We come to you from the heart of the pine belt. The second county seat named in Jones County, we are in the town of Laurel. Laurel began as a hamlet in the 1880's and it was named for the abundance of wild laurel plants that grew among the pines. But they soon had to be exterminated because they proved to be poisonous to cattle. Around the turn of the century, Laurel began to flourish because of the railroad and the lumber industry.

By the early 1900's Laurel milled and shipped more yellow pine than anywhere else in the world. During this prosperous period, many fine homes were built in the area now known as the historic district. In 1942, a new industry began with the discovery of oil in Laurel and today there are more than 150 companies providing regional service for oil and gas drillers.  In our first story we visit Laurel's Historic District and peek inside the state's largest and possibly finest art museums. The Lauren Rogers Museum is home to many permanent and touring exhibits.

Eudora Welty is one of our state's best known writers but did you know she also pursued a career in photography in her early years. In this story we give you a glimpse of Mississippi through the photographs of this renowned author.

In our final segment, we give you a front row seat to the sport of auto racing as we follow Laurel native and ARCA driver Robert Burroughs as he travels to Nashville to quench his thirst for the speed of stock car racing.

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