The Greensboro Street Historic District is a highly cohesive and architecturally/historically significant collection of primarily residential structures. The district is important as containing perhaps the highest concentration of residences of the economic and civic leaders of Starkville from the mid-nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries. The original Greensboro Street Historic District was written in 1982 and included 35 contributing buildings in the district with a period of significance of 1860-1920.
This Update and Boundary Increase Amendment expands the boundaries of the Greensboro Street Historic District to include 20 additional houses and outbuildings. The Update and Boundary Increase Amendment also changes the end date of the Period of Significance to circa 1960 in order to illustrate the best example of a century of residential growth patterns and vernacular architecture than any similar street in the City of Starkville.
Originally know as Boardtown, Starkville was settled in the early 1830’s and became the seat of Oktibbeha County in 1835, although the Mississippi Legislature did not incorporate it as a town until 1837 (Thomas B. Carroll, Historical Sketches of Oktibbeha County (Gulfport, MS: The Dixie Press, 1931), p. 35). The town apparently functioned as only a small business and legal center, for, while the country grew rapidly in the years prior to the War Between the States, Starkville continued to be but a village of fewer than two hundred people in 1860 (Carroll, pp.81-82).
Following the war, however, the town experienced a marked increase in population. This growth may have been due not only to the decline of the agricultural aristocracy but also to an effort by local residents to prevent total takeover of the local government by Carpetbaggers. If this was their ploy, it was to a degree successful, for despite the presence of a Union garrison in Starkville through the 1860’s, the Republicans were never quite able to wrest control of the city government from local Democrats (Carroll, pp. 128, 140-141).
It was during the late 1860’s and early 1870’s that the oldest houses now extant on Greensboro began to appear, although the road had been a major route leading west from the town of Greensboro, which, until 1871, was the county seat of Choctaw County, and even after the demise of Greensboro, the road continued to be know by that name until most of it was incorporated into U.S. Highway 82 (Dunbar Rowland, Mississippi, Vol. 1, (Atlanta: Southern Historical Publication Association, 1907), p. 800). Today, only a small portion of this important early road remains apart from Highway 82 within Starkville.
The Greensboro Street Historic District contains many excellent examples of the architectural styles common to the area, spanning the different periods of the district’s growth.
The earliest of the styles is the Greek Revival (evident in the houses at 410, 413, and 522 Greensboro Street) that continued to enjoy popularity in this area after it had declined in most other regions. Reflecting the area’s period of economic recovery during the Reconstruction Era, these houses do not possess the high-style classical decoration found in some of the county’s antebellum residences, but primarily limit the Greek detail to simple columned porches and tripartite frontispiece entrances.
The house at 404 Greensboro Street features the use of Greek, Italianate, and Gothic motifs to produce and unusual eclectic ensemble. Several Queen Anne houses (the houses at 306, 504, 515, 518, 601, and 607 Greensboro Street) were built between 1880 and the turn-of-the-twentieth century, but the buildings that had by far the most obvious visual impact on the neighborhood were the Colonial Revival and Four-Square houses (evident in the houses at 425, 508, 513, 514, 515, 520 Greensboro Street). Their pretentious use of mass, Doric or Tuscan columned verandahs, fan-lighted entrances, and other classical details mirrored the prosperity enjoyed by the community from 1900 through the First World War.
By 1920, Bungalow Style residences began to dot the neighborhood (evident in the houses at 309, 311, 502 Greensboro Street); versions of the style were both large and small, brick and frame. By the mid-1920’s, the popularity of Bungalow Style was almost entirely transplanted by that of the ‘period house” in Late Gothic Style (evident in the houses at 408, 506, and 510, 512 Greensboro Street). One of the most outstanding structures within the district is the Old Starkville High School building constructed in 1927 in the Jacobethan Style. It is one of only a few buildings of this design in Mississippi.
