Homes in this Coast city landed on the list of 10 most Endangered Historic Places in MS
Historic Homes of Ocean Springs are included on the 2023 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi list published annually by Mississippi Heritage Trust.
The Ocean Springs Historical Society nominated three properties for the list. The properties were combined into one listing in the top 10 list that a panel of judges selected for 2023.
The entry notes the evolution of downtown Ocean Springs and the development pressures the city faces. It reads, in part, “Rapid development and natural disasters have taken a toll on the historic houses in the district, leaving local landmarks like the O’Keefe Boarding House, Lynwood and the Von Rosambeau House in danger of being lost to neglect and demolition.”
The city’s Historical Society selected those three properties to nominate because of their historic significance and a desire to see them preserved.
Descriptions of the properties are below:
The O’Keefe Boarding House, 2122 Government: Built in the 1850s, the boarding house owned by the O’Keefe family was originally two stories. It was on the property where O’Keefe Funeral Home sits today, at the corner of Jackson and Porter avenues.
A farmer from Indiana bought the house in 1910 to settle with his wife in Ocean Springs, according to historian Ray Bellande, as recounted on his website, and moved it to its current location on Government Street. The second floor was removed.
“Its historical significance lies in its association with the O’Keefe family whose operation of this boarding house and its adjacent livery stable played a major role in the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century tourism industry of the town,” a National Register of Historic Places nomination says.
The Von Rosambeau-Gautier House, 420 Jackson Ave.: The craftsman-style bungalow built in 1917 contributes to the Old Ocean Springs Historic District. It was built by German immigrant Gus von Rosambeau, who worked as a sugar chemist in New Orleans and relocated to Ocean Springs in the 1870s, becoming a prominent merchant, according to a listing with the Mississippi Department of Archives & History. The home was the second built by von Rosambeau after an oil stove exploded and burned down the first house and store on the property.
Lyndwood, 915 Ocean Avenue: The traditional residence with a gabled entry was built using salvaged lumber in 1934 and belonged to the Gottsche family until 1989, when it was given to the First Presbyterian Church of Ocean Springs, an MDAH entry says.
Endangered properties list boosts preservation
Other Mississippi places on the endangered list, including photographs, can be found here.
The Mississippi Historic Trust published its first endangered places list in 1999. The organization claims as “graduates” of the list a number of historic buildings that have since been saved and restored, including The King Edward Hotel in Jackson, Round Island Lighthouse in Pascagoula, Amzie Moore House in Cleveland, L.Q.C. Lamar House in Oxford and the Threefoot Building in Meridian.
Chelsea Norton Prince, founder of the Ocean Springs Historical Society, said hopes are that inclusion of the Ocean Springs properties on the Historic Trust list will help lead to their restoration. The longer term goal, she said, is to have downtown included in an Ocean Springs Historic District.
Ocean Springs became the first European settlement in Mississippi in 1699. The city has eight historic districts, with two in the downtown area. But the districts leave out the Government Street and the areas immediately surrounding it.
This story was originally published October 20, 2023 at 2:06 PM.
CORRECTION: Chelsea Norton Prince is founder of the Ocean Springs Historical Society. Her last name was spelled incorrectly in a previous version of this story.
