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As you approach downtown Laurel from I-59, the first thing that you see is a massive mural.
and signals that you’ve found the historic district of thissmall Mississippi town.
Credit:Cedric Angeles
Cedric Angeles
But it didn’t always seem that way.
Once a thriving logging community and cultural hub, Laurel gradually fell into disrepair.
By the 1990s, its downtown was mostly abandoned, with businesses shuttered and buildings crumbling.
Judi Holifield has served as the Laurel Main Street executive director since 2011. She’s also referred to as the “unsung hero” of downtown’s transformation.
Then, in the last decade or so, a grassroots movement began.
The residents of Laurel pulled together to transform the small town they called home.
And the beautiful mural on the side of a once-dilapidated building?
The Laurel Mercantile Co. team, from left: Ben & Erin Napier, Josh & Emily Nowell, Jim & Mallorie Rasberry.
Well, it’s a sign of the times.
“It was kind of fake it till you make it,” says Erin Napier.
“It was just us and the feral cats.
Mayor Johnny Magee with his longtime barber, Richard Brown, owner of Hair World.Credit: Cedric Angeles
Jim, Erin’s cousin, became one of the founders of the groupLaurel Main Street.
“We all did what we could,” Erin says.
“Josh had done some real estate development.
He had a bird’s-eye view.
Ben and I were the storytellers.
I would take photos of a corner downtown that people might overlook.
I kept a journal online, and I mocked up some murals in Photoshop.
We put some lights in the trees and had these potluck parties and invited ourfriends from Hattiesburg.
We were just like, ‘Yeah, Laurel’s a cool placeyou didn’t know?’
He’s keeping a century-old business alive.Credit: Cedric Angeles
A longtime resident, she served as executive director of Laurel Main Street from 2011 to 2020.
“She’s a force,” says Erin.
“I did some work for the Laurel Retail Merchants Association in the ’70s.
I watched the town die and saw the people take a stab at save it.”
But as with the Napiers and their friends, you might not know it from talking to her.
Everyone here gives credit to everyone else.
In the window of a shop on Magnolia Street is the message “Bloom where you’re planted.”
“When my daughter graduated high school, she said she was going to leave.
I was born at the South Mississippi State Hospital, known by most people as the charity hospital.
Credit: Cedric Angeles
I grew up in a community called the KC in a three-room shotgun house.
We didn’t have hot water.
Right across the street from City Hall used to be the Pinehurst Hotel.
Credit: Cedric Angeles
The location of that shotgun house I grew up in was 401 South Cooks Avenue.
The address of City Hall is also 401.
I get emotional about it.
Credit: Cedric Angeles
Laurel has changed, and I’d like for people to know that.”
Pearl Campbell
The owner of Pearl’s Diner dishes out homegrown hospitality.
“I graduated from Oak Park High School here in Laurel in 1966.
That is where I became interested in cooking.
After being gone from Laurel for 34 years, I decided to return in 2015.
So I want you to go out and spread the goodness.'
It’s been an amazing journey.
I’ve got about 18 or 20 on my staff.
Miss Pearl can be businesslike, but they know I’m fair and I love them.
Rodney Rowell
He’s keeping a century-old business alive.
“My mother was working at Lott Furniture Co. for 12 years before I was born.
As each person would retire, their stock would get bought by the other employees.
I got involved after college.
The business hung on in those years somehow.
We used to have trucks that went out and sold door-to-door till about 1995.
Things change, and we adapted.
But there was a time in the 1990s when I felt like this was the only retail store downtown.
She brought together all the people of downtown to get to know each other and become friends.
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art.
Five years ago, there were maybe four or five businesses represented in our Laurel Main Street meetings.
Now there are probably 40.”
Jamie Suggs & Joseph Watkins
They’re redefining home sweet home.
Rogers-Green House.
“I was born and raised in Ellisville, about 15 minutes from here.
Laurel was the big city for us.
In 2010, I started a bakery out of a 10- by 14-foot building beside our house.
I wasn’t a businessperson; I’m just a mom.
We have seven kids and 10 grandbabies, with another on the way.
My husband, Joseph, would deliver before and after work and all weekend.
Most of our clientele were doctors' offices, real estate agents, and banks in Laurel.
We bought this place in 2015 and began renovations (Joseph is a contractor).
I think everybody was just so excited about downtown.”
Nece & James Hill
The Agape Church founders foster community beyond their walls.
“I was the first generation in my family who was not born here.
My wife, Nece, and I would visit from California each summer.
Something was pulling us back here.
We knew exactly what we were called here to do.
We were going to go to the deep places together; we were going to genuinely love people.”
Bonnie McConkey
A newcomer finds her people in an unexpected place.
My son is there, and my daughter-in-law, who’s like my best friend.
I just thought, ‘Man, I need to do something different.’
I started doing research into all these different places.
And I went, ‘Wow, I must go there!’
I actually said it out loud.
That’s my measure.
And the man next to her said, ‘She’s too busy.
I’ll take you.’
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Where to Eat
Have coffee and sticky buns atSweet Somethings Bakery.
(Breakfast is included for guests of their B&B upstairs.)
Order the fried chicken with three sides atPearl’s Diner.
Stock up on artisanal beef jerky and homemade fudge atThe Knight Butcher.
Head toThe Loftfor dinner, and sit in the garden if the weather is nice.
(Book onlinehe stays busy!)
In the center of town, book a spacious room with soaring ceilings above Sweet Somethings Bakery.
Additionally, Laurel, Mississippi, is the filming location for HGTV’sHome Town.
