History of Forrest County

Published in 2000 by the Hattiesburg Area Historical Society.

(nearly all the stuff about Forrest County and Hattiesburg from this section was written by guy named George R. Watson)


 * p 15 -- Bill Hardy was born in Collerine, AL. In 1856 he moved to Montrose, Jasper County, and taught school for a year. At the beginning of the civil war he raised a company from Smith County and became captain of Company "H" of the 16th Mississippi Regiment. "In 1868 he conceived the idea of building a railroad from Meridian to New Orleans. In August, 1880, during a survey trip from Meridian to New Orleans, Captain Hardy stopped at noon to eat lunch. This was at a spot on the north side of Gordon's Creek near a large oak and several hickory trees. Thi was at a palce which would be now in the downtown section of Hattiesburg."


 * p 15 -- "While resting, Captain Hardy spread a map of Mississippi upon the ground and studied the surveyed line of the NO and NE Railroads. [...] He drew a line through the virgin pine forest and intersected the New Orleans and North Eastern railroad where the city of Hattiesburg is now located. He decided to locate a railroad station here and named it Hattiesburg, in honor of his 2nd wife, Hattie Lott Hardy."


 * p 15 --
 * HBurg incorporated on March 11, 1884.
 * 600 residents and 54 registered voters
 * Total assessed "valuation": about $28,000
 * Mr. D. H. McInnis built the first home, a log cabin.
 * 1884 - trains started. (Facts About Hattiesburg says 1883 first train runs)
 * Timber floated down from Leaf and Bouie rivers from upstream.
 * March 1899 - Gov. A. J. McLaurin declares HBurg a "city" (pop: 3600)


 * Year || Population ||
 * 1900 || 4000 ||
 * 1902 || 5500 ||
 * 1903 || 7000 ||
 * 1904 || 11000 ||
 * 1905 || 14500 ||


 * p 15 (I think) -- October 11, 1893, fire destroys 26 businesses (and Facts About Hattiesburg agrees!). It started in the flue of the Southern Hotel, which is where an opra house was later built (opera house? What opra house? -- Brad).


 * p 17 -- Bay St. Presbyterian Church is the oldest church structure in HBurg


 * p 22 --
 * Pic of old Court St. Methodist Church, built in 1922.
 * First Baptist Church originally met in log house where the old Hattiesburg High School building is now (I think, the book said something like "the Hattiesburg school building on Main St.")


 * p 23 -- First Presbyterian Church originally McDonald Presbyterian Church, organized March 5, 1882 at McDonald's Mill in Perry County (I guess that could either mean Perry, Forrest, or Lamar counties).


 * p 24 -- Pic of McInnis house at 715 Main St.. Next to it (you can kind of see it in the picture) was First Presbyterian Church, where the old library is now.


 * p 35 --
 * Trinity Episcopal Church was modeled after a Knights Templar church in London.
 * 5th Avenue Baptist Church was at end of 5th Avenue on corner of Maime and Concort.


 * p 39 -- Pic of old (very old!) First Presbyterian Church on Main St.. Later moved in 192? (can't read my writing) to where old library is now.


 * p 42 -- Pic of Thad L. Fowler Gas Appliance Store. Sign says "Fowler Hardware Co."


 * p 46 -- Pic from inside Komp Equipment Company


 * p 65 -- Pic of Hattiesburg Water Works


 * p 67 -- Lots of stuff about street cars in Hattiesburg.


 * p 79 -- The caption says it's the Hattiesburg Chamber of Commerce, but it looks like a bunch of people and cars standing in front of the Masonic Temple


 * p 98 -- Two pics of the South Mississippi Infirmary, one of them while it was under construction.


 * p 102 -- Two pics of Methodist Hospital, one of the old building and one of the new one.


 * p 107 -- Pic of a crowd gathered at the end of WWI at Newman St. looking north.


 * p 112 -- (all of this is a personal account by Julia Write Hand and J. Monroe Smith, II, from 1981)
 * Polk's Livery Stable was on Front St. towards Illinois Central Railroad
 * Front St. also had Ross building which had the Hub sign on top
 * Turner's was a department store ("one of the best department stores in town")
 * Davidson's was another good store
 * Sarphie Jewlery
 * McInnis Men's Store across from Davidson's
 * Owl Drug Store
 * Rawls and Carter's Drugstore
 * Hawkin's Hardware on East Pine St. "across from the present Woolworth store."
 * Grocery store on southwest corner of Main St. and 3rd St. run by Mr. Price and Mr. Coarsey, later A&P Grocery also came to town.
 * Hotel Hattiesburg had a good dining room


 * p 114 -- About 1948 E. T. Culpepper bought some land and damned Providence Creek and named it Pep's Point


 * p 118 - 119 -- Apparently there might have been a murder on the Leaf River back in the early to mid 1800's. I'm not sure exactly where. The victim's name was Bartlett, maybe John Bartlett Jr., born in 1805. There's a lot more info in the book.


 * p 123 - 124 -- Stand Theater (pic on page 124), north side of East Front St. 1/2 block from Main St. where United Savings And Loan was later.


 * p 125 -- Another pic of the Sullivan-Kilrain fight (different than the one in HOHiP)


 * p 126 -- Pic of the Red Circle Auditorium across from the Saenger Theater where City Hall is now.


 * p 131 -- Pic of post card of the old highschool


 * p 132 -- Pic from The Minstrel Man movie in 1975


 * p 134 -- Lots of pics, including Front St. and Danohoe's Grocery and Meat Market, Kyker's News Stand


 * p 135 -- Pics from civil rights era


 * p 141 -- Pic of a barber ship inside Carter Building adjoining Service Drug Store where Rawls and Carter Drug Co. was previously. Pre 1900


 * p 156 -- There was (is?) a Batson Plantation near the Sunrise Community.


 * p 176 -- Two pics of downtown, both from around 1900


 * p 450 -- Pic of Hattiesburg Hardware Co., pic of a Pine St. building, possibly from Polk & Son on Mobile St.


 * p 451 -- Pic of Cancer Center (part of Forrest General Hospital on 28th Avenue, opened in 1998


 * p 452 -- Pics from Hattiesburg Bottling Co.


 * p 462 -- Pic of First Baptist Church at corner of South Main St. and Buschman St.


 * p 462 -- Pic of a bunch of doctors from Hattiesburg Hospital, including Dr. Stevens


 * p 463 -- Pic of Donovan-Lane, believed to be the first air-conditioned retail store in HBurg (from the 1940's I think)

The book also has a HUGE list of photo contributors in the back!