  a more elaborate cornice  and  a  circular window in
the gable.  The Cumberland Presbyterian church building has  a larger
steeple than the Baptist church.  These two  buildings seem to have
a Gothic inspiration while the other two have a classic  one.   All
four buildings, however,  are  very  similar. They are simple country
churches moved into town and dressed up a little.

     The largest and grandest public building in 1860 Corinth was
Corona  College.(Appendix B, Illustration 87)  This large,  three
story, brick, female academy was built on a hill southwest of the
railroad intersection and was clearly visible from town.   Rever- end
L.B. Gaston and his wife Susan established Corona College  in 1857.
Reverend Gaston was a native of Gastonia, North  Carolina. He  was
educated in law and later in the ministry.  In  1847,  he and  his
wife arrived in Oxford, Mississippi by way  of  Memphis, Tennessee.
Reverend Gaston served as pastor of the College  Hill Presbyterian
Church near Oxford for ten years at which time  they moved to Corinth
to fulfill their dream of establishing a college for women.[15]   The
college was described as a "magnificent  building surmounted by a
lofty dome".  It cost $40,000.00. [16]

     There  is a very definite similarity between Corona  College and
the Lyceum building at the University of  Mississippi.(Appendix  B,
Illustration 88)  The Lyceum, designed by architect  William
Nichols, was completed in 1848 just a year after  the  Gaston's
arrival at College Hill.   The Gastons surely were familiar with  the
Lyceum and may even have known its architect.   William Nichols  was
born in Bath, England and emigrated to  the  United States  around
1800.  He arrived in North  Carolina  and  worked there  several
years before moving to the deep South,  where  he worked in Alabama,
Mississippi and Louisiana.

     It is possible, although undocumented, that Nichols knew the
Gaston  family when he worked in North Carolina and  renewed  his
acquaintance  with  the  Reverend and his wife  in  Oxford.   But
whether  the  Gastons knew Nichols or not, they surely  knew  his
building.  The Lyceum was doubtless the model for Corona College. Both
buildings were large three story brick structures with giant order
Ionic porticoes; that of Corona College had  four  columns while the
Lyceum had six columns.  It is natural that Gaston,  or his  architect
or builder, would pattern his building  after  the Lyceum.  The Lyceum
was the largest building in North Mississippi at the time.  It was
also the main building of the University  of Mississippi.   The
Lyceum was a natural choice as  a  model  for Corona College both in
size and in symbolism.  The  Gastons  thus made  a visual connection
with the University of  Mississippi  at Corona.

     Despite  their similarities, the Lyceum and  Corona  College were
by no means identical.  The entrance to the Lyceum  was  in its  gable
end  under a large pediment supported  by  six  Ionic columns where at
Corona the entrance was in the long side,  under a flat projecting
portico supported by four Ionic columns.   Both buildings  are
elevated on a raised basement.   The  surface  of Corona is
articulated by pilasters running the full height of the facade
between  each window bay, thus  visually  continuing  the portico
across the facade and down the side of the  wings.   The roof  at
Corona was surmounted by a parapet, shown on page  eight of Miller's
1860 sketchbook, presumably to hide its hipped  roof. The  Lyceum has
less detailing than Corona, but  this  simplicity gives  the  building
a quiet monumentality  somewhat  lacking  at Corona.

     A student at Corona, Eliza Lucy Irion Neilson, recorded  the
appearance of the interior of the building as follows:

       "The  hall  was very large and beautifully  ornamented  with
  arches and pillars.  The rostrum was nicely carpeted.  The  Wain-
  scot,  doors and window sills were 'oaken'.  The windows  reached
  almost  to  the floor and extended nearly to  the  ceiling.   The
  blinds  were of a kinder maroon color which threw a lovely  light
  over  all.  The desks, or rather study tables, were walnut  color
  and chairs likewise." [17]

She also describes the boarders' rooms at the college  as being nicely
furnished "in walnut cottage furniture with  whitest of counterpanes
on the bed".[18]  Obviously Corona College was quite an elegant
building on both the inside and outside.  Ninty female students  were
enrolled  in Corona College in  July  1858.   The students  came from
Mississippi as well as Texas,  Tennessee  and Alabama. [19]

     The  commercial  and  public architecture  of  1860  Corinth
varied  greatly in style and finish.  Miller  democratically
recorded  all these buildings regardless of how imposing or  modest
they were.  All are now gone.  If not for  Miller's  sketchbook, the
appearance of 1860 Corinth would, like its  buildings,  have been lost
forever.



CHAPTER VII. MILLER'S SKETCHBOOK AS A TOOL FOR ANALYZING THE DOMESTIC
             ARCHITECTURE OF 1860 CORINTH




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