Coker House Restoration Moving Forward at Champion Hill, Miss.

By Deborah Fitts

November 2005

CHAMPION HILL, Miss. — The long-awaited restoration of the Coker House at Champion Hill battlefield is inching closer to being realized, with plans and specifications due to go to the Mississippi Department of Transportation this fall.

Jim Woodrick, Civil War sites historian for the Mississippi Department of Archives & History, said once the transportation department approves the specs, contractors can be hired and the work begin.

The Department of Archives & History won a $6.2 million transportation-enhancement grant in 2001 for the Coker House and a variety of other projects, several of which are in progress or nearing completion. Two walking trails at the Raymond battlefield and restoration of the 1917 Corinth Depot were being completed in October, and a planned biking trail at Corinth was getting under contract.

The remainder of the grant is slated for restoration of the Coker House and the historic Shaifer House at Port Gibson battlefield. Woodrick said it was uncertain until bids are in how much the restorations will cost. But time is of the essence, he noted, given that the grant expires at the end of 2006.

The two houses “are the last tangible reminders” of the battles, Woodrick said. “They both have become rallying points for preservationists over the years.

“It’s an uphill battle, frankly. This is the first time we’ve had the money to do restoration, and it’s not full restoration, just the exteriors. But we’ll be able to save the structures.”

The Jackson Civil War Round Table donated the Coker House to the state in 2000. The 5-acre property and historic home, a witness to the battle of Champion Hill, is a half-mile distant from the 825-acre state-owned battlefield. Champion Hill lies 17 miles west of Jackson.

Jim Barnett, director of the Historic Properties Division at Archives & History, noted that for now the state is simply holding on to the house and battlefield.

“We hope one day the National Park Service (NPS) or the State of Mississippi will be able to develop it as a park,” Barnett said. “The house is in pretty bad shape right now.”

The current restoration will address only the exterior of the Coker House. But Barnett envisions it eventually as a visitor and interpretive center for the Champion Hill battlefield, staffed by a historian. When that may occur is anybody’s guess, he added: “Things move at a glacial pace” in federal and state government.

Champion Hill, May 16, 1863, was the decisive battle of the Vicksburg Campaign, and played out over 10,000 acres, according to Barnett. Vicksburg National Military Park lies about 25 miles to the west. The area around Champion Hill has so far escaped development, and the state-owned land “is virtually the same as it was in the war,” with historic lanes and trails.

At the Vicksburg battlefield, “They only tell the final chapter,” said Barnett. “We and NPS would like to see the entire campaign receive a unified interpretation,” starting with Port Gibson and moving to Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill and Big Black River Bridge with a string of national park sites.

“Interest in Civil War history is growing,” asserted Barnett. “People are excited when they hear there’s a Civil War battlefield like Champion Hill that hasn’t been paved over.”