A pearl of the past.

Until 100 years ago, Jackson's East Pearl Street was, after South State Street, the city's most desirable business address. For almost any merchant, the most eastward block of the street was a sought-after business location. It was only one block south of the state capitol building. It was at the head of South State Street, the city's busiest merchandising area, and its eastern end bordered "Cheapside," a one-block section of South State that, according to Dr. William D. McCain's The Story of Jackson, was a popular spot where household items could be purchased for bargain prices.

The recently acquired photograph--actually a lithograph printing of a photo on the back of a business envelope bearing a Jackson postmark of November 16, 1903--accompanying this article allows us a fascinating peek into the past. The photographer, whose name is not known, probably captured this scene while standing on South State Street and facing due west down Pearl Street. This rare image--rare to state archivists, rare to historic preservation officials, and rare to those of us who study the early history of Jackson--reflects the lifestyle of the city more than a century ago. Thanks to my friend Don Garrett, a former vice-president of School Pictures, Inc., this historic envelope has been preserved so that we may all now get a glimpse of this important part of Jackson's heritage.

At first glance, this picture looks much like Capitol Street looked during the same period. The two-story structure in the right foreground, with its wrought-iron railings, closely resembles the Spengler Corner building at the corner of North State and Capitol Streets. But this street is much more narrow than Capitol and lacks the trolley car track Capitol had during this period. This building isn't the Spengler building at all; rather, it is the southeast corner of the original Merchants Bank, the largest in the city at the turn of the last century. Historian Richard Cawthorn of the Mississippi Department of Historic Preservation confirmed that the ornate wrought iron, which is depicted in many old photographs of Jackson buildings, first caught the eye of some prominent businessmen on an 1876 visit to Philadelphia for the nation's centennial. Apparently, shortly after returning home, several balconies were enhanced with these prefabricated decorative supports from the iron foundries of St. Louis and Cincinnati.

As we continue looking west down Pearl, the next buildings on the right or north side of the street are two grocery stores with offices above. The next building, a single-story affair, is the E. & S. Virden General Merchandise Company, where, according to an advertisement from that era, one could buy "whole soft shelled crabs in cans, already for the skillet" and "high grade cakes and crackers." The other buildings on this side are Aaron Lehman Produce, the Star Drug Store, Dr. S.D. Redmond's office, L.F. Luderbach Plumbing Company, R.C. Moore Fruit Stand, and the general merchandise store of Thomas Gale.

Turning our attention to the left or south side of the street, we can barely make out the single-story peaked-front structure of T.P. Barr's Grocery. Barr, one of the city's most outspoken aldermen, was a champion of education for whom an elementary school on West Capitol Street was named in 1929. The next building, a two-story structure, was home to a firm originally from Yazoo City, the Jones Kennington Dry Goods Company. This company became a larger player in the history of the city when, on April 5, 1906, it opened a six-story department store on the southwest corner of Capitol and Congress Streets.

The third building on the left, the largest building on the block, is Robinson's Opera House. This magnificent example of an Italianate commercial building was for 20 years a magnet for the city. The theater was housed on the second floor above Jones Bros. Clothing Store and H.M. Kernaghan's Grocery, where, according to a Daily Clarion-Ledger advertisement from January 1900, a person could purchase "stuffed prunes, crystallized ginger, plum pudding, Atmore's mince meat, Buck Wheat flour and pigs feet." Next is the Smith Company Furniture Store, and beyond that, Christopher Herbert's Drug Store and Todd & Little, dealers in general merchandise. Not shown is the Bowers Bros. Dry Goods firm, which advertised that "all the fit, style, ease and durability of the highest priced shoes can be found in our man's $3.50 shoe." Next door is the Pearl Street Grocery, followed by the popular Jake Ehrman's Palace Market, Jackson's fancy butcher. Ideally situated on the southwest corner of Pearl and President Streets, Ehrman's was a fixture in the city for more than two generations.

Our photo of Pearl Street probably dates from around 1902 and proves that Pearl Street, all 375 feet of it, was indeed the heartbeat of the city. Carts, wagons, and horses clog the street as citizens and visitors alike tend to business.

