A passion for preservation: a special breed of citizens works tirelessly to save tangible pieces of history.

Growing up in Mississippi you visit all of these family homes and old places and cemeteries, and that's Sunday afternoon fun, visiting those places," reflects Ann Simmons of Columbia in explaining her devotion to preservation. Simmons grew up in the little town of Pickens and lived in the historic Molly Clark home, built by her great-aunt. Preservation, Ann muses, "was just something that was in my blood from being exposed lo all of these things."

When life took her to Atlanta, Ann volunteered with the historical society and started her own commercial design firm, saying, "It made me aware of keeping things attractive and added another layer to my love of preservation." In North Carolina, she volunteered with the Historic Wilmington Foundation. Back in Jackson years later, her work on the Endangered Lookout Committee of the LeFleur's Bluff Heritage Association managed to save one house listed on the National Register of Historic Places by moving it across the street.

When Ann and her husband settled in Columbia, they meticulously restored the Governor Hugh White House after it had been derelict for eight years, earning a preservation award from the Mississippi Historical Society in 1991. As president of the Marion County Historical Society, Ann now oversees the care of the Rev. John S. Ford House, the oldest surviving frontier-style home in the Pearl River Valley. She is also spearheading an effort to have the nearby "Red Bluff," a geological formation that's been called "Mississippi's Little Grand Canyon," transformed into a formalized scenic overlook area that could be safely enjoyed by many more visitors each year.

With the approval of Columbia's first local historic district in 2004, Simmons is optimistic that businesses will use investment tax credits to locate downtown. "Mississippi has to realize that one of our biggest economic development tools is the uniqueness of our buildings and our history," Simmons says. "People want to see this individuality that these little towns still have in Mississippi. We have to capitalize on this."

Simmons is one of a dedicated number of private citizens in Mississippi who has devoted time and energy to saving relics of the state's heritage for the use and enjoyment of generations to come. And their numbers are growing; a trip to any corner of the state is likely to turn up revitalization projects built on the vision and hard work of a few tireless souls.

In Port Gibson, the first such name one hears is Al Hollingsworth. This longtime preservationist retired this year after 14 years as the city's Main Street Manager and was honored with a special award named in his honor by the Mississippi Main Street Association. "People have to see their architecture as being special and unique," says Hollingsworth, who has twice served as president of the Mississippi Heritage Trust. "It gives meaning, and pride, in the place that you're in to see the value that's inherent in the architecture."

David Preziosi, executive director of the Mississippi Heritage Trust, elaborates: "Nobody has enough resources to do one project on their own. So when we can all come together and combine resources, we can save something that maybe couldn't have been saved before." Preziosi has firsthand knowledge of what it takes to save a piece of history. While serving as a preservation planner for Natchez, he tackled the renovation of a 1904 commercial building, converting the second story to apartments and the first to retail space. His mentors were Ron and Mimi Miller of the Historic Natchez Foundation--Ron, the executive director since its inception in 1974, and Mimi, director of preservation and education.

According to Preziosi, the Millers greatly expanded the concept of preservation in Natchez. "They really had quite a hard time of saving the things that people didn't think were important and convincing them that basically everything was important," he says. "Between downtown commercial buildings and shotgun houses, big mansions and Victorian houses, they just really have taken an interest in everything." By so doing, the couple has had a "tremendous impact" on preservation elsewhere in the state, Preziosi notes, adding, "People can look at Natchez and see what they've done and then say, 'We're willing to take on this risk because we know somebody else has done it and it's been successful.'"

The Millers were among the resources Al Hollingsworth and his wife Libby drew upon to rejuvenate downtown Port Gibson. While Al toiled within the Main Street organization, Libby served on the local preservation commission. These native Mississippians also employed their experiences from the 22 years they lived in Connecticut, where Al served as president of the Guilford Preservation Alliance.

For the challenge in Port Gibson, Al says, "We used a lot of people to promote and carry the message out." Libby adds, "Everything was done by committee." They are most proud of how a Greek Revival commercial building from the 1840s was transformed into a public library. When the library was located in City Hall, 350 citizens had library cards; today, 2,500 do.

Hilda Povall in Cleveland has felt the same calling. Perhaps because her husband's law office resides in the oldest building in Cleveland, dating to 1884, she felt an affinity for the circa-1888 former Baptist parsonage there. "When they said they were going to knock it down, it just made me ill," she recalls. Povall was determined to find an affordable way to save it.

"My father and my husband both thought I was crazy," she says. "But I got all my figures together, and my husband finally thought it was a good project." She next played detective to discover how the house originally looked, talking with old neighbors who shared photographs that included the parsonage.

Relocation to their lot in the downtown historic district required that the house be cut in half, down the middle. Renovation involved a daily consultation with her contractor. The result? "It's made the street."

As chairperson of the Cleveland Heritage Commission, Povall has also had experience dealing with project plans that may not be appropriate for a historic district, a matter she handles equally adeptly. "I try to go visit people as soon as I hear [about their plans] and see them in person," she says. "If you catch them early and try to explain things, it's fun. You get to know people that you might not have known. Plus they learn something new, too, and get excited about the possibilities of keeping our downtown."

