Meridian, the queen that rose up along the banks of Sowashee Creek in a land once home to the Choctaw, first beckoned settlers to its lush green valley in 1831. The town rose to prominence through the visions of Richard McLemore, Lewis A. Ragsdale, and John Ball and was empowered by the arrival of the railway system and later the factories of the manufacturing era. Meridian survived General Sherman's torch and withstood yellow fever, fires, and tornadoes, blossoming into one of the largest and most progressive cities in the state. Home to Naval Air Station Meridian and the birthplace of Jimmie Rodgers, the "father of country music," Meridian is the heartbeat of Lauderdale County, with a history that runs as deep as the Mississippi.

Meridian (Images of America)

Arts & Photography

Davidson, June Davis

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing

In 1831, Richard McLemore received a federal land grant of 2,000 acres located in the future Lauderdale County, Mississippi. He gave free land to those he considered good neighbors and built his home within the one square mile that would be incorporated as Meridian on February 10, 1860. On Valentine’s Day 1864, Gen. W.T. Sherman’s troops marched into the small railroad town. After burning the town, Sherman wrote in his journal, “Meridian . . . no longer exists.” Meridian did survive and became Mississippi’s largest city due to its railroad and timber industries and progressive settlers like the Weidmanns, Marks-Rothenbergs, Threefoots, Rushes, Rosenbaums, Rileys, Andersons, and others. Within these pages, meet the people who proved Sherman wrong and continue to influence the area today.

Legendary Locals of Meridian

Putnam, Richelle

Meridian, the queen that rose up along the banks of Sowashee Creek in a land once home to the Choctaw, first beckoned settlers to its lush green valley in 1831. The town rose to prominence through the visions of Richard McLemore, Lewis A. Ragsdale, and John Ball and was empowered by the arrival of the railway system and later the factories of the manufacturing era. Meridian survived General Sherman's torch and withstood yellow fever, fires, and tornadoes, blossoming into one of the largest and most progressive cities in the state. Home to Naval Air Station Meridian and the birthplace of Jimmie Rodgers, the "father of country music," Meridian is the heartbeat of Lauderdale County, with a history that runs as deep as the Mississippi.

Meridian

Arcadia Publishing Library Editions

Country Stores of Mississippi

The old country stores along the back roads of rural Mississippi are the treasures that remain of a bygone era. Travel back to the Mississippi of yesteryear and hear of the deadly can of molasses that once caused a massacre in Carrollton, Mississippi, in the late 1800s. Find the church near Alston's General Store in Rodney with a Civil War cannonball lodged in its front facade. Or discover the haunts of Causeyville General Store among shelves and corners stocked with relics of the American past. These and other stores remembered here by local author June Davis Davidson were the cornerstones of their communities, and harken back to a time when the sweetest things in life were the smell of peanuts roasting and reaching into the penny candy jar.

Business & Money

Industries

History Press Library Editions

The History Press

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Books by Davidson, June Davis