= my face when I saw this house.
This home is known as “Merrehope” and is located in Meridian, Mississippi. While it may look like a large place, it didn’t start that way. One of the first settlers to Meridian was a man named Richard McLemore who deeded the land that this home now sits to his daughter Juriah Jackson. She and her husband constructed a small cottage here in 1858. It changed hands to General Joseph E. Johnston in 1863 and he made alterations.
It was used during the Civil War by both the Confederate as a headquarters for a time and the Union as a shelter after the Battle of Meridian. This house is only one of six homes left standing after General Sherman’s raid on Meridian.
The home was renovated extensively in 1881 and again in 1904 when it took on it’s final appearance that you see here. It became eight apartments in the 1930s and then a boarding house until the 1960s before falling into disrepair being uninhabited.
In 1968 it was purchased by the Meridian Restorations Foundation and named “Merrehope” which is a combination of words which mean Meridian restorations and hope. After decades of neglect, it would be restored and brought back to life as a museum! You can now tour this beautiful home.
