The much-anticipated Lucedale-George County History Museum is here. Yay!
A grand opening ceremony will take place in the George County Courthouse courtroom at 1 p.m. Wednesday, February 7. Light refreshments will be served after the ceremony. The museum is located on the first floor of the courthouse at the foot of the stairs leading to the courtroom.
The museum will be open weekly Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is free; donations are accepted.
The theme of the first exhibit will be medical, military and memorabilia related to George County. It will be on display for three months and then will be replaced with a different exhibit. A highlight of the first exhibit is a 1955 video of scenes around Lucedale and George County. “You will not want to miss out on seeing this 1955 video. It is awesome,” Lisa Hedegaard said.
Hedegaard is vice-president of the newly formed organization known as the Lucedale-George County Historical Society and Museum. Joyce Rutherford is president of the society. Members of the society volunteer their time to organize collections, to plan future exhibits, and to man the museum. The next planned exhibit will focus on schools and churches.
The society meets the second Tuesday of each month at 4 p.m. at the Lucedale Fine Arts Building. This building, also known as the American Legion Hut, sits at the corner of Beaver Dam Road and Park Street. Anyone can join the society regardless of where they live or whether they will be able to physically volunteer. Yearly memberships are $24 for individuals and $40 for couples or two-member households. There are 50 members at present; about 25 of them are active volunteers.
The idea for a museum was birthed last spring. On February 28, 2023, a few people met in the community meeting room at the Lucedale-George County Public Library at the request of Dr. Dayton Whites to discuss the museum idea. In attendance were the Whites, Gussie Vise, Dixie and Bill Wilkerson, Cindy Morgan, Joyce Rutherford and Nancy Jo Maples. Dr. Whites told the group that if the community was ever going to have a museum it must do so quickly because so many people with knowledge of local lore were aging and dying. The idea was publicized and one month later, on March 28, 2023, another meeting took place at the library. The library meeting room was packed with standing room only. People from the city and all outlying communities showed up vowing to support the idea. Subsequent meetings took place at the Lucedale Fine Arts Building. The interested parties formed an organization and obtained non-profit status. They also toured museums in neighboring counties and got advice from those directors about establishing guidelines for donations and exhibits.
The idea for a local museum showcasing George County’s past has been frequently discussed among history buffs for 20 years. Shortly after the turn of the 21st Century, the Chamber of Commerce Heritage and Cultural Committee formed. Efforts were made at that time to document burials and obituaries of George County residents. In 2001 the city celebrated its 100th anniversary and in 2010 the county did the same. The Heritage and Cultural Committee supported those commemorative events. In 2018 the committee created a pictorial book about the county’s history. At that time, interest was expressed and much discussion took place about establishing a county museum. However, that discourse gradually dissolved until being revived last year. When the conversation resumed, the new historical society replaced the heritage committee with its primary purpose to establish a museum.
Many neighboring counties have museums. The Greene County Museum is on the top floor of its courthouse in Leakesville. It is filled with artifacts and memorabilia giving visitors a visual taste of life dating back generations. It also has a good collection of paper documents and newspaper accountings of its history. Stone County has a museum called the Old Firehouse Museum housed in what was once the Wiggins’ Fire Department. Former school teachers founded it in 2013. Its mission not only includes housing documents and artifacts, but also hosting events such as doll shows, tea parties and model train shows. Jackson County has two museums: the LaPoint-Krebs House and Museum and the Shipbuilding and Maritime Museum. The county also has a very active historical group called the Jackson County Historical Society which publishes journals of local history throughout the year and hosts fundraisers for local history projects. Its members provide significant and valuable volunteer service to the Singing River Genealogical and Local History Library, a branch within the Jackson-George Regional Library System dedicated to preserving historical documents for Jackson and George Counties.
And now George County has a museum of its own.
