Author: Old Firehouse Museum Wiggins

This is the public website for the Old Firehouse Museum, the official museum for Wiggins and Stone County, Mississippi,

Fun Fact” The Lonesome Pine”

April 12, 1937 from the Works Project Administration (W.P.A. Historical Research Project) and the State Forestry Commission:

There is a  famous tree known as “The Lonesome Pine”  located in the forks of Red and Flint Creeks, about 6 miles SE of Wiggins.

Tree Dimensions

Circumference —–  17 feet 6 inches

Diameter—–5 feet 6 inches

Height ——- 114 feet

Height to first limbs ——– 50 feet

Limb spread —– 78 feet

Species —– yellow bark short leaf pine

“The inaccessibility of this tree and its immensity is why it has never been cut.  During the life of Finkbine Lumber Company at Wiggins, one hundred dollars was offered to anyone who would deliver it to their mill.  One man attempted, but found it too large to handle.”

Do you remember this tree?  Do you remember what happened to it?  If so, please contact the Old Firehouse Museum and let us know!

Fun Fact: Speed Limits

The following reminder  appeared in the Stone County Enterprise,
August 5, 1916:

“Automobile drivers should remember that there is an ordinance governing the speed limit to TWELVE MILES PER HOUR on the streets and six miles per hour turning corners in Wiggins and should govern themselves accordingly.”

Fun Fact: Frances Hemeter

If you took dance lessons “back in the day”, chances are your first teacher was Frances Hemeter. She also choreographed the “Perkettes” for many years.

Frances Hemeter
Frances Hemeter

Fun Fact: Anthony Herrera

Here is a  picture of Stone Countian and actor Anthony Herrera in the musical LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE performed at Ole Miss in the Summer of 1967.
Actors L:R – Marilyn  Maxwell, Ted Solomon, and Anthony Herrera

Anthony Herrera
Anthony Herrera

Fun Fact: Wiggins Memorial Park

From the Stone County Enterprise -Wiggins 100th Anniversary Timeline:

“1953 — Citizens dedicated Wiggins Memorial Park and a memorial was installed there for commemorating the forestry activities of Brooks Toler.    The park was located on Hwy 49 S (now Magnolia Drive) in Wiggins.”

Most of us called it simply “the roadside park”.  Mike Cain said when she was young, lots of parties and picnics took place there and it was a popular “parking place” for high schoolers! Cille McHenry Litchfield remembers picnics and Girl Scout day camp events being held there when she was little.

The park no longer exists, but the monument is scheduled to be placed on lawn of the Old Firehouse Museum this summer. It’s a big old stone and was located  underneath bushes and debris on the property which had been bought by local developer.

Fun Fact: Wednesday Afternoons In Wiggins

“Why do stores close on Wednesday afternoon in Wiggins”?  Mike Cain found the answer in the Wiggins 100th birthday edition of the  Stone County Enterprise.  It was written in a timeline… “1933  Merchants of Wiggins voted unanimously to close their places of business on Wednesday afternoon of each week through the months of May, June, July and August.  Drug stores, filling stations and restaurants would remain open.”

Later, “1943  –In view of shortage of help and scarcity of merchandise the merchants of  Wiggins agreed unanimously to continue closing on Wednesday afternoon on a year round basis.”

No one knows why some merchants continue this tradition today.

Fun Fact: Palace Theatre

From the Stone County Enterprise 100th  Anniversary of Wiggins Timeline…

1935   – The Palace Theatre, Stone County’s only motion picture house recently installed new equipment.  The latest talkie machinery of high range  and wide fidelity is the highest type of sound equipment, which makes the music perfect”.  Mike Cain believes the Palace was where Serendipity is now thus where the Straub Theatre was located for many many years!

Fun Fact: Stone County – Mississippi’s Mural County

Effective May 1, 2012, via Senate Resolution 643, the 2012 Mississippi Legislature declared that Stone County is Mississippi’s Mural County. Sunset Through the Longleaf Pines was the first mural erected and can be found in Blaylock Park. Since then over twenty mosaic tile and painted murals have been erected in the County with more in the planning stages. The murals evolved through The Telling Trees, a project to capture and present the stories of Stone County through the arts.

Sunset Through the Longleaf Pines
Sunset Through the Longleaf Pines

Fun Fact: Emilie and Marie Stapp

Around 1928, Emilie and Marie Stapp moved to the small town of Wiggins, Mississippi where they had acquired 80 acres of land two miles east of town on Mississippi Hughway 26. They named their new property Friendship Farm. In the quiet solitude of southern Mississippi, Emilie Stapp could fully devote herself to creative writing. Upon the fertile ground of Friendship Farm, Emilie and Marie Stapp established a pecan orchard and built their home named The Dolls’ House. The home received its name from a rare collection of over 400 dolls of historic significance, that the Stapp sisters acquired from their world travels and prominently displayed there.

Soon after their arrival in Wiggins, Mississippi, Emilie and her sister Marie, became actively involved within the community. In 1932, they deeded 12 acres  of land and a club house to the Women’s Club of Wiggins, and with a donation of over 4,000 books, they established the first lending library in Stone County. Becoming concerned with the dilapidated condition of the old post office, the Stapp sisters funded construction of a new post office for the City of Wiggins.

The collection of dolls and their personal papers are part of the McCain Library and Archives at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Emilie Stapp
Emilie Stapp

Honor Roll: Boyce Holleman

Boyce Holleman
Boyce Holleman

 

Jesse Boyce Holleman (February 26, 1924 – November 21, 2003) was an American war veteran, attorney, politician, attorney, actor, and master story teller.

Boyce Holleman was born in Fruitland Park, MS, to a family that made their living in timber and construction. As a Naval Aviator in World War II, he was shot down while making a bomb run during the invasion of Saipan and spent 14 months recovering from severe injuries. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was awarded the Purple Heart.