Meridian Mississippi; An Industrial Town From Another Era

We are continuing our trek southwest to spend the winter in Texas and have spent three days in this mid-sized southern town of Meridian, Mississippi.  General Sherman burned most of the city down during the Civil War.  After the war it was rebuilt and was once a booming industrial town located on a railway hub growing many large businesses.  In the 1950’s and the decline of the railway industry the town fell into a depression and is still working on the recovery.  We did find a few places to explore…

Only spending three nights in Meridian on the way down to New Orleans, we spent the first arrival day doing laundry.  Not too exciting, but an every two week project to have some clothes.

On day two here the remnants of Hurricane Willa came through and we had alternating squalls of heavy downpours and light sprinkles.  In between rains, we went to the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I sure was pleased.

The  museum is located in an old shuttered factory, the Soule Steam Feed Works.  Now here is the really cool thing: the factory built in 1892, was never really updated until it was closed in 2002.  Everything is just as it was on the day it closed.  It is an industrial time capsule that allows the visitor to experience how things were made and how people worked in the early 20th century.

Here’s the history.  George Soule started the factory and invented several steam engines to mainly power the many saw mills in this region.  The factory would cast the iron for the housings, machine all the parts, and even pour the babbitt bearings!

This really excited me from my days of working as a machinist at Federal-Mogul while attending college at nights.  I recognized many of the machines and processes.  This was back in the early 1970’s.  Hard to imagine, huh?

Since the Soule family was very thrifty, they never updated anything during the 100+ years of being in existence.  That meant that all the fixtures and furnishings were well past the antique stage.  And when they closed, everything is just like that day.  A time capsule.

On day three, Pat developed a cold and stayed at base camp while I went into town to see the little art museum and wander around the town.  Here are a few photos of this walking tour.

Our next stop is New Orleans tomorrow.  Our drive is just over 200 miles and should be quite easy except for the traffic when entering NOLA.  I have had quite a bit of experience driving the big rig in traffic now.  Still don’t like it.  Driving through Nashville had us exiting 4-5 times, across lanes, to change roads.  Very nerve wracking with tons of traffic.

I do love the charbroiler oysters, cajun food, and the blues music.  I think I will like it there!

Our RV resort in NOLA is on the water and is in the city.  Ponchartrain Landing.  Supposed to be a very nice resort in a section of town that was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina.  They say it looks like a war zone on the approach.  Can’t wait.

Take care and God Bless.