This neoclassical house was built in 1939 at 8 Glenwood Circle for Glover and Mabel Warner.   

The house was designed by Jackson architect Jack Canizaro for about $30,000. The Vicksburg Post reported in March 1939: “It seems there will be nothing finer in Vicksburg than the Glover Warner home now developing in Glenwood, a new addition fostered by the Hennesseys in what was once Dyer’s pecan grove. The big brick house has a very sturdy appearance, with its tall double chimneys on the gables. It is unlike any home I know of hereabout. The setting couldn’t be more compatible on the base of a green slope, with a hill rising behind.” 

The Warners moved into the house in June 1939 with their two children (at the time; a third son would be born later), Lawrence and Chick. Glover was the head of the men’s clothing establishment, Warner and Searles, one of the oldest business firms in Vicksburg. It was established by his father Lawrence, who later left the firm to devote his time to First National Bank. 

Glenwood Circle was developed after the Chambers Street extension was completed and its development continued into the 1940s. An article in The Vicksburg Post on December 4, 1940, about the area stated, “It was already pretty; it is going to be more picturesque through Dyer’s pecan grove, now a suburban addition appropriately called Glenwood Circle. The end of Vicklan Street is being wrapped around in symmetrical curves to join with the end of Chambers Street extension a square northward. Neat homes continue to go up along those two streets in the Pecan Bowl. The mansion of that dale is the Glover Warner home-standing a bulky new brick home with colonial features, over along the sheltering slopes of the Dyer Hills on its north.”  

Lots in the subdivision were advertised by P.L. Hennessey, Sam Kleisdorf, and Clyde MeGehee in The Vicksburg Post in 1941, inviting “you to drive out and see these desirable building lots now available in beautiful Glenwood,” the roads of which the ad said were “now almost completely paved.”  

In May 1944, First National Bank was advertising lots in the area again suggesting to “Make Provision Now! In your post-war planning for the purchase of a building lot in the beautiful Glenwood subdivision. Only eleven lots left.” 

Both Glover and Mabel were very active in community and social affairs in Vicksburg and held many meetings and parties in the house. In fact, they opened their home for a day-long reception after they moved into the house. The Post reported, “their home was a vision of loveliness with artistic decorations in autumn colors. Large and small chrysanthemums shading from yellow to deep, deep bronze were used in profusion throughout the lower floor of the home. The white walls and wood work of the reception hall, drawing room and dining room served as a pretty background for the decorations.”  

In 1941, Mabel opened her home for a tour by the Junior Auxiliary. The Post reported, “Mabel has always dreamed of someday owning this home, which throughout reflects her artistic ability in design and arrangement. It is a perfect setting for her many treasured family antiques. The home, both upstairs and down, contains furniture of earlier days, much of which has graced other colonial homes. The visitor to the Warner home is first of all impressed by its graceful columned portico. A winding drive bordered on both sides by box hedges leads to the house. Azaleas, japonicas and cape jasmine, favorite blooming shrubs of the southland, beautify the spacious lawn.”

The joy of the family in their new house was short-lived, however, when Glover died at the age of 47 on July 16, 1945, and the funeral was held from the house. In recounting the life of Warner, The Vicksburg Post stated: “Mr. Warner was widely known and his name was synonymous with the business progress of the city. Genial, kindly and quiet by nature, Mr. Warner was beloved by his employees, respected for his business acumen and trusted and admired by his customers and associates from all walks of life. At Warner and Searles, Mr. Warner established a reputation for his fair dealings and kindliness toward his fellow men which won for him an enviable reputation in the business life of this city.”

The house remained in the Warner family, enjoyed by the generations to follow, until it was sold recently. It continues to be, as stated by the Post some 85 years ago, “one of the most beautiful homes in the city.”  

Nancy Bell, Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation.