Catherine’s Place designated Vicksburg Landmark

During its regular meeting Monday, the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) approved the recommendation of the Historic Preservation Commission to designate Catherine’s Place as a Vicksburg Landmark.

Monday’s designation came at the request of the property’s owner, The Flanders Group, LLC, which applied in August to add the site, located at 1501 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., as a Vicksburg Landmark in order to open a bed and breakfast at the location.

According to the application, the structure is a Greek Revival style building built by German immigrant Christian Fleckenstein in 1839 and was known as the Fleckenstein-Coccaro Grocery store. The building housed the grocery store on its main floor until 1965.

In approximately 1905, the building was purchased as a grocery store and home by Joseph Coccaro of Italy, who would go on to marry Catherine Russo, also of Italy. In 1920, the couple created Catherine’s Place by adding a kitchen to the building’s top floor, as well as a bathroom, electricity, gas and a roof over the top east front porch. In 1950, an elevator was placed in the east side of the building, reaching the top front porch.

Following Catherine’s death in 1965, Jack and Jill Children’s Daycare was opened on the site and operated in the building until 1985, when it became a rental property.

The property was restored in 2016-17 by Lamar McMillin Jr., of Little Rock, New Orleans architect Donald Maginnis III, Nancy Bell of the Historic Preservation Commission and Vicksburg contractor Ricky Antoine.

During a meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission in August, The Flanders Group made its initial request for the site to be either placed on the National Register or become a Vicksburg Landmark, with the hope of opening a bed and breakfast at the location.

Historic Preservation Committee Secretary Paula White said the building is not located inside the Vicksburg’ historic district; however, the Commission has recommended to BOMA in the past that sites not located in the historic district receive the designation of landmark. Wright said currently the city has 32 sites designated as Vicksburg Landmarks, with nine of them located outside the historic district.