BROOKHAVEN — Readers were curious if the former Harrigill-Hartman Funeral Home and potentially new home of the City of Brookhaven were on the National Register of Historic Places. The question comes in the midst of the City of Brookhaven planing to move offices out of the Lincoln County Courthouse to the old funeral home. 

Owner John Lynch replied to several comments on a story about the vision for the new city hall stating the building was on the historic registry. His claims are correct. The building is on the register according to the National Register of Historic Places database. 

Documents on the Mississippi Department of Archives and History state the building was placed on the national registry on Jan. 17, 2024. For 84 years, the building served as a funeral home in Lincoln County. 

Located at 101 W. Chickasaw St., the former funeral home has undergone some changes over the years. It was first a home before becoming a funeral home. According to the document prepared by Nancy Bell with the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation in June 2023, it was described under current functions as “Work in progress/City Hall.” 

Documents state the building’s architectural style is classified as neoclassical. It was built as a frame residential building in downtown Brookhaven in 1889 by Dr. J.W. Bennett as a boarding house. The building was rehabilitated into a vernacular Craftsman design in 1954. The neo-classical look came in 1969 which is the style it has in the present day. 

Criterion A was used to apply for the building to be placed on the national register. Criterion A is defined as “property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.” 

A narrative about the building’s historical significance points to the funeral home, which closed in 2018, as having a new future as it “Is now slated for a new life as Brookhaven City Hall.” 

According to the application, the property covers 2.266 acres. Only the main building and attached garage are on the national register while the rest of the land behind the old funeral home can be transformed into a park or parking area. 

The application form was certified by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History on Nov. 14, 2023. 

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