First occupied in 1842, the Mississippi Governor's Mansion is the second oldest continuously occupied governor's residence in the United States. In 1975, it was designated a National Historic Landmark, making it at that time one of only two state gubernatorial residences to receive this honor. In January 1833, the Mississippi legislature appropriated funds to build a capitol building and a "suitable house for the Governor." Delayed by a serious depression caused by the Panic of 1837, construction of the Governor's Mansion was not begun until 1839, the same year that the Capitol building was completed. In January 1842, Governor Tilghman Tucker and his family moved into the Mansion, which had been constructed for a cost of approximately $50,000.00. Both the Capitol building (Old Capitol) and the Governor's Mansion were designed by architect William Nichols (1780-1853), a native of Bath, England. William Nichols designed the Mansion in the period's most popular architectural style: Greek Revival. Architectural historians consider the Mississippi Governor's Mansion to be one of the finest surviving examples of the Greek Revival style in the United States.
