The Robert O. Wilder Building, previously known as the John W. Boddie House and then the Tougaloo Mansion House, is a historic plantation mansion on the campus of Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi.
John W. Boddie House | |
 The house c. 1900 | |
   | |
| Location | County Line Road, Tougaloo, Mississippi |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°24′15″N 90°09′39″W / 32.4041°N 90.1607°W |
| Area | Tougaloo College campus |
| Built | 1860 |
| Built by | Jacob Lamour |
| Architect | Jacob Lamour |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| Restored | 2003 structural, 2012 exterior, 2020 interior |
| Restored by | WFT Architects, Jackson, MS[2] |
| Part of | Tougaloo College Historic District (ID98001109) |
| NRHP reference No. | 82003106[1] |
| Added to NRHP | 1982-05-13 |
History
editThe house was completed in 1860 for wealthy cotton planter and slave owner John Williams Boddie who died at the end of the American Civil War.[3] In 1869 the 500-acre former plantation, including the house, was bought for $10,500 (~$213,616 in 2023) by the Freedmen's Bureau and the American Missionary Association to become the campus of a school for Black students who were recently freed from slavery. [4]
Initially the building was used for a day school and then for housing female students in the upstairs bedrooms. Later it was used as a faculty dorm and for the college president's office. The building was renamed after college trustee Robert O. Wilder to better reflect the school's mission as a historically black college by distancing itself from a slave owner. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and later became a contributing property to the Tougaloo College Historic District in 1998.[4]
The building underwent structural renovations in 2003 and the exterior was refinished in 2012.[5] The interior was renovated in 2020.[6] The rebuilding project funds came from a combination of state and federal grants.[7]
Architecture
editA large majority of the Antebellum plantation houses are of a Greek Revival style and the house is an unusual example Italianate architecture. It was designed by local architect and builder Jacob Lamour of Canton. The building is a two-story Italianate plantation house with a gabled roof, bracketed cornices, and a belvedere. There is a grand entrance frontispiece with a six-panel front door.[4]
See also
edit- Annandale Plantation: another Italianate house also designed by Jacob Lamour
References
edit- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Rehabilitation of The Mansion - John W Boddie House: Historical Research & Preliminary Planning". WFT Architects. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "The Robert O. Wilder Building, commonly known as The Mansion, gets a makeover". Tougaloo College. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b c NRIS
- ^ "The Robert O. Wilder Building, commonly known as The Mansion, gets a makeover". Tougaloo Magazine, Page 24. Fall 2016. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Beverly Hogan on Tougaloo College". The Northside Sun, Jacksonville, Mississippi. 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Tougaloo Receives National Park Service Preservation Grant". Tougaloo Alumni Bulletin. Spring 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)