PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (WLOX) - Presidents Day is a time to reflect on how presidents have left their mark on the direction of the country in the 250 years since the United States declared its independence.
More than a century ago, one president needed a break from the pressures of the office and took a holiday vacation in Pass Christian to refocus on the challenges facing the nation.
“Houses can tell a great story,” said Mark Oehmke of the Pass Christian Historical Society.
The story of a house on Scenic Drive in Pass Christian is one Oehmke is glad to tell.
“I can picture Woodrow Wilson right there in that chair. I can picture him reading something, putting his glasses on and maybe even having a bourbon later in the day.”
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President Woodrow Wilson finished 1913, his first year in office, by celebrating Christmas in a secluded home overlooking the Mississippi Sound.
“As you drive by, there’s a sign that talks about the ‘Dixie White House.’”
Wilson’s two-week visit to what later became known as the Dixie White House included relaxation in the home and plenty of trips to play golf in Gulfport at the now-closed Great Southern Club.
“The main reason he came here was to find some place warmer than Washington, D.C., so he came down and spent a certain amount of time here. We have pictures in the society of him walking on different streets and in front of different homes. He was very safe here and was able to walk around and visit with the people. A couple of these are postcards of the house as it looked at that time.”
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However, the home that was built in the 1850s and visited by President Wilson isn’t the same house standing on the property today. Hurricane Camille destroyed the original. Decades later, a couple living in Boston, Bill Sewell and Julianne Huber, were looking for a slower pace of life — just as President Wilson was.
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“They knew they wanted to end up here. They wanted to end up in Pass Christian or somewhere on the Coast here.”
In 2005, just before Hurricane Katrina, Sewell and Huber bought the vacant property on Scenic Drive. After detailed research, they spent more than a decade rebuilding the home to what is now an exact replica of Woodrow Wilson’s getaway place.
“They were able to find someone that actually had the original measurements of the house, so that they knew as clear as possible what the scope of the project was going to be. It’s so tranquil. When you look out of these windows, you see the wave in the glass, and you can see the live oaks and the beach. My favorite room in the house is the library. There’s a lot of detail that goes into this room. There’s a lot of wood that’s been put in here, but it’s also the right age of wood. It wasn’t brand-new wood. As you look how these things were made, this is all 200-year-old or older wood.”
While the story of Woodrow Wilson’s visit to the Coast will live on with the rebuilt home, Wilson isn’t the only president to enjoy the beauty of Pass Christian. In fact, it’s believed that up to seven other presidents have also spent time in the city. According to historical records, the list of presidents to visit Pass Christian includes Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
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“We’ve got a great country, but if you look at the number of cities presidents actually go and visit, it’s not a lot. You’re blessed if you have five or six presidents who end up here over a period of 200 years.”
The Pass Christian Historical Society has more information about the Dixie White House and the other historical homes along Scenic Drive on its website at passhistory.org.
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