After World War II, many of returning veterans came to Starkville to attend Mississippi State College. The residents of the neighborhoods responded by building garage apartments and other outbuildings, duplexes, and subdividing larger tracts of land to build small rental houses to provide lodging for these students and their families. The outbuildings generally reflected the general style of the house with which it was associated and the new construction of this period reflecting the classical characteristics of the neighborhood. Families also continued the practice of subdividing lots for their children to provide them the opportunity to live on Greensboro Street and these houses were also consistent in style and scale to the houses on the street.
The residents of Greensboro have played key roles in the political activities of Starkville through the years, providing three mayors, three aldermen, a judge, a sheriff, and a state legislator. Others were leaders in the fields of business and education: William H. Reynolds (404 Greensboro) founded Reynolds Insurance Agency in 1888; Colonel A.G. O’Brien (410 Greensboro) established the Starkville Banner newspaper in 1903; William Henry Gunn (425 Greensboro) was a prominent druggist and planter; Frank Cooper (502 Greensboro) was President and Chairman of the Board of Peoples Bank; J.B. Van Landingham (510 Greensboro) founded Van Landingham Lumber and Construction company and was responsible for the building of many residence in Starkville; Grady Imes (512 Greensboro) was owner and editor of the Starkville News; J.A. Lamb (520 Greensboro) was Superintendent of Starkville Public Schools, 1906-1913; John William Overstreet (406 Greensboro) was Superintendent of Starkville Public Schools, 1933-1951; Randle C. Carpenter (306 was professor of engineering at Mississippi Agricultural & Mechanical College (then, Mississippi State College, now Mississippi State University) from 1901-1953; Christopher R. Stark (400 Greensboro) was librarian from 1900-1908 and later Professor Emeritus of Math at Mississippi A&M; and B.M. Walker (517 Greensboro) was President of Mississippi A&M.;
A known archaeological site is present within the district boundaries. A mound, approximately five feet high and 100 feet in diameter, is located on the property of 524 Greensboro Street. It has not been tested to determine significance.
Description
Located along one of the oldest routes leading westward from Starkville, Mississippi the Greensboro Street Historic District comprises 62 structures, more than 55 of which are architecturally and/or historically significant. The district is primarily composed of one long residential street, which, due to its impressive assemblage of dwellings dating from the mid-nineteenth through the middle twentieth centuries, is representative of over a century of historical continuity in Starkville’s residential growth. The original Greensboro Street Historic District Nomination was written in 1982. This Update and Boundary Increase Amendment expands the boundaries of the Greensboro Street Historic District to include 11 additional houses and outbuildings and changes end date of the Period of Significance to circa 1960. In addition, this document is intended to clarify the status of each building in the original district as being “contributing” or “non-contributing” according to current National Register standards.
The nominated area stretches along Greensboro Street (the original Greensboro Road, which is generally referred to locally as just Greensboro) for approximately one-half mile from Yeates Street to the top of a hill just east of Reed Road and is topographically characteristic of the gently rolling terrain upon which Starkville is situated. From the eastern end of the district, Greensboro slopes gradually downward to a point near its intersection with Whitfield Street, levels off as it continues westward to Gladney Street, then rises sharply up to the crest of a hill, forming the western boundary of the district. The northern and southern boundaries of the district are primarily formed by the rear property lines of those parcels facing Greensboro, but also include the four blocks facing the old Starkville High School on the east block of Louisville Street. The district’s eastern boundary was chosen because of a dramatic change in land use from basically single-family structures to modern commercial buildings. A similarly dramatic break in construction dates, rather than a change in the types of buildings determined the location of the western boundary.
Architecturally, the Greensboro Street Historic District presents a picture of great variety. The earliest structures along the street date from the late 1860’s and early 1870’s. They were widely spaced from one another and displayed a combination of vernacular versions of Greek Revival and Eclectic architecture. Queen Anne houses followed these styles, as the area began to take on more of the density of a neighborhood, rather than that of a rural road. At the turn-of-the-century, Colonial Revival dominated the neighborhood’s fashion, but that style also gave way by the 1920’s to Bungalows and Period Revivals. Most of the houses occupy sites slightly elevated above the wide, tree-lined, side-walked street and have uniform setbacks (averaging forty to fifty feet), which provide for spacious and attractive front yards. After World War II, many residents built garage apartments and duplexes to provide housing for the veterans returning who were then attending Mississippi State College. During the mid-twentieth century, residents on the street also continued the practice of subdividing their lots and allowing their children to build near their childhood home. These structures constructed later in the period of significance contribute to the district’s character by reflecting the rhythm, scale, and materials of their older neighbors. Although principally residential in nature, the district also contains the old high school (now the School District Central Office), an office building with residential apartments above, and a former grocery store.
