seen as a superior mode of transportation at the time, especially since the buses could pass freely over the railroads which divided the city's southernmost neighborhoods from the downtown area and the rest of the city. In 1929 the Threefoot Building, Meridian's tallest skyscraper of seventeen stories, was built in the Art Deco architectural style. Today, the historic building, located adjacent to the former Grand Opera House, is an important city landmark and is a contributing building within the Meridian Downtown Historic District, one of nine recognized historic districts in the city. Even through the stock market crash of 1929 and the following Great Depression, the city still attracted new businesses from surrounding counties. With high unemployment and low wages, though, escapism became popular not only in the city but in the entire nation. People began going to the theater to watch movies about the lavish lives of the rich and "escape" the troubles of their own lives. Capitalizing on this mindset was the S. H. Kress & Co. store chain with an outlet on 5th Street. Samuel Henry Kress, art collector and owner of the chain, exploited the cheap and readily available labor and materials of the time to build lavish stores to "provide luxury to the common man." With popular culture moving from on-stage performances to motion pictures, the Grand Opera House became obsolete and was replaced by the Temple Theater. The new theater was constructed in 1928 by the Hamasa Shrine. With seating for 1800 persons, the Temple Theater was much bigger than the Opera House, allowing more visitors at a time. The theater currently houses one of only two Robert Morton pipe organs, equivalent to a 100-piece symphony orchestra, still installed in its original location in Mississippi. After a short stall of the city's economy during the height of the Depression, the New Deal sparked renovation of some of the city's buildings including the Lauderdale County Courthouse in 1939. After about three more years of slow recovery, the nation entered World War II, providing an economic spark to the city. Railroads were essential to transport gasoline and scrap metal to build military vehicles, so Meridian served as the region's railroad center once again. This renewed prosperity lasted until the 1950s when the automobile and Interstate Highway System became more popular than passenger rails. The decline of the railroad industry caused significant job losses, whose combined economic