| Laurel, Mississippi "The City Beautiful" |
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| Laurel is located in Jones County, Mississippi, which lies in the southeastern part of the Magnolia State. The population of Jones county is 63,898 (2000 Census figures). 51.6% of them are female, 48.4% male. 72.2% are white, 27.1% are black, the other 2.6% are Hispanic, Native American, Asian, or some other race (in that order). Laurel is the largest city and the county seat of the Second Judicial District of Jones County. (Ellisville is also a county seat for the First Judicial District of Jones County.) The City of Laurel has a population of 18,393 (2000 Census figures). Of those, 41.4% are white, 55.9% are black, and 4.7% are hispanic or some other race. The city is located at 31.695º N, 89.131º W. |
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| Jones County is named after Commodore John Paul Jones. In the era of Jacksonian Democracy, it was a popular practice to name new counties after American heroes, especially those who had come from humble beginnings such as Jones. Jones was an immigrant to the American shores in the years just preceding the American Revolution. He was Scottish by birth. As was the case for so many young Scots of the time, Jones was soon apprenticed to the sea. His first trip to America was at the tender age of twelve while an apprentice aboard a merchant ship. Once settled in America, he continued his naval career and joined the service of the Continental Navy during the Revolution. He was the commander of the Bonhomme Richard, a forty gun frigate given to the American navy by the king of France and named for Benjamin Franklin (Bonhomme Richard is French for "Little Richard"). It was as commander of this ship and its fleet that Jones engaged HMS Sarapis of the Royal Navy off the coast of Scotland. In the heat of the battle when it seemed that Jones had been beaten, he was asked to surrender by the captain of Sarapis. To this demand, Jones replied with his now famous words: "I have not yet begun to fight!" Jones, though he lost his own ship, captured Sarapis and sailed back for safe harbor in France. Jones' naval expertise during and following the war earned for him the title "Father of the American Navy". |
| Jone County Memorial to the Veterans of the Civil War |
| Commodore John Paul Jones |
| Laurel was named after the mountain laurel bushes (Kalmia latifolia) that once grew naturally in the underbrush of the Piney Woods. Over-harvesting of the yellow pines by the lumbering industry eventually destroyed the natural habitat of mountain laurel in Mississippi, and one rarely (if ever) finds it growing naturally in the forests today. However, local gardeners are attempting to bring the graceful foliage back in their gardens with much success. Many of the private and public gardens of the city have mountain laurel growing happily along with the azaleas, gardenias, camellias and other flowering shrubbery that are popular in Southern gardens. |
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| Mountain Laurel in its natural habitat |
| Closeup view of the blossom bouquet of the Mountain Laurel |
| Laurel, Mississippi shares its name with 15 other towns, five of which are in the South. Of these 15 towns, Laurel is the largest in area (at just over 15 square miles) and second largest in population (just behind Laurel, Maryland). Laurel has been called home by several celebrities. It was the hometown of musicians Leontine Price, Lance Bass, and Sam Meyers; actors Parker Posey, Green Acres' Tom Lester, My Favorite Martian Ray Walston, and Diane Ladd; Olympic gold medalist Ralph Boston and Atlanta Braves Rod Gilbreath. William H. Mason invented Masonite, an important building material since the Depression, in Laurel. Laurel is an important oil production center in the United States. At one point in its history, Laurel produced more board feet of lumber than any other place on earth and continues to be a leader in the production of forestry and wood products. Howard Industries was founded by Laurel native and resident Billy Howard, Sr., making Laurel the world leader in the production of electrical transformers, ballasts, and even computer equipment. In addition, Laurel and the surrounding region is an important center of the poultry processing industry due in large part to the successes of Sanderson Farms and Wayne Poultry, Inc.. I was born in Jones County (in the town of Ellisville, seven miles south of Laurel) in the summer of 1964. My family came to Laurel in 1943 during the rise of the oil-production industry. My grandfather was a petroleum geologist for Gulf Oil. He and his colleague and friend Bud Norman were instrumental in discovering and tapping the vast oil deposits of the "Heidelberg Field" in Jasper County, thus providing an enormous fuel resource needed for the war effort of World War II. Though I grew up in New Orleans (my "other" hometown), Laurel has been an important center of my life. It is the place to which I go home. |
| SouthBear's History of Laurel |
| Ch. 1: Antebellum Jones County |
| Chapter 2: The War & The Myth of the Free State of Jones |
| Chapter 3: Industrialization & The Founding of Laurel |
| Chapter 4: William H Mason: The Man Who Went to Lunch |
| Chapter 5: The Discovery of Oil |
| Chapter 6: The Crash of the Oil Industry & Economic Diversification |
| SouthBear's Virtual Tour of Laurel |
| Landmarks of Downtown Laurel |
| Jones County Courthouse |
| Pinehurst Park & Arabian Theatre |
| Old First Nat'l Bank Bldg. |
| Old Laurel Post Office |
| Eastman-Gardiner Company Office Building |
| Laurel City Hall |
| The YWCA |
| Gaddis Mercantile Bldg. |
| Landmarks Along Fifth Avenue |
| Trinity-First Presbyterian Church |
| St. John's Day School |
| The Old Episcopal Rectory |
| St. John's Episcopal Church |
| Gardiner Green Home |
| Lauren Rogers Museum of Art |
| John Lindsey Home |
| Wisteria |
| Green Shingles |
| Sweet Olive |
| Euclid Park |
| Stewart M. Jones Middle School |
| Stewart Gilchrist Home |
| Greenbriar |
| Bush Home |
| The Terrace |
| Green Spaces |
| Daphne Park |
| Gardiner Park & School |
| Mason Arboretum |
| Lake Park Cemetery |
| Landmarks Along Sixth Avenue |
| Laurel Churches |
| First United Methodist Church |
| First Baptist Church |
| Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church |
| Highland Baptist Church |
| Gay Laurel |
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| Life for GLBT Laurelites used to be a good, comfortable, and satisfying existence. The progressivism of the early founders of the city created an atmosphere that tolerated and even promoted diversity in ways that did not exist in simliar towns of the South. An early version of Don't Ask Don't Tell, while promoting a double-standard that is unacceptable in today's world, served to equalize the playing field when it came to relations between the gay community and the community-at-large. However, events conspired to change this situation of which the GLBT community had little control. Click the link below to to read the details about the history of the gay community in Laurel and its status in Laurel society today. |
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| The History and Current Status of the GLBT Community in Laurel |
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| Return to SouthBear's Hometowns Portal © 2001-2006 SouthBear This page was created on: 2 September 1998 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi Date of last revision: 3 November 2006 in Birmingham, Alabama |
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