W. J. “Jim” and Merinda Quarles Home in Long Beach, MS

Jim Quarles, a farmer and school teacher, from Tennessee, first came to Long Beach during his Christmas break from school in 1883. Before returning home he purchased two parcels of property, one with a home on 43 acres facing the railroad line, and another on the beach.

Jim, Merinda, and the children, moved here a few weeks later, in January of 1884. After a long train ride, the family moved into a house on their newly acquired land, north of the railroad, soon after de-boarding, on a cold, rainy, winter’s night. Luckily, the family was met by three townsmen with lanterns, who walked them to their new home where an inviting fire had already warmed the dwelling.

Eight years after moving to Long Beach, the Quarles family built themselves a new home, known as Greenvale. Resting on brick piers, the 127 year old two story home is two rooms deep with five bays across the front. The entrance door has a glass transom and the home contains an interior chimney. The outer walls are covered in clapboard. Two large porches originally stretched across the entire width of the home, on the upper and lower levels. The structure was quite festive with gingerbread trim on the posts and sawn wood balusters adorning the upper level.

Mr. Quarles occupied the house until his death in 1924. At the time of Mrs. Quarles’ death in 1935, she was living elsewhere. Exactly when the home was vacated is not known but it was sealed for most of the second half of the twentieth century and into the present.

Greenvale was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and by 2003, it was also listed as one of the ten most endangered historic places in the state.

The family owner was prompted to request a move for the house, which fronted Railroad Street, to make the property more desirable for commercial sale. The house was deemed to be structurally sound and the move was approved by the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The house now sits on the back of the property, facing a narrow winding road. Through the years, hurricane damage has not been kind to the old beauty and its expansive porches, which are gone. After the move, repairs were begun for historical accuracy but not yet completed.

Sources:

Rosalie and Radishes: A History of Long Beach, Mississippi for picture and info

Wikipedia for National Register of Historic Places info