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Report from the Director National Park Service Designates Welty House National Historic Landmark
Preparations are well underway for the public opening of the Welty House, scheduled for spring 2006. Work has been completed on the foundation of the house, and Cal-Mar Construction of Jackson has begun a project to upgrade the electrical and plumbing systems and install a fire suppression system and new sheetrock. The work is being funded by a combination of appropriations by the Mississippi Legislature, grants (from the Mississippi Landmark Grant Program and the National Park Service's Save America's Treasures Program), and contributions to the Eudora Welty Foundation. Once the work is complete, the Welty House will look just as it did during the 1980s, when Welty was living there full time and writing every day. MDAH plans to establish a visitors center on an adjacent property that will house exhibits on Welty's life and work as well as staff offices. We expect the house to be a major national tourist attraction, as the garden has already proven to be. Even though the house has not yet opened, visitation at the garden has been high, and the site has attracted national media attention, including features on CBS Sunday Morning and in Smithsonian and Southern Living magazines. Visitors to the Welty House will also be encouraged to visit the William F. Winter Building, which houses the nationally significant Eudora Welty Collection, including photographs, manuscripts, letters, and other documents that Welty donated to MDAH. The collection has been greatly enhanced by the addition of papers that were found in Welty's house at the time of her death, including thousands of letters both written and received by Welty throughout her life. Internet users can take a virtual tour of the house on the Web site of the Department of Archives and History (www.mdah.state.ms.us). The Welty garden is open for tours by reservation on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March through October. |
This year witnessed major developments at the Eudora Welty House, including the designation of the house as a National Historic Landmark. The two-story Tudor Revival-style residence stands at 1119 Pinehurst Street in Jackson, across the street from Belhaven College. In 1986 Welty deeded her house to the MDAH, retaining a life estate interest. Upon her death in 2001, the Department assumed responsibility for the property and began planning to open it to the public. This past year, the Welty House became the sixth MDAH property to earn National Historic Landmark status, which is the nation's most prestigious recognition for historic properties. (The other five are Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, the Champion Hill Battlefield in Hinds County, the Jaketown site in Humphreys County, the Old Capitol, and Winterville Mounds). On behalf of the department, I want to express my appreciation to U. S. Senator Thad Cochran for his leadership in helping secure National Historic Landmark recognition for the Welty House.