Friday, February 15, 2019

Flashback Friday: How Ridgewood Mall Became Northpark Mall

Today's edition of Flashback Friday looks at how Northpark Mall came to be.  As Jackson's population moved to North Jackson and Madison County, the demand for a shopping mall grew.  A developer planned to build a $60 million mall in the early 80's by Watkins Drive.  Enter Ridgewood Mall.   Maurice Joseph and Buster Bailey jumped in to land a mall on their opposing East County Line Road properties.  However, one thing was forgotten in the rush to build a mall - the homeowners of nearby subdivisions.  The Jackson property was subject to restrictive covenants.  Read below to see what happened.







Hmmm..... all those millions of sales tax dollars lost.  Perhaps when the roads in those subdivisions should be placed last on the list of streets that need repaving. 

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

What I didn't see mentioned was that there was much discussion at the time about the Blue Laws in effect in Jackson at the time, that didn't allow stores to open on Sunday. Jackson and Dale Danks wouldn't bend, but Ridgeland said opening on Sunday was not a problem with them.

PittPanther said...

Jackson has been losing for 30 years... How a location 2 miles from the interstate won out over a location directly on 220, makes no sense.

The mall in the 220 location would have jump-started development along 220, instead of the emptiness we see today. That one decision set the tone for the next half century.

Anonymous said...

Check out Mary Hawkin's election as mayor right under the mall story.

Anonymous said...

220 and Hinds County in general would be better served with developments like Nissan or Continental as opposed to Shoney's, O'Charley's, and Krispy Kreme.

Anonymous said...

As attractive as the 220 site was, given Jackson's decline due to crime and changing demographics, as well as the changes in mall-based retail nationally in the last 20 years, "Ridgewood Mall" would be in as bad as a shape as Metrocenter by now had it been built there. The only thing that would have been different is that side of Ridgeland would be booming in 2019 with development while the Jackson side struggled and declined, just like County Line Rd. I would argue that having Northpark in Ridgeland/Madison County is the ONLY thing that has allowed it to survive over the last 30 years.

Anonymous said...

Anything built in Jackson would have failed.

Louis LeFleur said...

Interesting mostly because I have absolutely no memory of a proposed mall in Lakeover. I must have known about it at the time, but have blocked it out for whatever reason. A mall would have made Lakeover a whole different kind of development vs. the oddity it is now (and always has been).

Anonymous said...

I didn't realize that Mayor Mary was once young.

Anonymous said...

I wasn't living here back then, but what I was told almost 10 years ago about Nothpark was that it was supposed to go on the south side of County Line Road, which I had assumed meant the area where Ridgeland Court shopping center is, and that it was opposed by nearby neighborhoods. This article is probably what I was being told but misunderstood the location.

Anonymous said...

Even at age 27, Mayor Mary had some crazy eyes cooking.

Anonymous said...

@ 11:49 - The Northpark development and sale of surrounding real estate is where Mary's little brother Lee hit his big lick.

Anonymous said...

Imagine what Madison might be today if Mary Hawkins had not defeated the 20-year incumbent.

Also interesting to see a story byline by Virgi Stewart, now Virgi Lindsay.



Anonymous said...


You are correct, February 15, 2019 at 2:31 PM. The current Ridgewood Court area was also considered and opposed by nearby neighborhoods. People can't see the forest for the trees. Just like Amazon and NYC.

Scott said...


Mary "the end justifies the means" Hawkins is the best thing that ever happened to Madison and the worst thing to ever happen to Jackson. When that woman of superior intelligence and the spokesperson for blacks everywhere, who owns the jackson free press hates you, then it's a given you're doing things the way they should be done.

Anonymous said...

If the mall had been built anywhere on the 220 corridor, it would now be the equivalent of the Medical Mall at 5-points and the mall in south-west Jackson which is now the Burlington Coat Emporium.

Just wait til you see Costco in fourteen years. It will resemble what used to be Wal Mart off Ellis in South Jackson and Gene Magee will be on a stationary bicycle, with training wheels, at the nursing home, with D.I.Smith as a grumbling roommate.

Anonymous said...

The area around the Northpark Mall sure is sketchy. Be careful.

Anonymous said...

Burlington Coat Emprium made me LMAO 😂

Anonymous said...

No offense to anyone, commercial buildings including apartments generally have a 20-25 year life expectancy. As properties wear out and technology has changed many are becoming functionally obsolete sooner and racing toward lower and lower quality tenants. Without stimulus to redevelop, annex, or eminent domain properties these areas will deteriorate.

There are many fixes and if you don’t know what they are you need to resign from your government elected office. This is anyone over running a state or municipality or county.

Kyril said...

9:41 That really made me laugh.😂 Thanks. I grew up in SW Jackson. I never thought in a million years things would change so much between 1992 and now.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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