The land at what is today, 1501 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard was purchased in 1837 by Christian Fleckenstein of Bavaria, Germany

The house was built between 1838-39 in the Greek Revival style by Christian and his wife, Dorthea Fleckenstein, both of Bavaria, Germany. The building is a masonry structure with two floors along with a basement and an attic, for a total of 4,629 square feet. It was built by the Fleckensteins to be a grocery store on the main floor, where Christian made his living, while he and his family lived on the second floor. The original kitchen, with a wood burning fireplace for cooking, was in the basement. The upstairs residence included seven fireplaces, which were used to heat the house. The house also featured a roofed front gallery. This building is older than the Warren County Old Courthouse Museum, which was the original County Courthouse and was built in 1858.

The 1860 census shows a total of ten people in the Fleckenstein family; Christian, Dorthea and seven children. The children were: Caroline born in 1832, Mary born in 1833, Catherine born in 1838, Louisa born in 1842; William born in 1844; John born in 1845, Emma born in 1847 and Alexander born in 1849. This census also showed that Christian owned two female mulatto slaves.

Two of the sons, William and John, joined the 9th Mississippi Infantry to defend the Confederacy. They both fought valiantly in the Battle of Stones River. William became ill in 1864 in Atlanta, GA, died and was buried in the Atlanta vicinity. John survived the war and came back to Vicksburg to work in the family grocery store He died in 1901 and is buried at Soldiers' Rest Cemetery in Vicksburg.

Fifteen-year-old Alexander was killed in 1864, when he stepped on an unexploded artillery shell during the Federal Occupation of Vicksburg.

The 1860 census showed that the Fleckenstein's property was valued at $3000 and their personal property was valued at $2000.

Christian died in November of 1863 of typhoid. Dorthea died in January of 1880.

Joseph Anthony Coccaro was born in Valle Lucano, Italy on April 25, 1874. He came to the United States at age six with his father Barbato Coccaro. They settled in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where Barbato opened a fruit stand and later owned and operated three grocery stores. Barbato, his wife Filomena and three daughters Orsola, Mary and Rosa lived at Lakemont until sometime in the 1960s. Joseph became a naturalized citizen on July 13, 1895 and bought the property in 1906 from Anna Kaisis, Marion Baggot and Louise Flowers. Unfortunately, this is the only information I have on the property from 1880 when Dorthea Fleckenstein died until 1906 when Joseph Coccaro bought it. Joseph operated a grocery store on the first floor and lived in the house on the second floor. He remained a bachelor until age 35 when he returned to Italy and there met and married Caterina Russo, age 21 in Viggiano, Italy on October 24, 1909. After a honeymoon in Rome, they settle in the two-story residence then known as 1501 Openwood Street. Joseph and Caterina who changed her name to Catherine had four children; Raymond born in 1912, Regina born in 1914, Clement born in 1918 and Marietta born in 1919. The Coccaros added a kitchen, bathroom, electricity, and gas to the second floor as well as a roof over the top front porch. In 1950, an elevator was placed in the galleried front porch. Joseph died at age 61 on February 14, 1935. Catherine remained in the house until her death at age 77 on March 19, 1965.

There are still many Coccaro descendants living in Vicksburg today.

The house was converted to the Jack and Jill Day Care Center in 1965 and was operated by one of the Coccaro's granddaughters, Myra Coccaro Logue for 20 years.

The property was sold to Paul Campbell, who converted the entire building into apartments in 1985.

The street, originally called Jackson Road and later Openwood Street, was officially changed to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in 1992.

The property was purchased in 2001 by Tommy Lee Wright who expanded the number of apartments to thirteen.

The building was vacant from 2013 until 2015, due to a fire on the second floor. Fortunately, the fire was put out quickly and did not do extensive damage to the structure.

The property was sold to Lamar McMillin, Jr., who began extensive renovations with the intentions of making the property a Bed and Breakfast. Dr. McMillin employed Donald Maginnis III of New Orleans as the architect for the project. He also consulted with Nancy Bell an Architectural Historian as well as the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Unfortunately, Dr. McMillin died in 2018 before the renovations were completed and I put the property back on the market in 2019.

The property was sold to Juanita Flanders and her son, Carl Flanders in May of 2023. They have continued with the restoration work with the intention of operating a Bed and Breakfast.