Marion County WPA History
Chapter I
Formation
LATER TOWNS AND VILLAGES
SUMBAX
is a Point on the Fernwood Columbia and Gulf Railroad. Very few
people live there or near there, but a switch track of the main
line where trains sometime pass each other gives the necessity
for a name. The name Sumbax was chosen in honor of a prominent
citizen of the county, Baxter Summers.
NEB is another
point on the Fernwood Columbia and Gulf Railroad. Practically no
one lives in the vicinity but a Negro church, Water Valley, is
located nearby. The place was named in honor of N. E. Ball who
was the general manager of the railroad.
QUAKER is
located on the Gulf Mobile and Northern Railroad about four miles
southwest of Columbia. At one time a veneer mill was located
there which was owned by the Quaker Oat Company and was called
Quaker in their honor. The mill changed hands about 1929 and was
moved from that vicinity and the place is now practically
deserted.
HAMAGE, another
point on the Fernwood, Columbia and Gulf Railroad is only a side
track on the main line. No public buildings that would act as a
community center were ever located there.
KOKOMO, a
station on the Fernwood, Columbia and Gulf Railroad was named by
F. B. Enoch, the president of the railroad. There is a division
of opinion as to why the name was chosen by Mr. Enoch. Some say
the name was chosen in memory of Kokomo Indiana, but C. O.
Stevens a former employee of the company says he is of the
opinion the place was so named to rhyme with other points on the
line, Barto and Knoxo. There are two churches, one gin, one
sawmill, a school and five or six stores in the village.
A flag station by
the name of NASON was located on the southern end of the branch
line formerly known as Gulf and Ship Island. It was named in
honor of J. B. Nason who was the train master of the railroad.
The rails have been taken up, trains no longer pass through the
locality, and very few people live near it. A large pile of lime
that was unloaded there for agricultural purposes but never used
is the main land mark there now. Highway No. 13 passes through
the vicinity.
PINEBUR, a
village in the county west of Nason was also a point on the
southern end of the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad. It is a voting
precinct, but has never been a village of any size. It was
probably named because of the abundance of pine burs under the
pine trees in the vicinity.
MILDRED was
possible never inhabited. Only a sign board with the name on it
indicates the place on the Fernwood, Columbia and Gulf Railroad
about ten miles south of Columbia.
LAMPTON is a
community center for Negroes. A school for the colored children
is supported by Rosenwald funds is located in the place. One
store is located there operated by a white family, and two other
joints are operated by Negroes. The place was named in honor of
the Lampton family.
ODILE is a
village or the name of a community inhabited solely by colored
people in the southern part of Marion County.
UNION is a voting
precinct and is about ten miles east of Columbia. It has never
been more than a community center, and at this writing one store
and an elementary school is located there.
Another voting
precinct, BROOM is about sixteen miles northeast of Columbia. It
was named in honor of the Broom families that live in the
vicinity, but it is only a small community center with one church
and a school.
PINETUCK is
another voting precinct about five miles northeast of Columbia.
There are no public buildings at the place and the reason for the
name has not been discovered.
GOSS is a voting
precinct, a point on the Illinois Central Railroad and a small
village. The place was one time known as ROGERS but the name was
later changed to GOSS in honor of Dr. Zeno Goss who lived at the
place. About 1912 the town was a thriving sawmill center, but
most of the timber has long since been cut and the mills moved to
other localities. The surrounding agriculture section now support
three stores, one gin, a school, and one church. One sawmill also
operated in the town.
EXPOSE is a flag
station on the Illinois Central Railroad and inhabited only by
Negroes. There is a Negro church and school, but no place of
business is operated except a dance hall and beer joint operated
by a Negro. At one time a post office was located at the place
and operated by a Negro man.
BALLS MILL is
about eight miles south of Columbia but containing no public
buildings of interest except one church and a watermill. The name
was given the place in honor of a former owner of the mill.
PITTMAN is a
voting precinct on Ten Miles Creek in the southern part of Marion
County. The population is small and scattered with no public
buildings or business houses. The name was chosen because of the
many people in the vicinity by the name of Pittman.
HUB is a small
village about eight miles south of Columbia. One good size
school, two churches and five stores constitute the business
section of the place. The Southern end of the Gulf and Ship
Island Railroad passed through Hub at one time, but the rails
have been taken up and the only connection with the outside world
now is by telephone and the local post office. After 1900,
possibly about 1903 or 1904, two sawmills were located there and
the population was about 150.
A point on the
Illinois Central Railroad is known as HATHORN, named in honor of
the owner of the land at that point, Hugh Hathorn. The village is
northward from Columbia on the east side of Pearl River near the
county line. This little town, as many other in the county, has
passed through saw mill days and is now trying to adjust itself
to a less prosperous life. There is a post office, three stores,
two churches, and a grammar school located at the place at the
present time.
MORGANTOWN,
a voting precinct, is a small town on the Gulf Mobile and
Northern Railroad west of Columbia. The place was possibly named
in honor of the families of Morgans which live in and near the
place, but early in the history of the county the vicinity was
known as Lenoir Settlement. At this writing there is one church,
two or three stores, a cotton gin and a high school found there.
DARBUN is an
inland village on the western boundary of Marion County. There
was one time a post office there, but mail is now delivered from
a rural route radiating from Kokomo. The place has never been
much more than a community center with one or two stores, a
cotton gin and a school. Some of the prominent people in the
community are Thompsons, Lamptons, and Bennetts.
STOVALL is
another voting precinct and is about ten miles northwest from
Columbia. At the present time there is no store, church, or
school except the Negro church where the ballots are cast. There
is nearby a hollow or low land section that is settled by several
families of Stovalls and is known as Stovall Hollow.
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