Say hello to the only Second Empire architecture in Holly Springs, Mississippi. It was originally built as the Christ Church Rectory in 1885 and designed by a popular architect named Samuel Manning Patton. He was known for several important structures including the Lookout Mountain Hotel in Chattanooga, TN, the Vicksburg Hotel in MS, and the Tennessee State Prison in Nashville, TN.
While I don’t have the deeper history of this house, I do have the tragic story surrounding the death of its designer, S. M. Patton. It’s an interesting connection to Tennessee actually. Patton designed the magnificent Richardson Building there and was living in the building at the time of his death. Room number 525 to be exact.
It all started when a fire broke out in the basement of the building at 3 am. The flames quickly engulfed the entire building. While Patton received instruction from the night watchman telling him to “follow down the rear stairway”, even responding that he was on his way, he never appeared on the ground safely.
Patton was presumed dead, though the discovery of his remains later would prove a bit controversial. It wasn’t as cut and dry back then to identify remains. Some said he was seen alive after that day, but in the end, it was generally accepted that he was dead. There was another death in the fire. Boyd Ewing was in the room next to Patton on the top floor. In a last ditch effort to save his own life, he plunged from the 5th floor and died instantly. What a tragic day!
The Richardson Building was the largest and most costly building constructed in the city at the time. It said to be “one of the handsomest office buildings in the south”.
