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The Vicksburg Foundation for Historic
Preservation's mission has always been compelling and clear: to
identify, preserve, protect and interpret the unique historic
heritage of the City of Vicksburg and its environs.
A historical marker on Crawford
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Preservation promotes the
rehabilitation of substandard and neglected properties thereby
enhancing the beauty of our community as well as its economic life.
The rehabilitation of a single
structure often tends to start a chain reaction throughout a
neighborhood. This activity increases property values as well
as community pride and spirit.
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Therefore, preservation is a
significant factor in the economic stability of neighborhoods,
business districts, and rural areas. Preservation
promotes the rehabilitation of historic buildings, which provides
jobs, stimulates business activity, revitalizes down areas and puts
buildings back on the tax roles.
The Cobb House on Crawford Street |
Preservation is also the basis
for Vicksburg's tourism industry. Without preservation of the
Civil War Battlefield, historic homes, museums, and rehabilitated
business district, Vicksburg would not entice one million people to
our community ever year to spend $28 million dollars.
Preservation also attracts motion picture and television
producers.
Preservation is also a form of
conservation. A building represents a wide array of natural
resources, from bricks and mortar to the energy expended in making
and transporting the materials, to the human resources necessary to
pull it all together. By rehabilitating a building building,
its useful life is extended and our country's natural resources are
conserved.
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Preservation educates young
people about the importance of learning from the past. In
addition, preservation education teaches a value system based on
environmental maintenance rather than environmental disposal.
Preserving our past and economic
future |
Preservation acts as a sensitive
mediator of the forces of change. In a life that is daily more
mechanized and stereotyped, the variety and beauty of historic
architecture creates a sense of place and a feeling of belong that
is often lost in the fast pace of life. It is not just the
protection of individual buildings, it is the conservation of
streetscapes: fences, landscaping, street furniture, all elements
that create neighborhoods.
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Vicksburg has a long,
fascinating, and colorful heritage which is kept alive through the
preservation of the tangible elements of it history - the built
environment.
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