A year and a half after a fire ravaged a portion of a downtown Jackson law office, the firm is celebrating the recovery and those who made it possible.
On the night of March 5, 2023, flames scorched one of the capital city’s oldest and most historic buildings housed by Eaves Law Firm. The blaze claimed one of the firm’s three active buildings and was close to taking down the rest.
“That night was such a shocker,” recounted attorney and owner John Arthur Eaves Jr., who found out about the fire from a paralegal working late. “I rushed downtown and when I got down here, I counted I believe 11 firetrucks all around the building.”
Eaves, Jr.’s father, John Arthur Eaves, Sr., founded the firm in 1963 and later served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1972-76. The heralded trial lawyer was also a Democratic candidate for governor on three different occasions. Eaves Jr., who was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2007, practiced alongside his father until two years ago when he passed away from cancer.
Though first responders were not able to salvage the “520 building,” which references its location at 520 Capitol Street and once served as the city’s main post office, they were able to prevent the flames from spreading to the neighboring “101 building” on State Street – Jackson’s oldest commercial building that dates to the Civil War. The recovery efforts that followed served as a reminder to Eaves Jr. of the bevy of both family and city history the buildings carry.
“Sometimes, tragedy can lead to a blessing, and it really has been a rich blessing,” said Eaves Jr., noting his father’s passing and the fire conjoined to shift the bulk of his personal practice to cancer-centric work. “But one of the things that brought me to that point as I was transitioning all the files from the various buildings after the fire – my dad never threw away a file going all the way back to 1963 – was it allowed me to relive the history of my family and this firm and remember so many clients we served before in a way that was just a rich blessing of memories.”
Eaves Jr. now carries on his father’s legacy through working with his four sons, three of whom are licensed attorneys and the other is a realtor. After losing the 520 building in the fire, he’s committed to restoring it to both preserve and add to downtown Jackson’s legacy.
“We’re so thankful to save this historical part of Jackson,” Eaves Jr. said, adding reconstruction should begin in the coming months. “We’ve been demolishing what was left of the 520 building and hope to make it into a music venue in the future for young Mississippi artists to sing and perform. We’re sad for that loss, but hopefully, we can bring some more good out of it and add further revitalization to the capital city.”
Eaves Jr. plans to call the music venue “Chimneyville Post,” an ode to Jackson’s nickname after the Civil War along with the building’s original use as a post office.
Out of appreciation for those at the Jackson Fire Department and others who aided in the March 2023 response, Eaves Law Firm will celebrate with a cookout and party for firefighters, police officers, contractors, insurance adjusters, and other community leaders. According to Eaves Jr., it’s a small token in return for the fortitude shown by all involved.
“They were climbing up the stairs, busting through the burning building, making sure no one was still inside. That’s when I knew Jackson had a first-class fire department that night,” Eaves Jr. said. “We think that it’s important for them to understand not only did they help us save our business that’s anchored here in Jackson, Mississippi, but they have impacted so many lives by saving the firm. We serve clients both here in Mississippi and around the world. We would never have been able to maintain our level of work if it wasn’t for the first responders saving our firm that night.”
The “thank you party,” as Eaves Jr. describes it, will be on Wednesday, Oct. 16 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Eaves Law Firm on North State Street. All first responders in Jackson are welcome.
