The Lincoln County Historical andGenealogical Society began its fall season Monday night with a manprimed with knowledge about historical architecture and itspresence in Brookhaven.

    Todd Sanders, of the Historic Preservation Division of theMississippi Department of Archives and History since 1992, gave hislecture to society members and interested citizens at the JimmyFurlow Senior Citizen Center about Brookhaven’s unique downtownbuildings.

    From the long, thin layout of the buildings that parallel therailroad to the homes surrounding the downtown area that faces therails, Sanders described Brookhaven as a child of the railroad. Hepraised its continued thriving as a railroad town by referencingother towns that have lost their railroads.

    “A town sort of loses a connection to itself if it’s lost itsrailroad,” he said. “It’s the center of the town.”

    He moved on to describe the architectural influence of several ofthe downtown buildings. From the “heavy Romanesque” influence ofthe stone blocks that line the doorways to the Inez to the “gothicrevival” characteristics of St. Francis of Assisi Church and FirstPresbyterian Church, Sanders nodded to the preservation of thesebuildings that make Brookhaven unique.

    “There’s a great depot, lots of old churches and great residentialareas that are very well kept,” he said after his lecture. “It’sremarkable and not a lot of people know about it.”

    Society president Rita Rich was grateful for Sanders’ visit and theknowledge he imparted to those gathered.

    “You go by these buildings and houses all the time and sometimesforget to appreciate them,” she said.

    Sanders, who also serves as the MDAH tax incentives coordinator,enlightened the small gathering about state and federal taxincentives that people can apply for to get assistance forrestoration projects.

    Two possible tax incentives offered by the federal government existas a 20 percent credit and a 10 percent credit.

    The 20 percent incentive is offered for the rehabilitation ofhistoric structures used for income-producing purposes, and the 10percent incentive is for the rehabilitation of non-historicbuildings built before 1936 for income-producing purposes otherthan residential rental.

    The state incentive is a 25 percent tax credit for therehabilitation of historic structures used for residential orbusiness purposes. In addition, expenditures for the project musthave been incurred after Jan. 1, 2006, and must exceed $5,000.

    Sanders said a lot of people have been able to get the tax crediton their homes for simple paint jobs, roof replacements, orbathroom or kitchen restoration projects.

    “Some people argue, ‘How can that be preservation?'” he said. “Butit is. By making these houses how people want to live in them, youpreserve them.

    “It (the tax incentive) has really been a blessing for a lot ofpeople,” he said. “They’ve found the need for it and takenadvantage of it.”

    Sanders said after the meeting that the state incentives had reallybeen pushed for years, but without much attention from legislators.But after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, state officials like thegovernor strongly supported the program – especially for homes onthe coast and the rest of South Mississippi.

    At last night’s meeting, Rich also announced some upcominghistorical marker events. On Sept. 29, a ceremony will be held toplace a marker at St. Stevens Road, which Rich said was probablyused as a Native American trail running from Natchez to Mobile,Ala.

    And on Oct. 11, a Mississippi Blues Trail marker will be placed atthe new train depot, the Godbold Transportation Center.