Captain William Hardy

Captain William Hardy founded Hattiesburg in 1882. He named the city after his second wife, Hattie Lott Hardy.

He was born on February 12, 1837 in Lowndes County, Alabama. In 1860 he married his first wife, Sallie Ann Johnson, who died in 1872. He was married to his second wife, Hattie Lott, from 1874 until her death in 1895. That same year he married his third wife, Ida V. May. He died on February 17, 1917, at the age of 80.

Hardy Street is named after him.