"The styles of the Classical Tradition and the Neomedieval Tradition, along with the Moorish and Spanish-inspired styles and the major traditional vernacular forms, provide contexts for understanding most of the architecturally notable churches and synagogues of Mississippi from the 1820s through the 1920s, but there are some religious buildings that do not fit neatly into those stylistic themes. Some have features of the Victorian Queen Anne style; others show the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 1900s. Some churches exhibit combinations of stylistic influences, and others are best understood as expressions of the creativity of individual architects or builders.

One of the most distinctive of the historic churches of Mississippi is First Presbyterian Church in Pontotoc. Built in 1915, it is notable for its unusual Prairie Style character. Its design, with its crisp geometrical composition and sparse decorative detailing derived from the structural form itself, was quite avant-garde for its time and anticipated architectural developments that would shape the religious architecture of the state later in the twentieth century." --excerpted from the book

"October 2007: Books About the South" is from the October 2007 issue of Southern Living.