NOT FOR RELEASE TO PRESS OR PUBLIC
PRESS RELEASE DRAFT
Cynthia, this is my attempt at a quick and dirty first draft of a "long"
press release. My thinking is to have a fairly long release that would
provide information for magazines that might wish to write a custom story
and a second shorter release that would be similar to the tour brochure that
we print.
Feel free to suggest any changes or as tour chairman veto as you see fit.
Bruce
Pass Christian Historical Society
Pass Christian Historical Society
P.O. Box 58
Pass Christian, MS 39571
30?th Annual Tour of Historic Homes and Tea-Sunday, May 4, 2008
First Tour following Hurricane Katrina
What did Theodore Roosevelt and William Faulkner know about the Pass that
you don't know?
We are pleased to announce that the Pass Christian Historical Society will
resume its tradition of an annual tour of historic homes on Sunday May 4,
2008 This is the first tour of homes since Hurricane Katrina and includes
six homes along the Pass's historic beach front drive.
The Pass is of course no stranger to hurricanes, Theodore Roosevelt, who
visited the Pass shortly before the devastating 1915 hurricane was to later
write of his visit "there is not much bad weather here, .. but every few
years there comes a terrible storm..."
It has been estimated that as much as sixty percent of Pass Christian was
washed away in Katrina, but what is just are remarkable is how many of our
old places we have held on to. Like storm-ravaged New Orleans many of our
oldest homes however were on the highest ground, and the Pass is deservedly
famous for its bluff that overlooks the Mississippi Sound.
We dedicate this tour to those in the Pass and through out the coast who
have lost homes and loved ones to the storm.
Cynthia Hammond
2008 Pass Christian Historical Society Tour of Homes Chairman
Contact 228 452 2419
Email PCHistorySociety@cableone.net (this tentative address does not yet
exist)
If you go...
Where Six home principally along East Scenic Drive in Pass Christian
overlooking the Mississippi Sound.
When Sunday, May 4, 2008 1:30 - 5:30 p.m. (Tea begins at ???p.m.)
Admission Tickets $20.00 Adults, $ 10.00 Children 12 and under (Your support
will help enable the Pass Christian Historical Society to pre-Katrina
operations.)
Contact Cynthia Hammond Tour Chairman 228-452-2419
6 Park Ridge Lane, Pass Christian, MS 39571
Travel Directions. Pass Christian lies on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
approximately mid way between New Orleans and Mobile. and a little east of
Gulfport and Biloxi. Interstate 10 travelers may exit I-10 at Menge Avenue
(exit 24) and travel south approximately 5 miles to Scenic Drive in Pass
Christian. Alternatively Pass Christian can be reached from any of the
adjacent cities by Hwy 90, the beachfront road.
The Six Homes on Tour
Note: These homes are listed west to east beginning with a home just east of
Seal Avenue and Scenic Drive.
The landscaping and foundation nearly washed away, the owners camped out in
a small trailer fronting this house for months following Katrina. Few water
front homes survived west of here.
513 E. Scenic Dr.(ca. 1890-1910) - Dr. and Mrs. Philip Schaeffer
Thanks to the quick thinking of its owners who shored up the home's
foundation almost immediately after Katrina, this homes avoided the fate of
virtually every home and building to the west on the beach front To
facilitate the repairs, the owners purchased a small trailer and camped out
xx months while work when on. Architectural the home seems to be the only
remaining example of late nineteenth century Swiss Chalet style bungalow
(notice the pair of casement windows and a shallow balcony immediately below
the front roof gable. One tour for the first time in many years. The
garconneire dates from 1890.
Young William Faulkner thought his parents ought to move to the Pass after a
weekend visit to this home.
541 E. Scenic Dr. (1850 with early 1900 additions) - Mr. and Mrs. James M.
McMullan
As we write this announcement repairs on this exceptional home are nearing
completion. A just-out-of-college William Faulkner was the guest at this
home in early 1925 when he wrote his mother:
Dear Mother, do you remember Harry ...I met him on the street the other day,
and I spent the week end at his home in Pass Christian. This place is the
Newport of the Gulf Coast, all rich folks. The Rainolds have a big one story
sprawling house facing the gulf-a nice house, with wood fire places and a
bath for every room. We got there Saturday evening in time for dinner. They
are grand people, .... I never have felt as completely at home. They didnt
try to "talk" to me at all, let me get a book and read too. We went to bed
early, got up the next morning at 7:30 and went horse back riding until 9,
came in for breakfast, ... Harry and I went out to the end of the pier
Saturday night, and rode along the beach Sunday morning, and I walked about
two miles along it last evening at sunset, watching the fish-ing boats
coming in, and the gulls wheeling, and the spars of schooners and the long
piers black as ink against the west.. ... The gulf coast is certainly the
place for you and pop to move to. - Billy.
