If you’ve ever traveled through Jackson’s historic Belhaven district, you’ve probably passed the two-story revival-style house sitting at 1119 Pinehurst St. You may not have realized, however, that this was the home where one of the most talented writers of the 20th century spent the majority of her life. On April 29 that home was opened as a literary museum to fulfill the wishes of the late owner.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eudora Welty lived at 1119 Pinehurst St. for more than 76 years.The house was built by Welty’s parents, Christian and Chestina Welty, in 1925, when the family moved there from their home at North Congress Street in downtown Jackson.
Welty left for college in 1925 but returned home in 1931 upon her father’s death. She spent several years afterward working throughout rural Mississippi but returned to take care of her mother in the 1960s. She remained in what is now known as The Eudora Welty House until her death in 2001.
Welty wrote all of her works in the home, including her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Optimist’s Daughter.” In 1986 Welty decided that she wanted to leave the home to the state as a tribute to her family, who encouraged her to be an avid reader.
The Eudora Welty House literary museum has been in development since 2003, and the house was designated a national historic landmark in October 2004, just three years after Welty’s death. This designation helped increase funding for restoration and preservation of the house.
Mary Alice White, Welty’s niece, is the director of the museum. She, along with other family members and museum designers, envisioned the museum to be just as the house was when Welty lived there.
The Eudora Welty House is one of the most intact literary houses in the nation because most of the furnishings and other contents of the house are original.
The museum boasts the typewriter that Welty used to create her masterpieces, the books she used as references and the first editions of her published works. In the dining room, visitors will see the table where the author pieced together parts of typescript to create her final works.
The flue from the wood-burning stove still stands in the kitchen where Welty threw her only copy of “Petrified Man” on the flames after an editor rejected it for publication. Her book collection also contains a signed set of Charles Dickens’ novels, an heirloom passed down on her mother’s side of the family.
Outside the house is Welty’s garden, which was of great importance to the writer throughout her lifetime.
She and her mother started the garden while the house was still undergoing construction, and the two maintained it together until Welty’s mother died. Afterward, Welty still tended to the garden, always referring to it as “mother’s garden.”
Along with the tours, the museum is expected to offer lectures and other events specific to the home and Welty’s life.
The Eudora Welty House is shown by reservation on Wednesday through Friday at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Admission to the museum is $5 for adults, $3 for students and free for children under the age of 6. Group discounts are also available.
For reservations or information, call (601) 353-7762.