Location Information
(for the Bailey Junior High School)
Name:Bailey Junior High School [Bailey Magnet School]
Address:1900 State Street, North
City/County:Jackson, Hinds County
Architectural Information
Construction Date:1936-37
Architectural Styles(s):Art Moderne, Art Deco
No. of Stories:3
Registration Information
NR District Name:Belhaven (2012)
    NR Status:Contributing
    Element No.:1098a
Mississippi Landmark Information
Designated:04-24-1992
Recorded:05-18-1992
Book/Vol. No.:V. 3964, p. 430
Easement Information
Date Signed:11-09-2014
Expires:11-09-2039
Easement Type:Preservation/Maintenance
Book/Vol. No.:V. 7183 Pg. 8298-8300
Context/Comments
The Bailey Junior High School building (now Bailey Magnet School) was built in 1936-37 under the direction of architects N.W. Overstreet and A.H. Town.

It is listed as a contributing element (element #1098a) in the Belhaven Historic District, which was placed on the National Register on 18 December 2012. It was designated a Mississippi Landmark on 24 April 1992.

The building was featured in "Public Buildings: A Survey of Architecture of Projects Constructed by Federal and Other Governmental Bodies Between the Years 1933 and 1939 with the Assistance of the Public Works Administration" (1939).

This building is included in "Jackson Landmarks" (1982) (pp. 122-123), "Jackson (Images of America)" (1998) (pp. 71, 83), "Jackson's North State Street (Images of America)" (2009) (pp. 115-117), and "Buildings of Mississippi" (2020) (pp. 259-260, JM46).
Brief Description
Two-story, reinforced concrete school with a flat roof and concrete foundation. The large monolithic building is on a raised basement and was constructed in the Art Moderne style. The main facade of the building can be broken up into several blocks across the facade. From left to right there is the gymnasium block, stair tower, classroom block, central entrance lock, classroom block, and auditorium block. The gymnasium block is two-story and devoid of any openings on the front facade. The stair tower block projects from the rest of the facade and has an entrance at the lower level accessed by concrete stairs with massive wing walls with cast stone lions on top of the wing walls. The door is double-leaf wood with a single light to each leaf and flanked by sidelights with single lights. The entry door is slightly recessed in a stepped recess. Above the door is a curved cantilevered canopy with a bas-relief panel of a woman holding a scroll. Above that are three 'columns' of metal frame windows recessed within the facade. Each 'column' has three windows stacked on top of one another with three lights each. At the top of the window 'column' is ribbing in the facade. To the left of the stair is a chamfered corner with corner windows on the two floors and basement level. The windows have a front facing metal fame window with eight lights, with the bottom four opening as an awning window. On the angled corner are two of these windows, and on the the side is also the same window. The classroom block between the stair tower and entrance block is divided in four parts with the use of pilasters and the three parts on the left are five-bay (all W), while the last part is a single bay (W). the windows on the first and second floors are metal frame with eight lights, with the bottom four opening as an awning window. The windows at the basement level are metal frame with four lifts, with the bottom two opening as an awning window. The entrance block projects from the rest of the facade and has a tower form that raises a story taller than the rest of the building and has stepped buttresses at the corners tapering to the top. The entrance on the first level is accessed by monumental stairs with curved wing walls at the bottom and large block wing walls closer to the building. The top wing walls have bas-relief panels, with the one on the lfeft having bas-relief of Andrew Jackson and Thomas Hinds, the panel on the right has a bas-relief of Pushmataha and his braves. The entrance is in an angled recess within a segmental arch opening. There are three entrance doors, each with a light. Above the door applied to the building in metal letters is 'Edward L. Bailey school.' Above that are three recessed 'columns' of windows. The first row of windows are metal frame with four lights. Above that are metal panels with applied circles with eagles. From there are three sets of stacked windows with three lights each. Above the top window to the top of the building are three recessed panels with recessed designs. Between the entrance block and the audiotorium is another clasroom block which is a mirror image of the other classroom block. The audiotorium block on the right end of the building projects much farther out than the other blocks and has a curved facade. The facade The facade of the block is divided into five parts by ribbed pilasters projecting from the facade. At the entrance level there is a set of steps across all five of the parts. The middle part has a sculpture group of five classical figures on top of a block with 'MCMXXXVII.' The other four parts each have double-leaf wood doors with a single light and a curved cantilevered canopy above. On the second level each part has a paired metal frame window unit with four lights to each window.
Historic Information
Completed in July 1937 after a year and a half of careful planning and construction, the school cost $350,000. After completion this unusual monolithic concrete school building was praised in architectural journals for its 'conservative-modern' style. Architects N.W. Overstreet and A. Hays Town designed the structure to utilize concrete almost entirely in its construction, both interior and exterior. Bailey Junior High School was named for Edward L. Bailey, superintendent of city schools, who played a major role in the early planning of this school. Featured in Architectural Forum and on the cover of Life magazine in 1938. The school was completed in 1937 at an estimated construction cost of $317,040. The school was featured in the 1938 issue of Architectural Forum as evidence of the new trend in school design featuring the school as one of the best three examples of modern school building design.
Reports
Edward L. Bailey Junior High School, Jackson, Miss. Feb 1938 Architectural Forum