Downtown Meridian

[NCB]

Meridian has always been a city that interested me, it was close enough to New Orleans for me to be curious, but far enough away for me to never make the trip. I've driven past it numerous times on I-59, but because of time or weather, or both, I've never stopped. I've seen some photos of downtown Meridian on the internet, and I assumed for many years that it was just another railroad town with a downtown that hadn't looked nice in decades.

But two weeks ago, while driving through Meridian on I-59 on my way up to Washington D.C., I finally decided to hop off the interstate and take a look around, even if it was only from a car. I was extremely suprised by what I saw; that run-down city I was expecting to see wasn't there at all. The downtown looked great, filled with tons of old buildings, most of which were in good or very good condition, there were lots of people walking around, plenty of local stores open, there were 3 or 4 hospitals all within a few blocks of one another, and of course, the Threefoot Building was fantastic. Like I said, I was very impressed and pleasanly suprised by Meridian, and I hope to explore the city more sometime soon!

Quick Meridian rundown for anyone not familiar with the city:

• Founded- 1851

• Population: City- 40,000(fifth largest in Mississippi) Metro- 104,000

• Largest city in Mississippi between 1890 and 1930 and was the state's leading manufacturing center

• Burned to the ground by Union general William T. Sherman during the Civil War in 1864. Meridian's position at a key railroad juntion made it an important Confederate city, and it was home to a Confederate military hospital, POW stockade, Mississippi state offices, and served as a Confederate arsenal.

• Tallest building- Threefoot Building, built in 1929, it is approximately 150 feet tall.

I managed to snap a few photos from around downtown Meridian, and while I only have about 12, I figured it would still be nice to show at least some of the city here on UP. Most of these were taken through a windshield, so please excuse the bluriness!

Heading into downtown Meridian on 22nd Avenue

Riley Center and Threefoot Building

6th Street

Threefoot Building

Meridian Skyline from I-59

Some of the development surrounding central Meridian along I-59

That's it! Like I said, it wasn't much, and it certainly wasn't my best work, but hopefully you folks still enjoyed a small tour of Meridian.

[tombarnes]

Hey Nate! Those are some nice shots of Meridian! I can't wait to see how the Threefoot Building progresses when its renovation into a hotel finally begins. This little city is on the way up indeed. Thanks for sharing the pics!

[tombarnes]

Threefoot Work to Begin in About 3 Months

Work is expected to begin in about three months on the Threefoot Building. HRI of New Orleans says that a major hotel operator will be announced as well. My guess is Hyatt Place, as Hilton and Marriott both have new properties here.

The Meridian Star

A short article I found with another picture....

Intelligent Travel

[Rural King]

Thanks for the great little tour of Meridian NCB! I think you captured a lot the city's character in that dozen pics, which is no easy feat.

Great news on the Threefoot Building. When I saw the pic I was going to enquire on its status, but since Tom is always on top of MS developments for us the question was mute. LOL Overall it looks like downtown is doing fairly well and holds quite a lot of potential.