607 Greensboro Street
Queen Anne. One-and-a-half story, multi-gabled-on-hip roofed, clapboard sided residence with a central pedimented dormer and tripartite frontispiece entrance. Gables have returns and raking dentil moldings. Tuscan columns support encircling verandah with dentiled cornice. Circa 1900.
606 Greensboro Street
Eclectic. One-and-a-half story, hip roofed, clapboard sided residence with a tripartite frontispiece entrance and hipped dormers. A flat-roofed portico supported by ornamental iron piers. Circa 1890.
605 Greensboro Street
One-story multi-gabled roof, asbestos-sided residence with projecting front gable and inset, screened porch. Circa 1941.
604 Greensboro Street
One-story, multi-gabled roof, clapboard sided residence with a projecting front gable and shed-roofed porch supported by Corinthian columns. Circa 1948.
603 Greensboro Street
One-and-a-half story, multi-gabled roof, vinyl-sided residence with projecting front gable. Circa 1948.
601 Greensboro Street
Queen Anne. One-story, multi-gable-on-hip roofed, clapboard sided residence with cornice window and door heads and projecting front and side gables with returns. Bracketed and chamfered posts support an encircling verandah. Circa 1900.
524 Greensboro Street
Late Gothic. One-story, multi-gable roofed, stuccoed masonry with half-timbering residence with two projecting front gables, one of which contains a round-arched entrance with field stone quoins and the other containing a massive field stone chimney. Circa 1929-30.
523 Greensboro Street
Modern Colonial. One-and-a-half story, side-gable roof, frame residence with central Tuscan-columned portico. Circa 1950.
522 Greensboro Street
Vernacular Greek Revival. One-story, side-gable roofed, clapboard sided residence with central gable-roofed portico supported by square columns over a frontispiece entrance. The central portico is flanked by flat-roof porches and is also supported by square columns. Circa 1870.
521 Greensboro Street
Four-square. One-and-a-half story, hip roofed, clapboard sided residence with encircling verandah supported by square columns with a tripartite frontispiece entrance and a central pedimented dormer. Circa 1905.
520 Greensboro Street
Four-square. One-and-a-half-story, hip roofed, clapboard sided residence with a full-width one-story porch supported by square columns with a frontispiece entrance. Windows are quarrel lights over one light and there is a central pedimented dormer. Circa 1905.
519 Greensboro Street
One-and-a-half story, side-gable roof, frame residence: Tuscan-columned portico. Built by J.B. Van Landingham, local builder for his home. Circa 1946.
518 Greensboro Street
Queen Anne. One-and-a-half story, multi-gable-on-hip roofed, clapboard sided residence with projecting pedimented front gabled. Encircling verandah is supported on chamfered posts. A gabled dormer with returns has a Palladian variation window. Circa 1905.
517 Greensboro Street
Eclectic. Two-story, hip roofed, vinyl-sided residence. Superimposed square columns support a full-width, two-tiered gallery with dentiled cornices. The central bay of the gallery is pedimented by a carved. There is a tripartite frontispiece entrance. Circa 1874.
516 Greensboro Street
Queen Anne. One-and-a-half story, multi-gable-on-hip and patterned shingle clad roofed, clapboard sided residence. The projecting front gable has gable returns and a dormer with a Palladian variation window. A full-width Bungalow porch across the front façade is supported by square columns. Circa 1905.
