Hattiesburg

Hattiesburg, in the Choctaw Indian lands of Mississippi, was founded in 1882 by Captain William H. Hardy, pioneer lumberman and civil engineer. Early settlers of Scotch, Irish, and English extraction from Georgia and the Carolinas, attracted by the vast acreage of virgin pine timberlands, came into this rich and promising area at a time when a move was being made to renew development for the south.

The City of Hattiesburg was incorporated into a town in 1884, first known as Twin Forks and later as Gordonville. Captain Hardy gave it the third and final name of Hattiesburg in honor of his wife Hattie.

Also in 1884, the railroad was built from Meridian through Hattiesburg to New Orleans. The commercial value of the virgin pine was recognized making way for the timber industry. But the real lumber boom came in 1897 with the completion of the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad through Hattiesburg from Gulfport to Jackson. Now part of the Illinois Central System, this new rail established Hattiesburg as a railroad center.

Hattiesburg is still known today as the "Hub City" and is the educational, retail and medical center for more than a quarter of a million people throughout the southeast portion of Mississippi.