The State of Mississippi, in its infinite wisdom, let the original house rot, then tore it down and built the reproduction that is going up now. I have been told that it will be used as a visitor's center for the Champion Hill battlefield. I'm still a little sore about the whole sorry episode. The Coker House was deeded to the state of Mississippi by the Jackson Civil War Roundtable, with the understanding that it would be restored - I was an officer of the roundtable at the time, and was one of the people who had to sign the papers deeding the home to the state. If I had had any idea how it was going to turn out, I would have refused to sign.