515 Greensboro Street
Colonial Revival. Two-story, side-gable-roofed with returns, aluminum –siding, three-bay residence with a central and pilastered frontispiece entrance with bracketed gable over door. A one-story, flat-roofed wing to the east and a porch to the west are supported by square columns. Circa 1929.
514 Greensboro Street
Four-Square. One-and-a-half story, hip-roofed, clapboard sided residence with encircling verandah supported on Tuscan columns. The entrance is a transom-and-sidelight frontispiece. A central, pedimented dormer pierces the roof. Circa 1908.
513 Greensboro Street
Colonial Revival. One-and-a-half story, gable-end roofed, clapboard sided residence. Central portico supported by two Tuscan columns cover a fan-lighted frontispiece entrance that is flanked by pergola porches also supported by Tuscan columns. Windows have quarrel-lights over single lights sashes. Tapered rafter ends, purlins, and struts are exposed. A central, shed-roof dormer pierces the roof. Circa 1915.
512 Greensboro Street
Mission Style. One-story, flat and low-pitched gable red tile roofed, stuccoed masonry residence with segmental-arched entrance and stuccoed quoins surround some windows. Circa 1931.
511 Greensboro Street
One-story, side-gable roofed, frame residence with bay window and stoop porch. This house was formerly rated as “marginal” in the original district nomination because it was built more recently than the original period of significance, but its status is now being changed to “contributing” because it dates from within the expanded period of significance. Circa 1955.
510 Greensboro Street
Late Gothic. One-and-a-half story, flared-gable roofed, brick residence with a gable façade orientation, decorative brick bonds, round-arched entrance with brick quoins located asymmetrically on the façade. Ornamental iron piers support a canopy-roofed entrance portico. Built by Broadus Van Landingham, a local builder, for his family. Circa 1927.
508 Greensboro Street
Colonial Revival. One-and-a-half story, gable roofed, clapboard sided residence with pilastered corners and a frontispiece entrance and a hip-roofed wing to the east. Circa 1930.
506 Greensboro Street
Late Gothic. One-and-a-half story, multi-gable roofed, brick residence with a stuccoed porch with gable roof echoed by larger, flared-gable roof. A round-arched porch entrance is outlined by irregular brick quoins. There is also an undercut, Tudor-arched corner porch.
505 Greensboro Street
Gothic Victorian. One-and-a-half story, steeply-pitched, multi-gabled roofed, clapboard-sided residence. Encircling verandah supported on fluted Doric columns with raking boxed cornices. Circa 1880.
504 Greensboro Street
Queen Anne. One-and-a-half story, multi-gable-on-hip roofed, clapboard sided residence. Projecting front and side gables have gable returns and turned posts support the encircling verandah. Circa 1885-90.
502 Greensboro Street
Bungalow. One-story, multi-gable roofed, clapboard-sided residence with projecting front gable and encircling undercut verandah supported by tapered square posts on brick pedestals. Circa 1925.
500 Greensboro Street
Bungalow. One-story, multi-gable roofed, brick residence with projecting front gable, brick quoins, and pilastered frontispiece. Lattice piers support an inset porch. Circa 1940.
429 Greensboro Street
Vernacular Greek Revival. One-story, gable-end roofed, clapboard sided residence with a tripartite frontispiece entrance and a small central gable on façade. Tapered square posts on brick pedestals support encircling bungalow porch. Side elevation windows have pedimented window casing. Circa 1870 with circa 1920 porch renovation.
427 Greensboro Street
Tudor Revival. One-and-a-half story, gable-and-hip roofed, brick residence. A half-timbered bay window is found within a projecting front gable. A round-arched entrance is contained within a one-story, round tower with conical roof. The house has splayed wooden lintels and quarrel-lighted windows. Designed by Tom Johnson of Stevens and Johnson, Architects. Circa 1935.
425 Greensboro Street-Playhouse
A small frame playhouse in the west side-yard is a semi-reproduction of the main house and contemporary with construction of the house. This outbuilding was not individually listed in the original nomination, although it was counted as a contributing element. Circa 1913.
