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| 2432 Cherry Street, Vicksburg, MS, after the fire (Fuji Acros film, Leica M2 camera) |
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| Damage visible from Dewitt Street |
A beautiful Victorian house at 2432 Cherry Street suffered a catastrophic fire in mid-2018. Fortunately, no one was injured, but the house was grievously damaged. The house formerly belonged to my friends, Leslie and Daniel, but they had sold it a few years ago. Nevertheless, they were devastated by the news of the fire.
While biking by the house in February 2019, I saw a tractor and some men looking at the property. That meant trouble, imminent demolition. I talked to one of them, and he said it would be hopeless to rebuild the house. Too much had been burnt including most of the roof.
This image shows the elegant central hallway. The walls were plaster.
Once the demolition team began work, it was all over within 3 or 4 days. I saw them salvage some materials like iron railings and some timbers. But most of the house was reduced to a pile of crushed timber.
Some unusual ladies lived here in the past. Hmmm, I should have bought one. Regardless, slowly but surely, Vicksburg is losing its architectural heritage.
Update May 2020: I learned from a friend who lives near the lot that the owner of the house had refused to raze the wreck. The city deemed it a hazard and hired a contractor to tear it down. Now the City has a lien on the property. Vicksburg suffers from this problem on a regular basis. Jackson must be in even worse condition as per abandoned properties with liens.
2 comments:
I watched some of the demolition of this house. I cringe when I see this happen. I know it was a loss due to the fire, but there is so, so much that could have been salvaged from that house that would have been wonderful to have. I watched it get hauled to the dump by the truck loads to be set on fire or burned. Sad, very sad.
Unfortunately, this is the American way. However, it would have been a major effort to deconstruct the house and extract timbers. The timber was likely virgin pine and cypress, much higher quality wood than we use in our cheesy and ghastly contemporary MacHouses.
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