Pearl River County is a gateway community in Mississippi. The county is located in the southern part of the state located adjacent to Louisiana, north of the Slidell and New Orleans' North Shore. U.S. Interstate Highway 59 places Pearl River County on a national highway system, linking New Orleans to Atlanta.
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Pearl River County has abundant natural resources. The County has its western boundary on the Pearl River that provides unique habitat and excellent recreational opportunities such as fishing, boating and swimming. Smaller rivers and streams dot the county. Hunting is a popular activity in Pearl River County, due to the vast amounts of land held for forestry, or that are undeveloped.
The Cities of Picayune and Poplarville are located in Pearl River County, and a little bit of a third city, Lumberton, is located in Pearl River County, with the larger part of the city located in Lamar County.
Pearl River County was organized in 1870 as Pearl County. The county had few private landowners, and after a fire that burned the county seat, which was a Masonic Lodge located on the Pearl River at Byrd's Chapel, the county was abolished and the land area was split between Hancock County and Marion County.
The New Orleans and Northern Railroad was completed in 1890, providing a rail link between New Orleans and Atlanta. Business leaders and property owners successfully petitioned to re-establish the county, this time named Pearl River County. Pearl River County was established on February 22, 1890. Property for a county seat was secured from "Poplar" Jim Smith, and by 1892 a courthouse and a boarding school were located in Poplarville. Eight years later, the City of Lumberton officially withdrew from Pearl River County and was annexed by Lamar County. And in 1908, Pearl River County annexed the land area containing Picayune from Hancock County.
The Pearl River Agricultural High School was established in 1909 in Poplarville and in 1922, Poplarville became the home of Pearl River Junior College, the first state-supported Junior College in Mississippi. Now known as Pearl River Community College, the school is still a very important presence in the community and the region.
Picayune's earliest beginnings were thought to be as a trading location on the Hobolochitto Creek. The community was known as Hobolochitto. The community was incorporated in 1904 as a village, as a town in 1905 and as a city in 1922. When the community was incorporated it took the name Picayune. The community was named for the New Orleans newspaper published by Eliza Jane Poitevent. Ms. Poitevent was a pioneer newspaperwoman who was raised in the community of Hobolochitto. She published articles under the pen name, Pearl Rivers, in the New York Journal and the New Orleans Picayune. Eventually she was made literary editor of the New Orleans Picayune. She later married the Picayune's publisher, Colonel Alva Holbrook and then became publisher when he died. She passed away in 1896.
Picayune and Pearl River County were communities built on the logging and forestry industry. The Pearl River and the railroad made transportation of logs easy, and the southern climate and growing season helped quality yellow pine grow fast and strong. By the 1930's much of the virgin yellow pine in Pearl River County was cut over, and many communities that had developed to support the timber industry disappeared. Among those were the communities of Anderson, Barth, Bola Junction, Burge Spur, Conn, Elder, Emery, Forena, Loftin, Long Branch, McGehee, New Camp Rowlands, Orvisburg, Tyler, and Wilco.
Other communities in the county managed to maintain their identities, either because of their location in the county or because they did not rely solely upon the timber industry for livelihood. The community of Caesar was the first settlement in the county and was largely a farming community. Carriere was home to one of the largest turpentine industries in the area as well as a sawmill. Crossroads, once known as Strahan's Ferry was the site of a ferry landing on Pearl River. Cyber was originally a small sawmill town but later a large Satsuma orchard was planted. There were also large Tung orchards planted at Cyber. Henley Field, named for the Jeramiah Henley family, was the site of an industrial school. Jackson Landing was originally a flatboat-landing site and later a ferry was operated there; a large hardwood mill opened in 1936. L. O. Crosby donated 400 acres of land for the establishment of a Government Experimental Station for further development of the Tung industry in Mill Creek, ensuring the survival of the industry and the town. Located on the railroad and just south of Picayune, Nicholson was a flag stop for the Pearl River Valley Railroad, the last stop before crossing into Louisiana. The Palestine community grew up around the Palestine Baptist Church and most area residents were truck farmers. Waukiah Bluff was the site of an old Indian campground and one of the oldest boat landings on the Pearl River; in later years, the area became a popular recreational area.
In the 1920's, thousands of acres of cut over timberlands were planted with tung trees, particularly in the central area of the County between Poplarville and Picayune. At the time, tung oil, extracted from nuts, was in high demand as an ingredient for paint and the availability of cut over, cleared land, combined to create a new agricultural opportunity for the area. A thriving industry for approximately 30 years, the Tung industry fell prey to technology with the invention of synthetic paint ingredients in the second half of the century. When the bottom fell out of the Tung market, many of the tung tree orchards were cut to make way for pastures or other farming interest. The pale pink blossoms of the remaining tung trees in the spring are living reminders of a long gone industry. Some of the Tung orchards were replanted with the pine trees, coming full cycle back to the forestry industry that fueled the early economy of the county.
A largely rural county, agriculture also played a significant roll in the early development of Pearl River County. Agricultural interests included cattle, sheep, dairy and hog farming, truck farming and growing of pecans, satsumas and pears. Additionally, brooms and baskets were manufactured on a small scale and muscle shells were harvested from the Pearl River for button making. The Goodyear Yellow Pine Company in Picayune produced bus bodies constructed of pine in the 1930's and at least one enterprising farmer operated a frog hatchery to produce frog legs that were sold to the New Orleans culinary market.
When the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) constructed its rocket-testing site on the Pearl River in neighboring northwestern Hancock County in the 1960's, workers were drawn to jobs at the site from all over the country. New NASA employees were attracted to southern Pearl River County in and around Picayune by the pleasant, small town environment, good school district and availability of reasonably priced land. Now known as the John C. Stennis Space Center, the north gate of the test site is located southeast of Picayune, allowing an easy commute for space center workers. Incomes earned at the text facility continue to help fuel the economy of the City of Picayune and Pearl River County.
From: Building Pearl River County's Future - A Strategic Plan for Pearl River County (2002)
Pearl River County grew by leaps and bounds in the last half of the 20th century. In 2004, Jack Shultz rated Pearl River County as one of the 100 fastest growing rural counties in the United States in his book Boomtown, USA (Published by National Association of Office Industrial Properties). Since Hurricane Katrina, growth rates have increased substantially, with a 30.5% increase in population projected between 2005 and 2010. In the face of this growth, Pearl River County needs to create the framework for responsible growth management through development of a comprehensive "Smart Growth Plan" to ensure that it has the supporting infrastructure, policies, and public and private facilities in place to accommodate the rapid migration of new residents, while preserving the community's sense of place, rural character, and environmental resources.
For more information on Pearl River County, please visit the Web site at www.pearlrivercounty.net.