425 Greensboro Street
Four-square. Two-story, hip roofed, clapboard sided residence. The windows are large single lighted sash and quarrel-lighted transoms on the first story and paired windows on the second story. Ionic columns with brick pedestals support the one-story, encircling verandah and central two-story pedimented portico. The entrance is a tripartite frontispiece. Circa 1913.
410 Greensboro Street
Vernacular Greek Revival. One-story, hip roofed, frame residence. Square columns support full-width. Entrance is a pilastered and dentiled frontispiece. Circa 1870.
408 Greensboro Street
Late Gothic Tudor Revival. One-story, multi-jerkin-head-gable roofed, brick residence with massive front chimney with decorative brick bonds and a round-arched entrance. Massive brick piers support undercut corner porch. Circa 1927.
408 1/2 Greensboro Street
Minimal Traditional. Two-story, front-gable roofed, masonry garage apartment with six-over-six windows and three-light over panel door. Garage doors are batten farm doors. Gable ends are clad in asbestos siding on the front façade and novelty lap siding on the rear. This outbuilding was not listed in the original nomination. 1950.
406 Greensboro Street
One-story, multi-hip roofed, asbestos sided residence with Colonial Revival frontispiece entrance and decorative bay window. This house was formerly rated as “marginal” in the original district nomination because it was believed to have been built more recently than the original period of significance, but its status is now being changed to “contributing” because it dates from within the expanded period of significance. 1938.
404 Greensboro Street
Eclectic. One-and-a-half story, multi-gabled-on-double-hipped roofed, clapboard sided residence. A three-bay portico supported on bracketed open piers is centered on the five-bay façade with flanking, one-story wings. Pedimented casing surround windows on the façade. A large central dormer with chamfered corners, patterned shingles, and ornamental bargeboard pierces the roof. Circa 1869.
402 Greensboro Street
One-and-a-half story, multi-gable roofed, wood shingle sided house with twin projecting front gables and recessed central porch. This house was formerly rated as “marginal” in the original district nomination because it was built more recently than the original period of significance, but its status is now being changed to “contributing” because it dates from within the expanded period of significance. Circa 1950.
401 Greensboro Street
(Old) Starkville High School. Jacobethan Revival. Two-story-on-raised basement, parapeted-flat roofed, brick institutional building. The nine-bay façade has projecting blind, end pavilions ornamented by diapered brick panels with a three-bay, central, stone entrance pavilion flanked by crenellated octagonal towers and a Tudor-arched entrance and curvilinear parapet. Designed by C.H. Lindsley. Circa 1927.
400 Greensboro Street
Colonial Revival. One-and-a-half story, multi-gabled-on-hip roofed, clapboard sided residence. Doric columns support a central pedimented portico over a fan-lighted, frontispiece entrance and there is a Palladian variation window in tympanum. Side elevations have undercut porches also supported with Doric columns. Windows have quarrel lights in upper sash and single light in lower sash. There are hipped dormers. Circa 1913.
315 Greensboro Street
Creole Georgian Revival. Two-story, gable-end roofed, brick commercial building with full-width, two-tiered ornamental iron gallery and gauged voussoirs. This building was formerly rated as an “instrusion” in the original district nomination because it was built outside the original period of significance and its status is now being changed to “non-contributing” because it does not date from within the expanded period of significance. Circa 1975.
313 Greensboro Street
One-story, multi-gabled roofed, frame duplex with asbestos shingle siding. Twin projecting front gables frame a central square-columned portico. This duplex was formerly rated as “marginal” in the original district nomination because it was built more recently than the original period of significance, but its status is now being changed to “contributing” because it dates from within the expanded period of significance. Circa 1945.
311 Greensboro Street
Bungalow. One-and-a-half story, flared-gable-end roofed, shiplap-siding residence with a central, three-bay shed-roof dormer, exposed purlins and struts. Coupled square columns on brick pedestals support the full-width verandah. Circa 1923.
309 Greensboro Street
Bungalow. One-and-a-half story, gable-on-hip roofed, brick residence. Brick piers support a pedimented gable portico with pent roof. Circa 1927.
