The Bolling–Gatewood House is a historic cottage in

Holly Springs, Mississippi Holly Springs is a city in, and the county seat of, Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the southern border of Tennessee. Near the Mississippi Delta, the area was developed by European Americans for cotton plantations and was dep ...

, USA. It is home to the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum, named for former slave, journalist, and suffragist

Ida B. Wells Ida B. Wells (full name: Ida Bell Wells-Barnett) (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) was an American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for ...

Location

The house is located at 220 Randolph Street North in Holly Springs, a small town in northern Mississippi. It is off

U.S. Route 78 U.S. Route 78 (US 78) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 715 miles (1,151 km) from Memphis, Tennessee, to Charleston, South Carolina. From Byhalia, Mississippi to Birmingham, Alabama, US 78 is concurrent with Interstate 2 ...

History

The house was completed in 1858. It was designed as a two-storey wood cottage in the Greek Revival architectural style. The portico has five bays and octagonal columns. The cottage is white. It was built by

Spires Boling Spires Boling (1812–1880), whose name is often misspelled as Spires Bolling, was a slaveowner, master builder, architect, and distillery founder in Holly Springs, Mississippi. He is known for holding the journalist Ida B. Wells and her family i ...

(sometimes misspelled as Bolling), a master builder and later architect who designed it. Boling is also credited with White Pillars and Finley Place. Boling owned nine slaves, including Lizzie Wells and

, who went on to become a renowned Civil Rights activist. Later, the house became known as the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum. The museum presents "the contributions of African Americans in the fields of history, art and culture." In July 2013, three memorial trees were planted in the garden in honor of Wells's prominent grandchildren: Benjamin C. Duster III (1927–2011), an attorney; Charles E. Duster, Sr. (1929–1991), an architect; and Donald L. Duster (1932–2013), a business executive.

Architectural significance

As a contributing property to the East Holly Springs Historic District, it has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

since April 20, 1983. Additionally, it has been a

Mississippi Landmark The following is a list of Mississippi Landmarks officially nominated by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and approved by each county's chancery clerk. The Mississippi Landmark designation is the highest form of recognition bestow ...

since 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolling-Gatewood House Houses completed in 1858 Buildings and structures in Holly Springs, Mississippi Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Greek Revival houses in Mississippi Antebellum architecture National Register of Historic Places in Marshall County, Mississippi Historic district contributing properties in Mississippi