Eudora Welty House

The Eudora Welty House is a well-known National Historic Landmark and is one of the nation's most impeccably intact literary house museums, reflecting Welty's life and times spent there for over seventy-six years. In her will, Welty left her house and her collection of thousands of books to the state, and the Welty family generously donated the original furniture and art that Eudora chose to decorate the home with herself. It was not until March of 2006 that the home was turned into a museum and opened its doors to the public. Visitors who enter the museum see Welty's house as she lived in it, taking guests back in time to a simpler yet harsher way of life. So there are no dishwashers, computers or corrugated plastic containers to be found here, only antique furniture, amazing ambiance and beautiful gardens, and of course, the story of Eudora's life.

Located at 1119 Pinehurst Street in Jackson, the house is open for tours by pre-arranged reservation only Wednesdays through Fridays at 9 or 11 a.m., and 1 or 3 p.m. Admission prices are very low, only $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and students, and children under six are free. Group discounts for the tours are available, so make it a trip for your child's class, for a large group of friends, perhaps your book club, or the staff at your slings manufacturer company to save some money. Since Welty's birthday was April 13, on the 13th of each month admission is free for all.

The scene at the museum is idyllic and serene. A massive oak tree casts shade over the spacious front yard of the two-story, 1920s Tudor-style home. This is where Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Eudora Welty spent her days, and this is also the place that she composed most of her writing in the upstairs bedroom. Her vast collection of thousands of books, stories and poems, which remain part of the museum, is awe inspiring to say the least and many other belongings and trinkets, perhaps even the family's book automatic strapping machine that Eudora herself adored still sit exactly where she would have placed them.

The garden stretches over three-quarters of an acre in the beautiful historic Jackson neighborhood of Belhaven, where the Welty family was amongst the earliest residents. Eudora Welty's mother, Chestina, an avid gardener designed the garden in about 1925, when the house was erected. Eudora Welty assisted her mother laying out and planting the garden before she left that same year bound for college. Today the house is upgraded with high temperature tape and new pipes, yet the garden is one thing that remains fairly authentic. Although Eudora Welty herself tended to and cared for the garden every day well into her old age, and long after her mother's death, she consistently referred to it as Mother's garden.

After Eudora's death in 2001, the house became a popular spot for travelers and local literary enthusiasts alike. The Eudora Welty Collection, which consists of many manuscripts, papers, and photographs that were donated by Welty, is available to researchers in the Archives and History Building in Jackson. These documents have proven useful to historians and literary critics and have even provided inspiration for developers of wastewater treatment chemicals and visual artists! The house is full of inspiration for all types of visitors and the residents of Jackson hope that this is true for years to come.