The Chalmers Institute is a historic building 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. Built in 1837, it was home to the University of Holly Springs, the oldest university in Mississippi, from 1838 to 1839. It was home to a short-lived Methodist medical and law school from 1839 to 1843. It reopened as the Chalmers Institute, a Presbyterian boys' school, from 1850 to 1878, when a

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

epidemic closed down the school. It became home to the Holly Springs Normal Institute in 1879, but closed down a few years later. In the twentieth century, it became a private residence. It has been listed by 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 ...

for its historic significance since 1982.

Location

The building is located on West Chulahoma Avenue in Holly Springs, a small town in

Marshall County, Mississippi Marshall County is a County (United States), county located on the north central border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 37,144. Its county seat is Holly Springs, Mississippi, ...

, in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

History

The building was erected in 1837. It was designed as a

hip-roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

ed two-storey building in the Federal architectural style. It was known as the Holly Springs Literary Institution in 1837. By 1838, it became known as the University of Holly Springs. As such, it was the first university in Mississippi, nine years before the foundation of the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...

. However, it closed down shortly after, in 1843. The building was home to a medical and law school run by the

Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...

from 1839 to 1843. It closed down in 1843 and remained unoccupied until 1847. In 1847, Reverend

Samuel McKinney Samuel McKinney (1807–1879) was an Irish-born Presbyterian minister and educator in the American South, particularly Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas. He founded the Chalmers Institute in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1850. He served as the ...

, an Irish-born Presbyterian minister, opened the Chalmers Institute, a boys' school. Prominent former students included George Clifton Myers (1852-1934), an influential clerk of the

Mississippi Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appe ...

, and Confederate Colonel William F. Taylor, who became a prosperous cotton commissioner in the post-bellum South. One of the trustees was Reverend Daniel Baker, a Presbyterian minister who went on to found

Daniel Baker College Daniel Baker College was founded April 5, 1889 in Brownwood, Texas, United States. It was named in memory of the Rev. Dr. Daniel Baker, a Presbyterian circuit-riding minister, who helped organize the first presbytery in Texas in 1840 and Austin ...

and

Austin College Austin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Sherman, Texas.Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Meanwhile, McKinney went on to serve as the first President of Austin College. In the aftermath of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, the school reopened under the leadership of Professor W. A. Anderson until 1869. It thrived until 1878, when Holly Springs was hit by an epidemic of

. A year later, another school opened in the building: the Holly Springs Normal Institute. However, it later closed down in 1879. The building became a private residence at the outset of the twentieth century. In 2009, it was acquired by Preserve Marshall County/Holly Springs Inc., a preservationist organization whose aim is to save and restore the building. In 2013, they received US$80,000 (~$ in ) from the

Mississippi Department of Archives and History Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) is a state agency. It is the official archive of the Mississippi Government. Location The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is located in Jackson. The William F. Winter Archives ...

to replace the roof.

Architectural significance

The building has been listed on the

since June 28, 1982. It is also 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 ...

. The structure was most likely built by the architect Joseph Coe, who created other buildings in the town, including the Marshall County Courthouse and Federal buildings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers Institute School buildings completed in 1837 School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Buildings and structures in Holly Springs, Mississippi Federal architecture in Mississippi Antebellum architecture National Register of Historic Places in Marshall County, Mississippi Education in Marshall County, Mississippi