HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI

'Hattiesburg' is a city in Forrest County in Mississippi, a state of the United States of America. It is the principal city of the Hattiesburg, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Forrest, Lamar and Perry counties. The MSA population exceeded 150,000 as a result of a 10% increase following Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. It is Mississippi's fourth largest city and is known as "The Hub City". It has an incorporated suburb, Petal, and a presently unincorporated area, Oak Grove. It is the county seat of Forrest County, but the city has grown in recent years to include a portion of eastern Lamar County. Hattiesburg is home to the University of Southern Mississippi (originally known as Mississippi Normal College) and William Carey University (formerly William Carey College). Just south of Hattiesburg is Camp Shelby, the largest National Guard training base east of the Mississippi River.

Contents

History

Noteworthy Facts

Birthplace of MCI/Worldcom

Birthplace of Rock and Roll ?

Hub City/Hub Fest

Vela Uniform/Project Dribble

Notable Residents (Past & Present)

Geography

Demographics

Media

Transportation

References

External links

History

Positioned at the fork of the Leaf and Bouie Rivers, Hattiesburg was founded in 1882 by Captain William H. Hardy, pioneer lumberman and civil engineer. Early settlers to the area were of Scottish, Irish, and English descent who came from Georgia and the Carolinas, attracted by the vast area of virgin pine timberlands.
The city of Hattiesburg was incorporated in 1884 with a population of approximately 400. Originally called Twin Forks and later Gordonville, Hardy gave the city its final name of Hattiesburg, in honor of his wife Hattie.
Also in 1884, the railroad, known as the Southern Railway System, was built from Meridian, Mississippi through Hattiesburg to New Orleans. The completion of the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad from Gulfport, Mississippi to Jackson, Mississippi, now part of the Illinois Central System, ran through Hattiesburg and ushered in the real lumber boom in 1897. Though it was 20 years in the building, the railroad more than fulfilled its promise. It gave the state a deep water harbor, more than doubled the population of towns along its route, built the City of Gulfport and made Hattiesburg a railroad center.
First due to the crossing rail lines, Hattiesburg became known as the "Hub City" as it also became the intersection of Interstate 59 and U.S. Highway 49, U.S. Highway 98 and U.S. Highway 11. Hattiesburg is centrally located less than 100 miles from the state capital of Jackson as well as the Mississippi Gulf Coast, New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.
The region around Hattiesburg was also involved in the nuclear arms race of the Cold War. In the 1960s, two nuclear devices were detonated in the salt domes near Lumberton, Mississippi, about 28 miles southwest of Hattiesburg. Extensive follow-up of the area by the EPA has not revealed levels of nuclear contamination in the area that would be harmful to humans.
Throughout the 20th Century, Hattiesburg benefited from the founding of Camp Shelby (now a military mobilization center), two major hospitals, and most notably, The University of Southern Mississippi. This growing metropolitan area that includes Hattiesburg, Forrest and Lamar Counties, was designated a Metropolitan Statistical Area in 1994 with a combined population of more than 100,000 residents.
Despite being about 75 miles (120 km) inland, in 2005, Hattiesburg was hit very hard by Hurricane Katrina. Around 10,000 structures in the area received major damage of some type. Approximately 80 percent of the city's roads were blocked by trees and power was out in the area for up to 14 days. The storm killed 24 people in Hattiesburg and the surrounding areas. The city is strained by a large influx of temporary evacuees and new permanent residents from coastal Louisiana and Mississippi towns to the south, where damage from Katrina was catastrophic.
The City is also known for its Police Department, as it was the first, and for almost a decade the only, CELEA federally accredited law enforcement agency in the State of Mississippi. The department is serviced by its own training academy, which has traditionally been one of the most difficult basic academies in the country with over a 50% attrition rate.
The Hattiesburg Zoo has become a major attraction in the city as it continues to add attractions each year.

