Penn Jeffries Krouse (September 23, 1877–April 1944), usually known as P. J. Krouse was a prolific architect in the state of

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 ...

. Many of his buildings were located in the

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

area.

Personal life

Penn Jeffries Krouse was born on September 23, 1877, to parents Adrian Zick Krouse and Ann Ruben Jeffries. Krouse had three children with his wife, Martha Rebecca Dillehay: Adrian Alonzo, Charles Dabbs, and Emily Bonner. Emily was born in Meridian on August 29, 1909, and died in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

on September 7, 2003. Her funeral services were held at

First Presbyterian Church of Meridian First Presbyterian Church of Meridian is a historic church in Meridian, Mississippi, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church was founded in 1856 by eight members including John T. Ball and Lewis A. Ragsdale, foun ...

, a church which her father designed. Charles would later become an architect himself. P.J. and Martha later divorced, and P.J. married Katherine Barham. Krouse was a member of the Scottish Rite subgroup of

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

.Jody Cook. February 1979. "State of Mississippi Historic Sites Survey: Scottish Rite Cathedral" He was also appointed as the chairman of the War Price and Rationing Administration during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His health deteriorated during his time as chairman, forcing him to resign. He died in April 1944.

Projects

Buildings designed by Krouse span a wide range of architectural styles including

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, Egyptian Revival, Beaux Arts, and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

. Krouse designed buildings in

and

Laurel, Mississippi Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. It is located northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first coun ...

, as well as courthouses in

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...

Jones Jones may refer to: People *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname *List of people with surname Jones * Jones (singer), a British singer-songwriter Arts and entertainment * Jones (''Animal Farm''), a human character in George Orwell ...

, Yalobusha,

Lauderdale Lauderdale is the valley of the Leader Water (a tributary of the Tweed) in the Scottish Borders. It contains the town of Lauder, as well as Earlston. The valley is traversed from end to end by the A68 trunk road, which runs from Darlington to E ...

, and

Pearl River County Pearl River County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The population was 55,834 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Poplarville. Pearl River County comprises the Picayune, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is inc ...

. Many buildings Krouse designed or helped to design are 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 ...

Works

* Bobo Senior High School Building – 131 School St., Clarksdale, NRHP-listed * Clarke County Courthouse and Confederate Monument – Archusa St. at head of Main St., Quitman, NRHP-listed *

– 911 23rd Ave., Meridian, NRHP-listed * Jones County Courthouse – Ellisville, NRHP-listed * Alex Loeb Building – 2115 5th St., Meridian, NRHP-listed *

Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history In ...

– 1220 26th Ave., Meridian, NRHP-listed *

Meridian City Hall City Hall in Meridian, Mississippi in the United States is located at 601 24th Avenue. Originally designed by architect P.J. Krouse in 1915, the building underwent several renovations during the 1950s that diminished the historic quality of the bu ...

– 601 24th Ave., Meridian, NRHP-listed as ''Municipal Building'' * Stevenson Primary School – 1015 25th Ave., Meridian, NRHP-listed * U.S. Post Office and Courthouse – 2100 9th St., Meridian, NRHP-listed * Scottish Rite Cathedral (1914), which was listed on the National Register until it was destroyed by fire in 1985. *Former Beth Israel synagogue (1906) of the Congregation Beth Israel of Meridian. This was a

octagonal synagogue built in 1906. It was used until 1964 and subsequently demolished. *One or more buildings in NRHP-listed

Laurel Central Historic District The Laurel Central Historic District is a historic district in Laurel, Mississippi, U.S. It includes 369 governmental, commercial, religious and residential buildings designed in the Neoclassical, Shingle, Queen Anne, Bungalow, and American Cra ...

, roughly bounded by Tenth and Thirteenth Sts., First Ave., Seventh and Fifth Sts., and Eighth Ave., Laurel *One or more buildings in NRHP-listed Meridian Downtown Historic District, roughly bounded by Twenty-Sixth Ave., Eighteenth Ave., Sixth St., and Front St., Meridian *

Margaret Martin High School Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

*Newton County Courthouse (1912) (5th) in Decatur, Mississippihttp://www.courthouses.co/us-states/m/mississippi/newton-county/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krouse, P.J. People from Meridian, Mississippi Lauderdale County, Mississippi Architects from Mississippi