We come to you this week from the county seat of Pearl River County. We are in the south Mississippi town of Poplarville.

In 1872 Pearl County was formed from land taken from Marion and Hancock Counties. For financial reasons Pearl County was abolished in 1878.

Afterwards, Northern syndicates bought the virgin forests of the south and a railroad was built. Pearl River County was comprised of 828 square miles and was authorized by the Mississippi Legislature in 1880 and was made up of the same land formally known as Pearl County.

The county seat was relocated from Byrd’s Chapel to a tract of land along the railroad owned by an early landowner “Poplar” Jim Smith. Thus the seat was named Poplarville.

Today, Poplarville is located just off interstate 59 about 35 miles south of Hattiesburg and 70 miles northeast of New Orleans.

Poplarville’s Pearl River Community College began in 1909 as Pearl River County Agriculture High School but in 1922 it became the first state supported junior college in Mississippi. Today, the college offers excellent opportunities for students to complete their first two years of academic studies or career advancement through high-tech vocational training.

In our first story, we visit another school here in Poplarville that offers some unique training of its own. The Draft Horse School is operated by Renee' and Kenny Russell: owners of Russell Farms. The school trains students on the basics of how to hitch and work your draft horse team.

This USDA Small Fruit Research station in downtown Poplarville was converted from a tung station in 1970 when Hurricane Camille wiped out most of the profitable tung trees in the area. Since that time the work here has focused on helping people of the area cultivate blueberries with maximum fruit yields for a successful crop.

In our next story we visit another organization in Brandon that has devoted their time, energy and research into cultivating their most important asset, people.

The people of Mustard Seed, a Christian community for mentally challenged adults, have various mental disabilities which prevent them from living independently. With faith, they overcome obstacles in a loving and supportive environment which meets their spiritual, physical, emotional and intellectual needs. These men and women enjoy life at Mustard Seed to the fullest – exploring the possibilities and growing to fulfill the potential God created within them.

Since 1984, Poplarville residents have held an annual Blueberry Jubilee that takes place the second Saturday in June. The festival that honors the berry features a 5k run, music, food, and arts and crafts. It’s fun for the entire family.

And speaking of family fun, in our next story we take a look at another annual event that has caught on with people from all over the southeast in the neighboring town of Lumberton.

Travel back in time to the days of swords and chivalry, kings and queens and knights and villains.

Gulf Wars is the annual contest between the Kingdom of Ansteorra, and the Kingdom of Trimaris. The war is hosted by the Kingdom of Meridies and the Principality of Gleann Abhann; all of which are member groups of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. (NOTE: Some of the links are not currently active.)

On this weeks edition of Walt’s Way we travel over to Port Gibson and go inside Rosswood Plantation where some unique tales abound about this antebellum home.

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