The Loss of a Landmark in Jackson?

Harvey T. Newell established the Jackson Paper Company in 1921, one year after my grandfather moved to Jackson to take over ownership of what became the Mississippi Bedding Company. I tried to find a link to the history of Newell's life and was unsuccessful. There's a Pi Kappa Alpha national award named after him (he died in a plane crash while on official duty as the Pike National President) and a memorial library at the Pike national headquarters. The Millsaps athletic department at one time gave a Harvey T. Newell award (I think it was to the most outstanding athlete), and as you can see in this photo, there's a local football field that bears his name.

In a side note, there's some interesting history about this field as the Rev. Billy Graham held an integrated revival in the stadium in 1952. I think you'll find the photos and story at this Belhaven College site very interesting. It's a story I had never heard, or one that I had forgotten over the years.

But this post isn't about Harvey T. Newell or the stadium. It's about the concrete block pictured above that has been an Jackson icon for my entire life. This stadium is located next to the concrete school building that was Bailey Junior High for decades and is now Bailey Alternative School. For at least two generations this concrete sign has served as a perfect spot for waiting on the bus, or a carpool, or just for hanging around and talking. How many thousands of Jacksonians have a memory of sitting on the H. T. Newell sign at some point in their life? That should probably read "how many tens of thousands".

Now the sign is gone. Last week I was driving up the long hill that passes the stadium. It was obvious from a distance that renovations were being done. The extent of those renovations unfolded as I progressed up the hill and it surprised me when I saw that the H. T. Newell sign was no longer in its rightful place. I even looped back around to confirm what I didn't see.

There's a 90-99% certainty in my heart that this historic block of concrete was simply moved for safe keeping. I don't know what it would cost to save such a thing. I do know the intangible loss caused by destroying such a landmark would be far greater. Surely the folks in charge of the renovation realized that this was not some outdated marker of the mid-20th century, one that needed to be updated to make the stadium seem more modern. I'm almost positive that this Jackson icon must have been saved and in due time it will be returned to duty.

But there's that 1-10% of me that fears a wrecking ball was brought in and decades of memories and history were reduced to a load for the dump in just a few whacks. I still think that no one in their right mind would do this, but I'm thinking from the viewpoint of a lifelong Jacksonian. A person who remembers going up that long hill hundreds of times for classes in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades. A person who remembers many a game at H. T. Newell stadium, first during my school years as a fan, later as I coached soccer games for both Murrah and St. Joseph High School teams, and more recently as I cheered for my nephew Robert during his football and soccer days at Murrah High School. That sign represents a lot of memories to me. Maybe in the eyes of a younger person or a newcomer to Jackson, that sign represented an eyesore. Maybe it's very possible or even probable that the sign has been destroyed.

Time will tell on this or maybe my friend who writes the MS Preservation blog will have some inside knowledge since this is right up their alley of expertise. Admittedly, my life won't change one iota if the sign was destroyed, but it will bring a moment of sadness to me if I discover that this piece of Jackson history is gone. That would be a shame because plenty of Jacksonians would have contributed to come up with whatever money was necessary to save the sign. It could have been save, it should have been saved, and hopefully it was saved.

Quote of the Day: "There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough to solve". --- Mike Leavitt ---

PS--I wrote this post Saturday evening. Sunday I decided to walk over to Newell Field and look around. I went inside the fence and look around the south end of the stadium where all the work is taking place. The "H. T. Newell" concrete sign was no where to be found. More and more, my gut feeling is that it was destroyed and I hope that feeling is 100% wrong. Here are a couple of photos of the construction and the area where the sign once stood: