PICAYUNE —
Emmanuel Baptist Church was founded in the early 60s when the community saw an influx of people move in with NASA. Emmanuel Baptist Church is instrumental in serving not only the adults, but also has a wonderful outreach to the children in the community rich in history.
Nicholson, Miss., was occupied by a tribe of Choctaw Indians who ceded their claim to the state to Mississippi and the United States in 1820. During the early colonial and antebellum periods of its history, settlers began to settle along a crescent-shaped bend of the east Pearl River. A few plantations sprang up along the river as early as the 1700’s. Missionaries and preachers began to hold revivals and establish churches. Some of the oldest cemeteries contain graves of veterans who fought in the War of 1812 and the Battle of New Orleans in 1814.
In 1814, Andrew Jackson encamped his army of the west side of Nicholson by an Oak Alley and long the banks of the east Pearl River while enroute to engage the British at the Battle of New Orleans. Remnants of these ancient oak trees remain today, and the site is known as “Jackson Landing.”
Nicholson was first officially named “Crescent City.” A name under which it later incorporated as it began to become a river town. It once had a port for docking steamboats, and a main street lined with brick store buildings, large Victorian homes, magnificent oak trees, and saloons. In 1878, a devastating fire destroyed the court house and all historic documents and records. It is rumored that the fire was due to arson to deliberately destroy land records because a dispute was in progress between two parties. Nothing has ever solved the mystery.
Originally the land was part of Hancock County. In 1872, the Mississippi Legislature established Pearl County (not Pearl River County) which included lands along the east Pearl River. Pearl County lasted only from 1872 until the fire in 1878. When Pearl County ceased to exist, Crescent City reverted back into Hancock County.
In 1908, it was annexed into Pearl River County. In 1877, it became the custom of larger cities in America to adopt nicknames. A newspaper contest was held by the “New Orleans Picayune” newspaper to adopt a nickname for New Orleans, La. Since New Orleans is situated along a crescent-shaped bend in the Mississippi River, someone suggested that it adopt the nickname, “Crescent City.” The post office department notified the city that it could not adopt this name because a small town on the east Pearl River had been previously incorporated under the same name. In 1877, George Nicholson, owner of the paper at that time, traveled to Crescent City and successfully persuaded the Crescent City government officials to change the name of their city to his last name, “Nicholson.” In doing so, Crescent City relinquished its charter of incorporation with a stipulation that it could never be reincorporated or absorbed into the corporate limits of any other town or community in the future.
During the years that Interstate 59 was built from 1959 to 1961, surveyors had placed the twin bridges over East Pearl over the ruins of the Proctor Plantation houses and port, removing all traces if these historical sites. Today, Nicholson, Miss., still exists as a community situated on the bend of the East Pearl River where it has its beginnings so long ago. The next time you cross the river into Louisiana, think about the history of our community.
Features
Related Photos
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Emmanual Baptist Church is a stop on the 2012 Civic Woman’s Club of Picayune Christmas Pilgrimage. The church was organized in 1963 as an offspring of the First Baptist Church of Nicholson. Mr. Elbert Mitchell presented it as a gift to the congregation. Shown above: The sanctuary of the church decorated for the holidays. Shown right: Emmanual Baptist Church. Photos submitted
2012 CWC Pilgrimage: Nicholson Baptist Church
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southern gardening
Every spring the home gardener is bombarded with new and improved petunias for the garden and landscape, making it hard to decide which to bring home from the garden center. In my opinion, you simply can’t go wrong selecting any of the Supertunias.
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arboretum paths
Spring is now in full swing at the Crosby Arboretum, and the show is well on its way toward a crescendo. The blooms of native purple Iris can be seen along the edge of the Piney Woods pond, pink “honeysuckle” azalea is flowering near the Pinecote Pavilion, and the yellow blooms of the pitcher plants — called “buttercups” by local residents — are beginning to carpet the south Savanna Exhibit.
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USM set to host Children’s Book Festival
One of the most anticipated events celebrating children’s literature, the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival at The University of Southern Mississippi, will be held April 10-12 at the Thad Cochran Center on the Hattiesburg campus.
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Amber Bounds breaks six-year-old state swimming record
The Southern MS Aquatic Club (Mantarays) participated in the Santa’s Best Swim Invitational in Biloxi Nov. 30-Dec. 2. The Mantarays finished 6th out of 22 teams competing from LA, AL, FL, and MS.
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Capitol Pages
Jonathan Fail of Picayune, and Lorrie Warren of Poplarville recently served as pages for the Mississippi Senate.
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Yellow jasmine brightens yards
According to the calendar, we are just a few days away from the official start of the spring season. But if you have been watching the garden and landscape like I have, you’ve seen signs of spring for at least several weeks. The plants are starting to wake up.
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Native blooms abound at the Arboretum’s spring plant sale
The long-awaited weekend is upon us – that time which comes but once a year. Yes, it’s the Crosby Arboretum’s spring native plant sale.
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Welcome Center celebrates arts and literature in March
The Mississippi Development Authority, Division of Tourism will be celebrating “Arts and Literature” during the month of March. Each of the Welcome Centers will be decorated differently for this celebration.
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Lamont Rowlands house important to historical heritage
Pat Crosby first moved to the Lamont Rowlands house in 1992.
Although she found the home in disrepair, she couldn’t imagine not living there and knew that was her new home.
“It just spoke to me, and it still does,” said Crosby, the wife of the late Tommy Crosby, son of R.H. Crosby. Tommy Crosby completely renovated the home and grounds. -
Pearl River County Arts League Art Show and Sale
Pearl River County Arts League Art Show and Sale will be held on Saturday, March 23, from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. and Sunday, March 24, from noon till 4 p.m. at The Knights of Columbus Hall, 408 Carroll Drive. The show is open to all artists and admission is free to the public.
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