From page 150-151 , THINKING OF HOME: William Faulkner's Letters to his
Mother and Father, 1918-1925 Edited by James G. Watson 2000 Norton
Architecturally the home was apparently one of three similar homes, in the
Pass's famous 500 block. The rambling one-bay, one-story frame dwelling has
an insert gallery with square columns set beneath a stepped hip roof. The
original house consisted of the five westernmost bays. During much of its
existence the home was owned by the Buddig and Rainold families. Mr. and
Mrs. McMullan have done a complete renovation of the house.
Alas many of the beautiful trees are for now gone. But what better
opportunity to see this extraordinarily graceful home.
625 E. Scenic Dr.. (1845-1915) - Margaret Loesch
Number 625 East Scenic is one of the most historic sites in Pass Christian.
Its thought that any early nineteenth century owner attempted silk
production on the site, and in recent times an owner noticed a random
mulberry bush growing on the grounds, perhaps a descendent of on an earlier
mulberry tree planted to feed the silkworm.
The present home, although much damaged in Katrina is thought to date from
as early as 1845 (considerably after our silk producer) with a significant
make-over in the late nineteenth century and another about 1915. Notice the
graceful stairway [still there??] a trademark feature of Frank Whittmann a
deservedly famous local contractor who preformed the 1915 renovation. Also
notice the unusual hip roof.
Pre-Katrina visitors to the Pass will remember the homes wonderful live oaks
and magnolias that largely hide the home from the roadway, its white picket
fence festooned in early summer with Seven Sisters roses, and its walkway
lined with cheerful yellow-orange daylilies.
A home fit for the Great Gatsby?
845 East Scenic Drive (ca 196X)- Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ramsey
Number 845 is one of the lucky beach front homes that largely escaped the
devastation of Katrina, and is a reminder that not all of the great estates
date back to the nineteenth century-845 is said to be the largest private
residence in the state of Mississippi.. If the youthful William Faulkner
imagined that Pass Christian was the "Newport of the South," (see above) the
builder of this home, the New Orleans philanthropist [firstnamehere] Monroe
would probably have agreed. In addition to 845 East Scenic Monroe kept a
place in Newport, lending it out for philanthropic causes, and believe it or
not, the for the filming of the Great Gatsby (starring Robert Redford and
Mia Farrow).
A reminder that the Pass still contains more antebellum homes than Chicago
(a city of almost identical age).
849 E. Scenic Dr. (Ca. 1848) - Mr. and Mrs. Morris Foster
With it's nine bay's across the front (a typical older home will have only
five bays) this home is, for many, the crown jewel of Pass Christian's 19th
century "cottages." Happily this home was largely untouched by Katrina, the
high ground and the building high piers allowed flood waters to pass beneath
the house rather than through it When visiting the home don't the early
20th century photo that shows cattle grazing in the front of the home. and
indeed down to the water.
We would be remiss if we did not thank Dr. and Mrs. Harry Danielson (lately
of the Pass) for the extensive restoration work on this home prior to
Katrina and their generosity in lending the home and its grounds to civic
causes. And we especially appreciate the Foster's for carrying on this
tradition and allowing refreshments to be served here from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
9 Japonica Drive (1902) Mr. and Mrs. Allen Hardy
Note: Our final home lies a little east of Scenic Drive. From Scenic Drive
travel east to Menge Avenue, turn south and then east onto Highway 90 and
continue east approximately ?? miles to Japonica Drive. Number 9 will be the
second house from the beach on the west side of Japonica.
Built by Frank Wittmann, Sr., Number 9 Japonica is said to have been a guest
house to a mid-nineteenth century 'cottage' known as Ossian Hall. (Ossian
Hall stood across Japonica from Number 9 until a fire? in 19xx and was for
long years the coastal home of the New Orleans Miltonburger family.) Our
grand parents might have remembered New Orleans actress ??? whose silent
film "Come out from the Kitchen" (check name) was filmed on the Ossian Hall
grounds. Notice ...?? ...
About the Pass Christian Historical Society
The Pass Christian Historical Society was founded in 196? with a goal of
promoting historical preservation and the recording of local history. Until
Hurricane Katrina its offices were at ??? East Scenic Drive in a old bank
building. That building along with another structure owned by the society
were destroyed by Katrina, but we are in the process of reconstruction.
....etc
------
Pass Christian ... where climate, people, and surroundings, are all
delightful.-Theodore Roosevelt
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