Hattiesburg is the hub of South Mississippi and the center of a rich agricultural section, enjoying an average growing season of 240 days per year.
The angle of this postcard perplexed me, but I found that in the 1935 City Directory, Kirkwood Furniture was at 614 Main, and the 3-story building to the far left is still recognizably there, unlike the rest of its block. Here’s the same perspective today.
Other Mississippi Streets . . .
Categories: Hattiesburg
Preservation in Mississippi 
Dear Friends,
I very much enjoy your postings, as my work takes me away sometimes to other countries.
However, lately I can NOT open your attachments.
Buzz B.
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LOOKS FAMILIAR! more on this next week.
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That is the intersection of Pine Street and Main Street. At the southeast corner of that intersection was located F. W. Woolsworth Co. and next to it was Citizens Bank of Hattiesburg and Eisman’s Department Store. That central intersection was from where the city buses deployed throughout the city. At the southwest corner was Donovan’s Men’s Department Store. At the northeast section was located Fine Brothers- Madsen Company, now a vacant lot. I think that Milton Fine married a Baptist preacher’s daughter.
Dave Madsen was a co-founder of WDAM TV, and I think that he died in a car wreck between Laurel and Hattiesburg back in the 1960s.
I think Ed’s kith and kin were board members of Citizens Bank of Hattiesburg.
I remember very vividly the “newsboy” who, in the early afternoon, stood at the corner of that intersection and called out the Hattiesburg-American headline’s of the day. He was a midget and his newspaper sack touched the pavement.
Every time I hear that country music song, Jimmie Brown, I get this mental picture of him.
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correction:
David A. Madison and Donovan-Lane store front.
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The three-story building north of the former site of Fine’s is the former Elks Club building now occupied by corporate offices of Warren Hood. The “jewelry store” was probably The Diamond Shop which relocated to the first floor of the Forrest Hotel circa 1942. In 1961 The Diamond Shop relocated to the first floor of the former F.W. Woolsworth building..the three-story building now seen at the the corner of Pine and Main Streets.
The grass patch next to Kirkwood’s is the front lawn of the DA’s office. A WWI cenopath once occupied that site along with benches and shade trees, and was a gathering place for farmers and businessmen on Saturdays and election days.,
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Rollings Jewelry was at 623 Main, so the “jewelry store” is more likely that business and not the Diamond Shop.
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happily, mr gentry has given a lot of info on this hattiesburg scene. interestingly, all of these bldgs were standing when i was growing up there in the 1950s, a few with ‘modern fronts(sometimes only on the first floor, too). i remember looking at those remodeled bldgs as a child and thinking how the ‘remodelings’ didn’t work with the older details.
the grass at the far left is some of the ‘lawn’ that surrounds the neo-classical forrest county court house, which still stands, a bit changed, on the corner of north main and forrest streets–across from the former masonic hall that was in this year’s ‘online quiz’. at the far end of the street, rather blurred, is(i believe), the bay street presbyterian church, by r h hunt, which, happily, still stands, but isn’t visible in the modern view.
a lot of empty spots on this street now since ‘downtown’ isn’t what it once was–in fact, many newcomers to hattiesburg don’t even know that there is ‘an old downtown’!
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Ed,,
Do you remember the Hattiesburg-American “newsboy” that hawked his papers–holding the paper’s front page with headlines above his head– at the intersection of Pine and Main streets? Former “newsboy” Garland McKinnis is not around to ask, but ” Web” H. must know?
As for an architectural connection to this rambling, there was a house built upon a rise past the 7th street east extension intersection with north Main street but before crossing the rail tracks next to the Meridian Fertilizer Company. It was built for a family of “small” people. I had heard the furnishing were “miniature.”
One other architectural observation is the doomed-to-be demolished Dr. Bethea home. It looks shabby due to lack of paint. but otherwise structurally sound. I think that is due to the octagon-shaped slate roof shingles. Here in Crawford there are three 100 yo plus houses that had the same type moss-laden slate roofs installed in the 1920s. These roof structures have not succumbed to rotted deck and truss
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yes, mr g, i do remember newsboy at that corner. and, the ‘miniature house’–i think it was built by some artists–am so sorry i never went up and knocked on the door–it was situated ‘way back’ on that narrow lot. and, sorry to hear about the bethea house–know it, of course.
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Your the first ever to confirm my recollections of the “newsboy” and the miniature house.
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mr g—i just tried to find the ‘miniature house’ site on google maps–well, no ‘real’ luck—i think it might have been at 136 (or so) east 7th but that area looks so different now— fewer trees(courtesy of that bad storm damage a few years ago) and there is really not much of a ‘change’ in the elevation down to the rr tracks— you should try—
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