One final comment about this historical feast for the eyes and the imagination concerns Robinson's Opera House, the one building on the street that set this block apart from all others in the city. It was a large building for its day, measuring 38 feet wide by 60 feet deep, and was constructed in 1878 and 1879 on the site of the old Planters Hotel, which had stood on the property since the mid-1830s. By the standards of the time, it was a fine building and one that was fairly expensive to construct, owing chiefly to its ornate facade and seating for some 350 people. It was built for John W. Robinson, a native of Cherango County, New York.

Robinson became a citizen of Jackson in the late 1850s and a decade later established wholesale and retail businesses with a partner named Stevens. The companies did well, and according to Goodspeed's Biographical and Historical Memories of Mississippi (1891), Robinson became "one of the foremost businessmen of the state." A longtime vestryman in St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, he was "keenly alive to the sufferings and misfortunes of others, and was never appealed to in vain for consolation, for his early struggles to gain a foothold on the ladder of success made his heart warm for those less fortunate than himself."

So in a way the Opera House was his gift to the city. From the start, it was more than just a place for entertainment; it was used as a meeting place for numerous groups, and it was where Central High School's graduation exercises, the yearly firemen's ball, and other big events were held. When the Mississippi Cotton Mill was established at Wesson, Robinson was one of its major investors. "He owned the Edwards House, one of the finest hotels in the city, and he built the Jackson street railway, which he managed until his death," the book notes. Robinson was good to Jackson, and in turn the citizens were good to him.

Apparently, Robinson's Hall, as some called it, held its first performance on March 17, 1880, when the Globe Dramatic Company from New York City stopped in Jackson during its return trip north after a winter in New Orleans. Surely, Robinson was aglow with pride at having been able to bring big-time entertainment to the small but growing capital city. Only one year later, in April 1881, he passed away, but that isn't the end of the story. John W. Robinson's shoes were filled by his Jackson-born son, John, Jr., who walked the same path as his father.

It is believed that the last performance at the Opera House, a comedy entitled "Other People's Money," was held on January 26, 1900. A review in the Daily Clarion-Ledger applauded the lead actor, Hennessey Le Royle, for being "amusing at all times." "... His fun making was wholly free from the vulgarity or suggestiveness somewhat generally seen in farce comedy of latter day productions," the review noted. Three days later, around 3 p.m. Monday, January 29, while a group of young ladies was rehearsing for a performance of "The Spinsters," the Opera House burst into flames. It is thought that a faulty wood-burning heater flue was the cause of the fire. By the time firemen were able to put out the blaze, considerable damage had been done. The newspaper reported, "The roof of the opera house was completely destroyed and the stage and scenery is a total loss. The orchestra piano was also consumed and many of the seats destroyed. Several architects and builders who have viewed the ruins estimate that it would take front $8,000 to $10,000 to restore the building to its former condition."

As is shown in our circa-1902 photograph, the Opera House was rebuilt, but not to its former glory. City leaders, John W. Robinson, Jr. among them, decided to build a new entertainment building. The result was the five-story Century Theatre that opened to the public in 1901 at 510 East Capitol Street. With the absence of the Opera House, Pearl Street's luster began to fade. Merchants began to move their businesses to new Capitol Street locations.

But with a theatrical spirit of "the show must go on," Robinson's Hall persevered. With one tenant after another, it rode out most of the 20th century. In the 1940s and early 1950s, it housed the Davis Seed and Feed Company, and in 1949, the front of the once-grand structure was completely altered as part of a city street-widening project. It was an architectural insult to the grand ole lady to have her face shaved off to make room for a new sidewalk.

In 1969, the opera house was razed entirely to make way for a parking garage that has never materialized. As Pearl Street appears today, the only remnant of the former "life of the city" is a single brick wall that supports a building on the south side of the street. This unpainted wall was once the western wall of Robinson's Opera House.

If there is a consolation, it is that today Pearl Street is intertwined with High Street as the city's grand entrance. Perhaps for East Pearl, this is the beginning. Maybe even tomorrow, the curtain will rise to reveal that the show isn't over.