Penn Jeffries Krouse (September 23, 1877–April 1944), usually known as P. J. Krouse was a prolific architect in the state of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. Many of his buildings were located in the

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

area.

Personal life

Penn Jeffries Krouse was born on September 23, 1877, to parents Adrian Zick Krouse and Ann Ruben Jeffries. Krouse had three children with his wife, Martha Rebecca Dillehay: Adrian Alonzo, Charles Dabbs, and Emily Bonner. Emily was born in Meridian on August 29, 1909, and died in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

on September 7, 2003. Her funeral services were held at

First Presbyterian Church of Meridian First Presbyterian Church of Meridian is a historic church in Meridian, Mississippi, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church was founded in 1856 by eight members including John T. Ball and Lewis A. Ragsdale, found ...

, a church which her father designed. Charles would later become an architect himself. P.J. and Martha later divorced, and P.J. married Katherine Barham. Krouse was a member of the

Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a List of Masonic rites, rite within the broader context of Freemasonry. It is the most widely practiced List of Masonic rites, Rite in the world. In some parts of the world, and in the ...

subgroup of

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

.Jody Cook. February 1979. "State of Mississippi Historic Sites Survey: Scottish Rite Cathedral" He was also appointed as the chairman of the

War Price and Rationing Administration War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His health deteriorated during his time as chairman, forcing him to resign. He died in April 1944.

Projects

Buildings designed by Krouse span a wide range of architectural styles including

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

Egyptian Revival Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's French campaign in Egypt and Syria, invasion of ...

, Beaux Arts, and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

. Krouse designed buildings in

and

Laurel, Mississippi Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. Laurel is northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first county ...

, as well as courthouses in

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a common surname ...

Jones Jones or Joneses may refer to: People and fictional characters *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname * List of people with surname Jones, including fictional characters ** Justice Jones (disambiguation) ** Judge Jones (disambiguati ...

, Yalobusha,

Lauderdale Lauderdale is the valley of the Leader Water (a tributary of the River Tweed, Tweed) in the Scottish Borders. It contains the town of Lauder, as well as Earlston. The valley is traversed from end to end by the A68 road, A68 trunk road, which run ...

, and Pearl River County. Many buildings Krouse designed or helped to design are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Works

Bobo Senior High School Building Bobo may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Comic strips * ''Bobo'' (Belgian comics) * ''Bobo'' (Italian comics) * ''Bobo'' (Swedish comics) Fictional characters * Bobo the Bear, in ''The Muppets'' series * Professor Bobo, from ''Mys ...

– 131 School St., Clarksdale, NRHP-listed *

Clarke County Courthouse and Confederate Monument Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a common surname in ...

– Archusa St. at head of Main St., Quitman, NRHP-listed *

– 911 23rd Ave., Meridian, NRHP-listed * Jones County Courthouse – Ellisville, NRHP-listed *

Alex Loeb Building The Alex Loeb Building is a historic structure in Meridian, Mississippi located at 2115 5th Street. Built in 1926, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It is also a contributing property to the Meridian Downtown Hist ...

– 2115 5th St., Meridian, NRHP-listed *

Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history I ...

– 1220 26th Ave., Meridian, NRHP-listed *

Meridian City Hall City Hall in Meridian, Mississippi in the United States is located at 601 24th Avenue. Originally designed by architect P.J. Krouse in 1915, the building underwent several renovations during the 1950s that diminished the historic quality of the b ...

– 601 24th Ave., Meridian, NRHP-listed as ''Municipal Building'' *

Stevenson Primary School Stevenson is an English language patronymic surname meaning "son of Steven". Its first historical record is from pre-10th-century England. Another origin of the name is as a toponymic surname related to the place Stevenstone in Devon, England. The ...

– 1015 25th Ave., Meridian, NRHP-listed * U.S. Post Office and Courthouse – 2100 9th St., Meridian, NRHP-listed * Scottish Rite Cathedral (1914), which was listed on the National Register until it was destroyed by fire in 1985. *Former Beth Israel synagogue (1906) of the Congregation Beth Israel of Meridian. This was a

octagonal synagogue built in 1906. It was used until 1964 and subsequently demolished. *One or more buildings in NRHP-listed Laurel Central Historic District, roughly bounded by Tenth and Thirteenth Sts., First Ave., Seventh and Fifth Sts., and Eighth Ave., Laurel *One or more buildings in NRHP-listed Meridian Downtown Historic District, roughly bounded by Twenty-Sixth Ave., Eighteenth Ave., Sixth St., and Front St., Meridian * Margaret Martin High School *Newton County Courthouse (1912) (5th) in Decatur, Mississippihttp://www.courthouses.co/us-states/m/mississippi/newton-county/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krouse, P.J. People from Meridian, Mississippi Lauderdale County, Mississippi Architects from Mississippi