Thompson House
The Thompson House was the first hotel constructed in Oxford, Mississippi, after the Civil War. It was built on the site of the Oxford Inn, originally constructed by Charles George Butler, the first sheriff of Lafayette County, Mississippi, who was also the great-grandfather of William Faulkner. The Oxford Inn served as a residence for many young men seeking their fortunes prior to the Civil War. The 1850 census indicates that thirty-three young men were living there.
The Oxford Inn and the Thompson House owe much of their history to one of Oxford’s famous citizens. Jacob Thompson, a political activist, was appointed by President James Buchanan to serve as Secretary of the Interior—a position he assumed in March 1857—during which time he wielded considerable influence over the President. Thompson later joined the Confederacy at the start of the Civil War, serving as Chief Inspector of the Army. In 1864, he was dispatched to Canada as a secret agent for the Confederacy, aiming to free thousands of Confederate soldiers from Union prisons.
On his way to Vicksburg during the Civil War, Union General Andrew Jackson “Whiskey” Smith traveled through Oxford in August of 1864. Reportedly, in retaliation for Jacob Thompson’s attempt to rally an attack force in Canada, General Smith burned the city of Oxford, sparing only some of its homes and businesses. General Smith delayed burning the Oxford Inn until Mrs. Charles Butler had removed her belongings.
For five years, Oxford had no hotel at all. Jacob and Catherine Jones Thompson’s son, Caswell Macon Thompson, who served as a captain in the Confederacy, returned to Oxford in 1871 to begin construction of the Thompson House. It was intended to be a three-story brick building featuring wide halls on each floor, a reception room, office, bar, gentlemen’s parlor, large dining room, a ladies’ parlor on the second floor, a ballroom, and chambers for guests–forty rooms in total.
The hotel remained The Thompson House until the family renamed it in 1904 to the Majestic Hotel. Given its location in the heart of downtown Oxford, the hotel was a bustling spot providing living quarters and sites for numerous businesses. The corner of the building housed Merchant and Farm’s Bank in 1899. In 1909, the building became The Colonial Hotel, with Mrs. E.M. Frank serving as the proprietress. In 1910, First National Bank of Oxford was founded and located on the first floor of the Colonial Hotel. Its founder and first president was J.W.T. Falkner, who was William Faulkner’s grandfather. William was employed there briefly as a bookkeeper.
In the 1970s, the hotel was condemned by a Lafayette County Grand Jury. However, in 1973, William Holcomb and attorney Grady F. Tollison, Jr. purchased the building to establish an office for the law firm of Holcomb, Dunbar, Connell, Merkel, and Tollison of Clarksdale, Mississippi. Four years later, Grady Tollison purchased the building himself and began refurbishing it. He converted the third floor into his residence, and hotel numbers can still be seen on the bedroom doors.
Tollison placed the name Thompson House back on the building in 1984. He reconstructed the balcony that was originally on the front and side of the hotel in the nineteenth century. The building now houses Tollison & Webb, P.A. in addition to several businesses and private residences.
In July 2006, the time-ravaged back half of the Thompson House suffered a short collapse that also impacted the Monroe Building behind it. Grady Tollison, along with his son, Gray Tollison, and his daughter, Rachel Calhoun, oversaw the renovation of both the Thompson House and the Monroe Building. Today, these buildings are merged into a single structure that stands as a testament to the history and resilience of Oxford, Mississippi.