Page 100 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2023

STAYCATIONS
A Step Back in Time
Award-Winning LaPointe-Krebs House and Museum is Beautifully Restored and Open for Tours
story by Cherie Ward photos courtesy of LaPointe-Krebs House and Museum
Taking a trip back in time might not be as far away or as hard as it sounds.
The award-winning LaPointe-Krebs House and Museum in Pascagoula has daily tours that offer travelers and locals alike a chance to step back in time and experience life as it was in the 18th century.
“Visitors will get that sense of isolation because ultimately this was
an actual frontier building,” said Jim Underwood, president of the LaPointe- Krebs Foundation. “You get a clear understanding of what it was like to wake up every morning and step out on the front porch. Stare into Krebs Lake with the Pascagoula River in
the background and know the nearest neighbor was 3 miles up the river.”
As the oldest standing structure in
the Magnolia State, the LaPointe-
Krebs House, was built in 1757 and
was previously referred to as the Old Spanish Fort. And it’s not only the oldest structure in the Magnolia State but the oldest building in the entire Mississippi Valley in the vast region between the Appalachians and the Rockies.
“Now, it’s a fully restored relic that has survived 266 years and it’s still standing despite all the storms,” Underwood said. “It’s a true historical testament to see how the old building techniques have held up and the tabby construction used is unique to the Gulf Coast.”
Built of a French Colonial heavy- timber frame, the 1750s-era house is located on four acres at 4206 Fort St. in Pascagoula and overlooks Krebs Lake and the Pascagoula River. The property was settled in 1717 by Joseph Simon deLaPointe, and acquired in 1751 by Hugo Ernestus Krebs, who married LaPointe’s daughter, Marie.
The house blends French Colonial building techniques with those of
Native Americans. The settlers and
the Pascagoula tribe traded tools
and tips for survival as well as shared construction methods. The house is a fascinating combination of the tabby method first used in its construction and the bousillage method, used in its later renovations.
The property remained in the ownership of the Krebs family until
the late 1930s with seven generations calling it home. It was deeded to Jackson County in 1939 and the museum was added in 1988. Collectively, it has won
a myriad of accolades with the most recent as the 2022 Heritage Award of Excellence for Rehabilitation from the Mississippi Heritage Trust.
So, are you ready to take a trip within a time capsule containing 18th-century architectural trends and see firsthand how the earliest inhabitants of South Mississippi lived? Then be sure to visit the award-winning LaPointe-Krebs House and Museum.
100 | July 2023
www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
LaPointe-Krebs House and Museum
4602 Fort St., Pascagoula, MS 228.471.5126 www.lapointekrebs.org Hours:
Monday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.