Noteworthy Facts

Birthplace of MCI/Worldcom

The idea for what became one of America's major telecommunications companies, MCI/Worldcom, was reportedly sketched out by Bernard "Bernie" Ebbers and a group of investors on a napkin during a meeting in a Hattiesburg diner. The company, incepted shortly after the breakup of AT&T, was originally known as Long Distance Discount Services (LDDS) in order to take advantage of FCC rules that subsidized new competitors.

Birthplace of Rock and Roll ?

Some have claimed Hattiesburg as the historic birthplace of rock and roll. This idea stems from an essay written in 1976 by respected blues scholar Robert Palmer, in the ''Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll''^[1]. Palmer referred to 1936 recordings made in Hattiesburg, reportedly at the train station, by Blind Roosevelt Graves, his brother Uaroy and pianist Cooney Vaughn, billed as the Mississippi Jook Band. He stated that they ''"...featured fully formed rock and roll guitar riffs and a stomping rock and roll beat."'' Palmer did not conclude from this that Hattiesburg was the birthplace of rock and roll, and indeed went on to state that ''"it is possible, with the help of a little hindsight, to find rock roots at almost every stratum of American folk and popular music during the mid-Thirties."'' The Hattiesburg recordings were very rhythmic, but are of unamplified instruments, in many respects typical of Southern rural "jook bands" of the period. They are nevertheless historically important as exemplifying one of the many elements which led to the development of rock and roll over the subsequent twenty years.
:''For further information see First rock and roll record.

Hub City/Hub Fest

Due to the location of Hattiesburg, especially in regards to the railroad industry, it's known as the "Hub City". Hattiesburg is centrally located less than 100 miles from the state capital of Jackson as well as the Mississippi Gulf Coast, New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.

Vela Uniform/Project Dribble

Vela Uniform was an element of Project Vela conducted jointly by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Its purpose was to develop seismic methods for detecting underground nuclear testing. The PROJECT DRIBBLE program involved two nuclear detonations called SALMON and STERLING that were conducted within Tatum Salt Dome southwest of the Hattiesburg/Purvis area in the late 60's.

Notable Residents (Past & Present)

★ Victoria Gray Adams, Educator and civil rights leader

★ Wally Berg

★ Jesse L. Brown, First African-American naval aviator in the United States Navy

★ Shea Curry, Actress

★ Vernon Dahmer, Civil rights leader killed in Hattiesburg by Klansman in 1966

★ Brett Favre, Quarterback for USM and the Green Bay Packers, 3 time NFL MVP

★ Tim Floyd, Head coach of the University of Southern California men's basketball team

★ Afroman, Musician

★ Joey Gathright, MLB Outfielder

★ Charlie Hayes, Former professional baseball player

★ Beth Henley, Pulitzer-prize winning writer

★ Eddie Hodges, Actor

★ Danny Manning, Former professional basketball player

★ Walter E. Massey, President of Morehouse College and director of the National Science Foundation under G.H.W. Bush

★ Oseola McCarty, Famous benefactor and winner of the Presidential Citizens Medal

★ Van Dyke Parks, Musician

★ Purvis Short, Former NBA professional basketball player

★ Robert L. Stewart, NASA astronaut

★ Webb Wilder, Musician and actor

★ Craig Wiseman, Songwriter

★ Walter Young, professional baseball player

★ Louis Lipps,Former NFL Pro-Bowl Wide Receiver and 1984 AFC Rookie of the Year, Pittsburgh Steelers

