The Eudora Welty House at 1119 Pinehurst Street in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

was the home of author

Eudora Welty Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel '' The Optimist's Daughter'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numerou ...

for nearly 80 years. It was built by her parents in 1925. In it she did all her writing, in an upstairs bedroom. Welty and her mother built and tended the garden over decades. The house was first declared a Mississippi Landmark in 2001, added to 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 ...

in 2002, and declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 2004. This was part of a raised awareness of the significance of authors and literary life in the United States. The house was restored by the Eudora Welty Foundation and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. In 2006 the house and garden were opened to the public as an author's house museum. The renovation of the house and garden is part of a larger effort to celebrate and promote

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physica ...

as a means of developing

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

to the state. In 2009, the Education and Visitors Center was opened next door at 1109 Pinehurst Street. There, visitors can purchase tickets to tour the Welty House, see a selection of Welty's literary awards, and explore exhibits based on the author's memoir, ''One Writer's Beginnings''. Tours of the Eudora Welty House & Garden are given Tuesday - Friday, four times a day at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. and at 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The Education and Visitors Center and Gift Shop are open Tuesday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 12:30 to 5 p.m.

Garden

This garden was designed by Chestina Welty, Eudora Welty's mother, in 1925. The garden was often referred to by Eudora and her mother as a labor of love. It is located in the back of Eudora Welty's home and is a popular tourist attraction. Visitors are able to tour come and explore the vast amount of different types of flowers growing in the garden. The garden has a rose garden section, woodland garden section and a camellia flower collection. Chestina Welty put enormous effort into the design of the garden, creating a "succession of bloom" throughout the entire year. For example, over 40 varieties of camellias bloom in the garden throughout the winter months. In the summer, night-blooming cereus plants bloom on the side porch. In ''The Golden Apples'', called the cereus “a naked, luminous, complicated flower.” Many of the flowers in this garden appear in Eudora Welty's stories and novels. Welty also wrote extensively about the garden in her letters.

References

External links

Eudora Welty House & GardenEudora Welty House at the Eudora Welty Foundation's website
{{authority control National Historic Landmarks in Mississippi Houses in Jackson, Mississippi Houses completed in 1925 Historic house museums in Mississippi Museums established in 2006 Welty Museums in Jackson, Mississippi Welty, Eudora Women's museums in the United States Mississippi Landmarks National Register of Historic Places in Jackson, Mississippi

Garden

See also

References

External links