PEARL RIVER COUNTY
Chapter XLIV, pages 808-813
Pearl River County lies in the extreme
southwestern corner of the State, and was organized from part of Hancock
on February 22, 1890. It takes its name from the river which forms its
western boundary and separates it from Louisiana. In 1904, some of its
northern territory was detached and transferred to the new county of Lamar,
while in 1908 it received an accession from Hancock County. The result
of these changes was to leave Pearl River County with an area of 797 square
miles, and to give it the following boundaries: Northern, Marion and Lamar
counties; eastern, Forrest and Stone; southern, Hancock County; western,
Tammany and Washington parishes, Louisiana.
Pearl River County, situated in the long
leaf pine region of the State, has enjoyed a continuous and substantial
growth since its organization. In 1890, its population was 2,957; in 1900,
6,697; in 1910, 10,593, and in 1920, 15,468.
The lumbering industries of the county
will continue to be the most important for some years, on account of its
large supply of long leaf or yellow pine, and the ease with which the lumber
products can be brought to market both by water and by rail. The New Orleans
& North Eastern railroad cuts through the county from southwest to
northeast, with several lumber lines, or feeders, running from its trunk
toward the Pearl River. The main tributaries of the Pearl, the Hobolo Chitto
and Wolf rivers, not only assist lumber transportation, but water the country
for agricultural and live stock purposes.
The county seat is Poplarville, near the
center of the county on the New Orleans & North Eastern railroad, and
with a population of about 1,500; but the largest town is Picayune in the
southwestern corner of the county. Picayune has had a rapid growth. In
1910 it had a population of only about 800, but the building of the branch
road from the New Orleans & North Eastern to Cybur, and the tapping
of the rich timber lands along the way to the Pearl River, assisted the
growth of Picayune, which in 1920 had a population of nearly 2,500. There
are smaller towns than those mentioned within the limits of the county,
stations on the trunk railroad, such as Hillsdale, Orvisburg, Millard and
Tyler.
The importance of Pearl River County as
an industrial district of the State is illustrated by the census reports
of 1920. From these it is learned that about a score of manufacturing establishments
are listed in the county; that nearly 2,000 persons are employed in them
and that they received during the year 1919, $1,929,000 in wages; also
that the products of such establishments amounted in that year to $5,434,000.
The value of the farm property listed in
Pearl River County was given at $3,467,000; the value of all its crops
at $943,000 (for the year 1919) and of its live stock at $860,000. It is
evident, therefore, that the people of Pearl River County look more to
their “piney woods” than to their farms for their continued prosperity.
