History

Built in 1913 as an elementary school for 1st - 4th grades, Webb School recently celebrated its 100th birthday as a grand dame of Bay St. Louis.  It's one of only TWO buildings in Hancock County to be individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is also a designated Mississippi Landmark - the highest recognition of importance that the state bestows (there are only a dozen Landmarks in the entire county).

The National Register entry for Webb School says the building is recognized as being "the only early 20th century Colonial Revival style school building on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  The massing, size and styles of the Webb and Taylor Schools (no longer surviving) are unique among the remaining school buildings..."

The state records list Webb School as a "craftsman" style.  It's so unique, it's difficult for even architectural historians to pigeonhole. 

Click here to read more about the building's history.

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Webb School served as a shelter during and after Hurricane Katrina.  Owner and author Ellis Anderson details its role in "Under Surge, Under Siege," published in 2010 by University Press of Mississippi.  It was one of twelve books short-listed for Stanford University Libraries 2012 International Saroyan Book Prize for Non-Fiction. The book was also winner of the 2010 Eudora Welty Prize and the Mississippi Library Association's Non-fiction Author Award (2011).   

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Full-sized digital versions of these original plans of Webb School by architect John Henry are in the state archives.  Click on each to see larger resolution version.