Page 115 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2024

and around the Iberville neighborhood. American Indians thought the waters held curing powers, healing dyspepsia, indigestion, insomnia, and kindred ailments. They named the springs “E-Ca- Na-Cha-Ha” which means holy ground.
The Reverend P. P. Bowen built the first inn to accommodate people who flooded the area to take advantage of the sulfur and chalybeate springs. He is also credited with an 1860 land donation for a public gravesite, which is now known as Evergreen Cemetery and is near the Mockingbird Inn. Although the magical springs no longer flow, and the original structures are long gone, Marble Springs City Park pays homage to the Iberville neighborhood’s past and is next to the Mockingbird Inn.
“When people started building homes and digging wells the water table decreased and that’s when the springs didn’t come back up to the surface. I’d like to think it’s still down there somewhere,” she said.
The Mitchells knew they wanted
to preserve as much of the original architecture as possible, but they also expected it to be a lot of work since the house was built in 1899 and had been transformed into office space by previous occupants.
“Some of it was in disrepair, but we saved everything we could including some of the original windows,” she said.
The Mockingbird Inn opened in 2022 and has since had more than 800 completed stays. With the house renovations finished, the Mitchells moved on to their next project, remaking an out-of-place garage into a handicap- accessible cottage.
Watercolor painting by artist Vincent Palmer, commissioned by the Carnley family who owned the home from 1963-2001.
“We have a lot
of repeat guests
which is the biggest
compliment we can get,” she said, adding the house itself did not change hands a lot until around 2001 when it became a commercial property. Only three families previously owned the house with the last raising eight children.
Mockingbird Inn owners Kim and Troy Mitchell.
“One of their granddaughters is getting married in the front yard under the Live Oaks in May in the exact spot where her parents were married,” she said.
Even though no one really knows exactly where the original inn sat in the Iberville neighborhood or if the springs still bubble somewhere below, the Mitchells felt a soul- stirring connection to the area and knew they wanted to revive the historical and magical Mockingbird Inn.
1101 Iberville Dr. • Ocean Springs MockingbirdInnOSMS@gmail.com www.themockingbirdinn.com
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