Long Beach recently received a 2024 Heritage Award for the Quarles House. The award is given by the Mississippi Heritage Trust, and there were twenty-five recipients this year. The awards are designed to honor the hard work and commitment of many individuals, civic organizations, educational institutions and local, county and state governments to preserve the places that tell the story of Mississippi.
When Hurricane Katrina ripped through the coast, it took the roof of the Quarles House with it. The Mississippi Heritage Trust stepped forward to install a roof to buy time for Carol Paola and her team of Discovery students to build community support to repurpose Long Beach’s first school and general store.
In 2020, the City of Long Beach and Representative Richard Bennet worked hand in hand with Paola to secure a $2 million dollar grant to restore the house through the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund. Jim Alexander and Janet Alexander Griffin then donated the house and land, which includes the Quarles family cemetery, to the City. Architects Albert and Robinson and J.O. Collins Contractors oversaw the meticulous restoration of the house to be repurposed as a visitor’s center for Long Beach.
