Remodeled, enlarged Heflin House to host Pan Gens at annual ‘picnic’ 6/24/2014
Published 12:00 am Monday, June 23, 2014
Built 1858, saved from demolition in 1972.
By John Howell
The Heflin Heritage Association will host its first event in the newly enlarged and remodeled Heflin House Museum Thursday evening when the Panola Genealogical and Historical Society (Pan Gens) meets there at 6:30 p.m.for its annual summer picnic.
Heflin House board members broke ground last November for the project that has added a 1,000-square-foot meeting room, created a larger, higher capacity kitchen, a wheelchair accessible bathroom and equipped a wing of the museum to serve as a bed and breakfast.
On Saturday, contractor Robert Kamm and workmen hurried to complete the project as Heflin House board members cleaned behind them, preparing for Thursday’s event.
“That’s the beauty of it,” said project manager Dale Hart of the Thursday evening event, “to get people to see it who have never seen it before.”
Hart developed the plans for the remodeling that satisfied the requirements of the Sardis Historic Preservation Commission and the Miss. Dept. of Archives and History.
Hart pointed to original exterior walls and windows that were preserved to comply with MDAH guidelines. They now serve as the interior south and west walls of the new meeting room.
Picnic is actually a misnomer for the Pan Gens event at the Heflin House. Guests will be served a meal prepared the excellent chefs of the Heflin House board in the enlarged kitchen area.
The kitchen rearrangement will allow a better flow of kitchen workers, Hart said.
The remodeling project was partially funded by a $50,000 Community Heritage Preservation Grant with additional funding from a gift from “Mr. Jim” McClure.
The Heflin House became a museum from the efforts of a group of Sardis citizens who organized in 1972 to save the antebellum structure from being razed to allow construction of a commercial structure.
The home, built in 1858 — when Sardis was known as Danville — was a replica of an earlier home that Dr. Henry Laird had built at Belmont. Laird’s niece married Captain William David Heflin. The couple moved to Danville to open a store near the newly-built railroad.
The Heflin House Museum has carefully preserved the 156-year-old exterior and interior features of the home. Artifacts and furniture from the Heflins and other pioneer Sardis families are also preserved as part of the museum.
Anyone interested in learning more about Panola County history, genealogy and/or the Heflin House is welcome to Thursday’s “picnic. The cost of the meal is $20. Contact Pan Gens President Jimmy Smith for further information, 662-609-4621.