307 Greensboro Street
Bungalow. One-and-a-half story, gable-end roofed, clapboard sided residence with a pediment-gable portico with lunette window is supported on brick pillars. 1920.
306 Greensboro Street
Queen Anne. One-and-a-half story, multi-gabled on hip roofed, clapboard-sided residence with carved tympanum. An encircling verandah with spindled frieze is supported by Tuscan columns. 1901.
305 Greensboro Street
Four-Square. One-and-a-half story, hip roofed, clapboard-sided residence with central pedimented dormer. An encircling verandah is supported on Tuscan columns. The entrance is a tripartite frontispiece with single light sash with leaded glass transom. 1911.
304 Greensboro Street
Colonial Revival. One-and-a-half story, side-gable roofed, frame residence with three front-gabled dormers. Square columns support the one-story porch. This house was formerly rated as “marginal” in the original district nomination because it was built more recently than the original period of significance, but its status is now being changed to “contributing” because it dates from within the expanded period of significance. 1941.
303 Greensboro Street
Modern Colonial. One-story, irregularly massed, multi-gabled roof with projecting front gable, aluminum-sided residence. Central portico supported by square columns over pilastered, tripartite entrance. Circa 1940s.
302 Greensboro Street
Bungalow. One-story, multi-gable roofed, clapboard sided residence. Gable-roof porch is supported on brick piers and a shed-roof porte cochere is at the rear. There are exposed purlins and struts. The house was originally a lodge of unknown origin and was the original building on this block, explaining its orientation toward Raymond Street on the west, rather than to Greensboro Street. The owners of 306 Greensboro Street remodeled the building into a house in 1920 for their parents. Circa 1890.
301 Greensboro Street
Mission Style. One-story, flat-roofed with parapet walls, stuccoed masonry duplex with twin projecting ells enclosing a shed roofed porch. Original metal casement windows have been replaced with contemporary windows. Circa 1950.
207 Louisville Street
Bungalow. One-story, three-bay (w-w, d, w-w), front-gable clapboard sided house with exposed rafter tails with inset porch supported by brick piers and square columns. Windows are paired, four-over-one, double-hung sash. Circa 1930s.
205 Louisville Street
Bungalow. One-story, three-bay (w-w, w-d-w, w-w) multi-gable brick house with projecting central clipped gable supported by brick piers to form screened porch. Windows are paired, three-over-one, double-hung sash. Circa 1930s.
204 Yeates Street (originally 301 Greensboro Street)
Queen Anne. One-and-a-half story, multi-gabled on hip roofed, clapboard sided house with projecting gable-ends and inset front porch supported by small Doric columns with shed-roofed dormers. Projecting gables have paired one-over-one windows with pilastered and dentilled surrounds and a carved typanum above. The house originally faced Greensboro Street until the three mission-style duplexes were built on the front of the lot. Circa 1900s.
203 Louisville Street
Bungalow. One-and-a-half story, three-bay (w-d-w, d, w-w) front-clipped-gable, clapboard sided house with exposed purlins and struts. Inset porch is supported by full brick piers and paired, square columns on brick pedestals with a metal awning running the full length of the front facade. Windows are four-over-one, double hung sash. Circa 1930s.
202 Yeates Street
Mission Style. One-story, flat-roofed with parapet walls, stuccoed masonry duplex with twin projecting ells enclosing a shed roofed porch. Original metal casement windows have been replaced with modern windows. Circa 1950.
201 Louisville Street
Commercial. One-story, brick with cast-concrete capped parapet walls, three bay (w, d-d, w) commercial building with a pair of large, single-light doors topped by a transom. A metal awning covers the width of the front façade. Circa 1930
200 Yeates Street
Mission Style. One-story, flat-roofed with parapet walls, stuccoed masonry duplex with twin projecting ells enclosing a shed roofed porch. Original metal casement windows have been replaced with modern windows. Circa 1950.
This content was provided the Starkville Central Neighborhood Foundation
