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Interiors & Exteriors photos by Bill Pitts In May of 1996, the old St. Anne ?s Catholic Church, a piece of Mississippi history, was saved from demolition by one man ?Madison chair maker Greg Harkins. Learning that the church his great-great-great-grandfather, Peter Harkins from Ireland, helped establish in the 1870s, was slated for demolition, he approached Mississippi Catholic Bishop William Houck about the matter. Harkins relates that ?the Bishop told me that I could have the church if I would do something with it! ? And he did. Harkins set to work and had the brick exterior stripped off, and the 3,000-square foot building moved about 45 miles from its original location in rural Leake County to his front yard in Madison County. The move alone cost about $22,000 and the church still needed to be restored, a work in progress that continues to this day. Funds generated from Harkins ? chair sales have gone towards this restoration. The first St. Anne ?s was built in 1874. The second structure burned in 1937, but the congregation lost no time in rebuilding on the same spot, finishing the job within a year. This is the building that Harkins relocated to his property. The dedication that this man has shown to the personal and local history wrapped up in this 70 year old building is nothing short of remarkable ?an example more people should follow before our past completely disappears.