Pearl
River County was officially organized by an act of the Legislature
in February, 1890, on lands taken from Marion and Hancock Counties.
The land area of the new county had earlier been a part of the short-lived Pearl
County. Pearl County was officially formed in 1872. The county courthouse was
located in a Masonic building which burned not long after the county was formed,
destroying all its early records. Because of financial problems, a sparse population
and a limited tax base, Pearl County was abolished in 1878 and the land was returned
to Marion and Hancock Counties.
Prior to the establishment of Pearl River County, a rail line, the New Orleans
and Northeastern, was built through the area, and it aided greatly the area's
population growth.
Pearl River County's seat of government, Poplarville, was named after "poplar" Jim
Smith, who had owned the land on which it was located. Incorporated March 4,
1886, Poplarville boasted 236 residents in 1890 when Pearl River County was formed.
The first Pearl River County courthouse was built in l892 at a cost of $8,298.
The original courthouse later housed the Pearl River County Hospital and then
offices of the county welfare department.
The first school in the county opened in Lumberton in 1890, and two years later,
a school opened at Poplarville.
In 1900, the young county suffered a setback when residents of one of its two
main towns, Lumberton, voted to become a part of neighboring Lamar County. How-
ever, in 1908 it received a tremendous boost when an area approximately one-
third the size of the original Pearl River County was taken from Hancock County
and added to it. With the addition of this new territory, Pearl River County
reached its present size of 828 square miles, making it the fourth largest of
Mississippi's 82 counties.
Included in the added territory was the town of Picayune. Incorporated September,
30,1904, Picayune had a population of 846 by 1910, and it has since become Pearl
River County's largest city.
In 1907, a young lawyer-minister-farmer from Pearl River County, Theodore Gilmore
Bilbo, was elected to the Mississippi Senate, beginning a long political career
which took him twice to the governors mansion and finally to a 12-year tenure
in the United States Senate. History shows that Bilbo was an extremely progressive
governor, and his first term (1916-1920) particularly was a period of tremendous
progress for this state.
In his book, The Emergence of the New South, 1913-1945, George B. Tindall said, "In
the four Bilbo years (his first term as governor), according to the Federal Commission
of Education, Mississippi made more educational progress than any other state."
In 1909, two years prior to Bilbo's election to the post of Lieutenant Governor,
Pearl River County Agricultural High School was established at Poplarville. In
1923, the progressive community opened the first of Mississippi's junior colleges
at the Agricultural High School.
As Pearl River County continued to grow and prosper, its citizens
decided that the original county courthouse was inadequate, and in
1918, construction of the present courthouse was begun. The $130,000
building was completed and occupied by county officials in June, 1920.
In 1926, the United Daughters of the Confederacy raised $8,500 to
erect on the courthouse lawn a monument to Confederate and World War
I Veterans and to the women of the South.
In the mid-1930's another Pearl River Countian, Heber Ladner, began a long career
of public service to Mississippi. Ladner was elected to the Mississippi House
of Representatives from Pearl River County in 1936. From 1940-42, he served as
Secretary of the State Budget Commission and from 1942-48 as Clerk of the House.
In 1947, Ladner was elected Secretary of State, and he held that post continuously
until retiring in 1980. During his tenure as Secretary of State, Ladner brought
recognition to the state by serving a term as president of the National Association
of Secretaries of State.
Pearl River County is growing today at a great pace. From its early beginnings
the county placed a great deal of emphasis on the importance of preparing its
citizens for a better future. From the county's strides in technology to Pearl
River Community College, which is proving to be not only Mississippi's first
but one of Mississippi's best. Pearl River County is taking great steps to see
to its future.
