The Windsor Ruins
Claiborne County
Mississippi
With two noted exceptions, the pictures on this page were taken by my son, daughter-in-law
and granddaughter on a recent trip to Claiborne, Jefferson and Adams Counties.  They visited
historic churches, cemeteries and a synagogue in Port Gibson.  They strolled through the
haunting ghost towns of Rocky Springs and Rodney and visited their ancient cemeteries.

They took photos in cemeteries that author Eudora Welty photographed in the 1930's, when
they had already been abandoned by towns that had all but ceased to be.  And they wondered
at the fragile nature of the monuments we build, believing that they will last forever.

-- Nancy (May, 2019)
Windsor was the largest antebellum Greek Revival mansion ever built in
Mississippi.  It stood from 1861 to 1890, when it was almost entirely destroyed by
fire.  Time has taken its toll on the iconic columns that were left standing.  About 3
cubic feet of the masonary disintegrates annually.  Half the decorative stucco on
the columns has been lost and continues to erode and 4-6 pieces of the iron
capitals detach and fall every year.  There is an ongoing preservation project by the
Mississippi Department of Archives and History to stabilize the columns.
Windsor as it looked in the 1860's
Windsor Ruins, ca. 1940; taken by Marion Post Wolcott;
courtesy of the Library of Congress
Through the years, 3 of the castiron stairways that survived the fire disappeared from the
site.  The 4th stairway was moved to Alcorn State University and serves as the entrance
to historic Oakland Memorial Chapel.  Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.