Perhaps every historic downtown needs a champion. In Greenville, former mayor Paul C. Artman, Jr. sat on the city council when it resolved to transform downtown. He recalls, "We needed a project that would stimulate business downtown, would be an effort toward preservation of the oldest area of town along the waterfront, and would also jump-start future downtown development." He says Walnut Street, already on the National Register of Historic Places and the oldest remaining street in town, "was actually decaying terribly."

By the late 1990s, the Walnut Street development was completed. Bill Seratt, executive director of the Greenville/ Washington County Convention & Visitors Bureau, gives Artman much of the credit for the project's success. "Walnut Street would not be done were it not for Paul Artman," Seratt says. "He held his guns and fought for federal money."

Now alive with blues clubs, restaurants, and hotels, the development is referred to as the Walnut Street Entertainment District. The restored C & G Depot, a Mississippi Landmark, houses Shapley's Restaurant, while the former Levee Board complex, made up of the two oldest structures in town, was transformed into the Greenville Inn & Suites. In August, the Visitors Bureau moved into the old National Guard Armory, also a state-designated landmark.

An entirely different Walnut Street development has been taking shape in the Hub City Historic District of downtown Hattiesburg. Linda McMurtrey, who has aided downtown revitalization since 1988, most recently as historic preservation planner, says she believes the restoration effort has successfully blended the preservation of historic structures with the gutting and renovation of more contemporary but impractical buildings.

As a volunteer, McMurtrey worked to have her own neighborhood declared a historic district in 1985. When she looks back at how the number and size of historic districts and landmarks have increased in Hattiesburg since then, she says she feels pride in the town's "much higher level of awareness and appreciation for historic preservation and what it means to a city." Besides its benefits for economic development, McMurtrey adds, "It certainly preserves a sense of place. It identifies who we are, and where we've been, and where we ought to be going. It's something to celebrate in any community--preservation and awareness of your heritage, including the built environment."

"We have really come a long way in this business of historic preservation," McMurtrey reflects. Ann Simmons agrees: "It's taken a long time, I think, for all this to come about." In truth, both women, along with dozens of their counterparts across the state, have always cared about keeping vestiges of the past intact in the present and vital for the future.

10 Top Preservation Projects

Dedicated preservationists and hard-working preservation organizations are toiling all around the state. Here we applaud what historic preservation means for Mississippi by citing some exceptional examples of their efforts:

1. Corinth received the 2004 "Civil War Discovery Trail Site of the Year" Award from the Civil War Preservation Trust for its commitment to preserving America's Civil War heritage. It also opened its National Park Interpretive Center in July. Rosemary Williams has chaired the Siege and Battle of Corinth Commission since 1993.

2. Chris Chain, a leader in the adaptive reuse of historic buildings in downtown Columbus, has helped others around the state develop upper-level downtown apartments. This year, Mississippi Main Street gave him its highest honor, the Paul Coggin Memorial Award.

3. Ayer Hall, the oldest building on the Jackson State University campus, was rededicated in June after its top story was rebuilt as directed by architect Robert Parker Adams, restoring the 1903 structure to its original appearance. The structure houses the Margaret Walker Alexander National Research Center for the Study of the 20th Century African American.

4. The Walnut Street development undertaken by the McElroy family has been a continuous renewal project in downtown Hattiesburg since 2001. Walnut Square and Walnut Circle together include an old-fashioned pharmacy and ice cream parlor, fine dining, loft apartments, offices, retail space, and landscaped green space.

5. Recent revitalization of downtown Vicksburg has removed the "urban renewal" blight of the early 1970s. Nancy Bell, executive director of the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation, says the project's success stems from a collaborative relationship among her organization, Vicksburg Main Street, and the city.

6. The Greenville Blues Walk Association has embedded 15 commemorative stones along both sides of the Walnut Street Entertainment District. By adding several each year, officials aim to recognize the musical contributions of the many bluesmen with ties to the area.

7. Viking Range Corporation was awarded the 2004 Main Street Leadership Award in the business category from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. With CEO Fred Carl, Jr.'s vision, 12 historic buildings in and near the historic Cotton Row district were renovated as Viking workspaces, stimulating the revitalization of downtown Greenwood.

8. The city of Natchez's LUMP (Large, Unused Municipal Properties) Program converts historic buildings like schools and hospitals into needed places such as low-income housing, a battered women's shelter, a senior citizens center, and a performing arts center. In 2000, it won First Place for "City Livability" from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

9. Several depot restorations around the state have been honored, including the 1866 Old Oxford Depot, the 1889 Old Eupora Depot, the circa-1880 C & G Railroad Depot in Greenville, the Laurel Train Depot, and the Clarksdale Freight Depot (now the Delta Blues Museum).

10. Biloxi, Corinth, Hattiesburg, Pascagoula, Port Gibson, and Raymond have been designated as "Preserve America" communities under a new White House initiative. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History will work with other cities who wish to apply for the same designation.