As we honor Valentine’s Day this week, it is fitting that you know Lucedale is the City of Love. Yep, read on.
Lucedale was a destination wedding venue long before the term became part of today’s pop culture. Alabama and Florida required a three-day waiting period before a couple could officially tie the knot after being issued a marriage license. A phenomenal number of marriages were recorded in George County during the 1940s because Mississippi had no waiting period, and George County sat on the state line.
According to the book, “The Best Little Town” written by Dr. Dayton Whites and Roy Grafe, George County was a haven for lovers itching to marry in a hurry. During the World War II years, the number of marriage licenses issued increased astronomically. Prior to the start of the war in 1941, the number of marriage licenses issued in George County averaged 200 per year. Courthouse records show during the 5-year war period, 1941-1946, a total of 5,383 marriage licenses were issued in the county. That averages to more than 1,000 marriages per year. After the war ended, the number of licenses issued returned to the pre-war rate of 200 per year. Local historian and former librarian Janet Smith said, “Someone in the military would usually only have a three-day leave. So, they needed to be able to marry quickly.”
Folks from Florida and throughout lower Alabama, especially neighboring Mobile County in Alabama, drove to Lucedale to get married. “They would go to the courthouse, pick up a marriage license and then take it to the Justice of the Peace to have him perform the ceremony,” Smith said. The Justice of the Peace is now known as a Justice Court Judge. “They could come here and be married within an hour or so.” The county clerk at the time was Morris Malone. He or his staff would often issue the license and then point across the street to where the Justice of the Peace, V.P. Miller, lived and officiated wedding ceremonies. Miller lived on Summer Street between Ratliffe and Dewey Streets less than a block from the courthouse.
While Smith was branch manager of the Lucedale-George County Public Library, a daughter of one of these marriages brought her mother to Lucedale from Mobile to see where the mother got married 50 years prior. “I talked with them. They were getting ready to host a celebration of their golden anniversary. They came to Lucedale and came to the library,” Smith said. “Also, about 10 years ago I was amazed to find out my great Aunt May from Jones County was living in Semmes and working at the shipyard when she came to Lucedale to marry a groom from Florida. I didn’t have to ask why she got married in Lucedale.”
Mississippi enabled the three-day marriage wait rule in the very early 1960s and abolished it in 2012.
In conjunction with this historical fact, the Friends of the Library of the Lucedale-George County Public Library are selling brick tiles to recognize couples who have been married 50-plus years. “Strong families helped build George County and our nation,” Smith, a representative of the Friends of the Library, said. While misfortunes or failing health sometimes prevent married couples from reaching the 50-year milestone, Smith said families with long-lasting marriages and stable home lives are part of a community’s success and usually showcase leadership.
The brick pavers commemorating these couples will be placed on a vacant wall in front of the library’s parking lot. Those honored or remembered do not have to be residents of Lucedale, do not have to have married in George County and do not have to have ever lived in George County. The only requirement is they have to have been married a full 50 years. Brick pavers are $50. The deadline to order is February 28, 2024. Checks can be made payable to the Friends of the Library and mailed to Smith at P.O. Box 266, Lucedale, Miss. 39452 or dropped off at the public library. Regardless of the method of delivery, please include information detailing the name of the groom, the name of the bride and her maiden name, and the date of marriage.
The Friends plan to have the engraved pavers installed by early summer. “We hope to have an opportunity to add names to the wall once a year until all space is used to give those who will be reaching the 50-year mark in the next few years a chance to add their tiles,” Smith said. The Friends have been planning this fundraiser for years. It was set to start in 2020, but when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the fundraiser was delayed.
Now the time is ripe. It’s the month for Valentines, and we’re in the City of Love!
