Location Information
(for the Hewes Building)
Name:Hewes Building
Address:2505 14th Street
City/County:Gulfport, Harrison County
Architectural Information
Construction Date:1903-1904
Architectural Styles(s):Georgian Revival
No. of Stories:5
Registration Information
NR Listing Date:07 Oct 1982
NR District Name:Gulfport Harbor Square Commercial (2011)
    NR Status:Contributing
    Element No.:27
View National Register Nomination Form
Context/Comments
A significant regional landmark, the Hewes Building illustrates the remarkably rapid development of the last city established along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Chartered in 1898, Gulfport's origins can be traced to the economic boom that occurred in the South between the 1880s and World War I, an event made manifest in south Mississippi in the exploitation of the region's extensive timber resources. One notable by-product of the boom was the Hewes Building, constructed 1905 (the National Register nomination gives an incorrect date of 1903-04), reflecting the business prospects recognized by Gulfport's developers and serving as an example of the continuing use of traditional architectural styles in a multi-story building. Its symmetry and simplicity make it a handsome turn-of-the-century building and an important element in preserving the early architectural character of Gulfport's central business district.

The Hewes Building was individually listed on the National Register on 7 October 1982, and it was later included as element #19 in the (old) Harbor Square Historic District, which was placed on the National Register on 13 August 1985. Because that historic district was severely ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the old district was superseded by the (new) Gulfport Harbor Square Commercial Historic District, which was placed on the National Register on 25 October 2011. The building is now listed as element #27 in the Gulfport Harbor Square Commercial Historic District.

It is included in "Buildings of Mississippi" (2020) (p. 342, within the listing for the Hancock Bank/Bank of Gulfport, GC14).
Brief Description
Five-story, Second Renaissance Revival style brick and stucco office building with a flat roof behind a parapet with a cast stone cap. In the parapet is a projecting string course with dentil molding. The corners of the building have ashlar quoins. Between the first and second floor is another projecting cast stone string course. The first floor is stuccoed and scored into large blocks. There is a suspended metal canopy attached by metal rods to the building. The first floor facade is four-bays (W-Paired, D, W-Paired, W-Paired). The windows are plate glass in aluminum frames divided horizontally into a larger lower section and smaller upper section. The door is in a recessed entry and is plate glass in an aluminum frame with sidelights and a transom above. Above the canopy are two sets of four transoms framed in wood. The upper floors each have four-bays (W, W, W, W) with metal frame windows that are fixed with four divisions. The windows have cast stone headers with angled cast stone blocks and cast stone sills. The building exhibits many of the same design features as 2501 14th Street suggesting they were constructed at the same time. The storefront and windows were heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the new storefront design and windows were rebuilt to hurricane standards and are compatible with the style of the building.
Historic Information
From the Biloxi Daily Herald, May 17, 1905: "Hewes Bros. yesterday awarded the contract to O.E. Thompson of this city for a four-story brick building to be erected in Fourtheenth street near Twenty-fith avenue, at a cost of $30,000. This will be the first four-story building to go up in south Mississippi. It will be equipped with an electric elevator, heating apparatus and other modern conveniences."