★ Jimmy Buffett, Musician

★ Clifton Hyde, Musician

★ Walter H. Yates, Jr., Major General, U.S. Army

Geography

Hattiesburg is located at (31.315974, -89.308658). Most of Hattiesburg is in Forrest County. A small portion on the west side is in Lamar County. This consists of first, a narrow stretch of land lying east of I-59 and second, of an irregularly-shaped extension into West Hattiesburg. In the 2000 census, 42,475 of the city's 44,779 residents (94.9%) lived in Forrest County and 2,304 (5.1%) in Lamar County.^[2]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 128.6 km² (49.7 mi²). 127.6 km² (49.3 mi²) of it is land and 1.1 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (0.83%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 44,779 people, 17,295 households, and 9,391 families residing within the city limits. This did not include on campus residents of the University of Southern Mississippi nor troops housed on or around the Camp Shelby area. Additionally, a sizable portion of the Hattiesburg metropolitan population live in unincorporated areas like Oak Grove. On any given day it is estimated that there are 150,000-165,000 people within the city limits. The population density was 351.0/km² (909.0/mi²). There were 19,258 housing units at an average density of 150.9/km² (391.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 49.95% White, 47.34% African American, 0.15% Native American, 1.22% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.52% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.41% of the population.
There were 17,295 households out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.1% were married couples living together, 19.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.7% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 24.4% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 16.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 85.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were approximately 81.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $24,409, and the median income for a family was $32,380. Males had a median income of $26,680 versus $19,333 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,102. About 21.5% of families and 28.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.3% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over.

Media

FM Radio Stations

★ WUSM 88.5- (Public Radio)

★ WAII 89.3- American Family Radio (Christian Contemporary)

★ WJMG 92.1- G 92 (Urban Contemporary)

★ WGDQ 93.1- (Unknown Format)

★ WKZW 94.3- KZ94 (Hot Adult Contemporary)

★ WBBN 95.9- B95 (Country Music)

★ WXHB 96.5- 96The Hub (Southern Gospel)

★ WFMM 97.3- Supertalk Mississippi (Talk)

★ WMXI 98.1- News98 (News/Sports Talk)

★ WHER 99.3- Eagle99.3 (Classic Country)

★ WNSL 100.3- SL100 (Pop music)

★ WJKX 102.5- 102jkx (Old School R&B)

★ WUSW 103.7- Real Rock 103.7 The Fox (Active rock)

★ WXRR 104.5- Rock104 (Classic Rock)

★ WQID-LP 105.3- (hip hop,R&B,Gospel)

★ WZLD 106.3- Wild 106.3 (Urban)

★ WKNZ 107.1- K-LOVE (Contemporary Christian)
AM Radio Stations

★ WEEZ 890 (Blues)

★ WHSY 950 (News/Talk)

★ WFOR 1400 (Fox Sports Radio)

★ WORV 1580 (Gospel Music)
TV Stations

★ WDAM Channel 7 (NBC)

★ WHLT Channel 22 (CBS)

★ WHPM-LP Channel 30 (Lifesat)

★ W47BP Channel 47 (PBS)
Newspapers:

★ ''The Hattiesburg American'', Hattiesburg's only daily newspaper.
Magazine

''South Mississippi Scene'' South Mississippi Scene
A regional magazine serving from the Gulf Coast to Jackson, South Mississippi Scene is the only locally-owned perfect-bound magazine that focuses on "The Art of Life in South Mississippi." Past features include Emeril Lagasse, Robin Roberts, Jimmy Buffett, and other people with strong ties to South Mississippi.

Transportation

Amtrak's Crescent train connects Hattiesburg with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans. The Amtrak station is located at 308 Newman Street.
The Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport, located northeast of Hattiesburg, offers daily flights between Laurel and Memphis, TN.
The city of Hattiesburg maintains the Hattiesburg - Bobby L. Chain Municipal Airport (HBG) in the Forrest County Industrial Park. Located four miles south of the city center, the municipal airport provides business and general aviation services for much of South Mississippi.
Hattiesburg is served by Interstate Highway 59, U.S. Highway 49, U.S. Highway 98, and U.S. Highway 11.

References

1. Robert Palmer, ''"Rock Begins"'', ''Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll'', 1976/1980, ISBN 0-330-26568-7 (UK edition)
2. Subcounty population estimates: Mississippi 2000-2006

External links

★ Hattiesburg Area Historical Society

★ Hattiesburg Visitor Information

★ Hattiesburg.com - visitor and business information

★ Official City of Hattiesburg Website

★ History of Hattiesburg's Jewish community (from the Institute of Southern Jewish Life)

★ Lake Terrace Convention Center - Mississippi's Premier Meeting Facility

★ The University of Southern Mississippi McCain Library and Archives--Blind Roosevelt Graves and His Brother

★ Hattiesburg-Bobby L. Chain Municipal Airport (HBG)