06/12/2026
SATURDAY!!
Saturday marks Lucedale’s 125th celebration
Take 2: After weather washes out May event, it’s back on June 13
By Nancy Jo Maples
Saturday, June 13, is the date Lucedale will kick off its 125th Anniversary Celebration, as torrential rains forced the cancellation of the original May event.
Face-to-face interpretations with local historians will be showcased at various monumental sites in Lucedale. The big day launches Lucedale’s 125th Anniversary Celebration in conjunction with the recognition of the United States of America’s 250th Anniversary.
The live interpretations are part of the Pilgrimage Tour, which starts at 2 p.m. and runs the rest of the afternoon before the celebration merges with Second Saturday. The tour showcases 10 sites, three of which are Mississippi Landmarks. Additional family-friendly activities are planned for the afternoon in City Park. The celebration will include the premiere of a documentary film featuring residents sharing their memories of Lucedale and George County. The film will be shown at the Lucedale-George County History Museum, City Hall and Lucedale Coffee House between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
The day’s events start at Oak Grove Community Center, 119 Love Street. Doris Alexander, 96, will be at the community center from 12 noon until 2 p.m. to talk with visitors about the building’s history when it was Lucedale Colored School. The building is a Mississippi Landmark. Also, between noon and 2 p.m., Lily Grove Baptist Church, 504 South Pine Street, will be open for visitors, and a church member will talk about the church’s history. Those sites will remain open until 5 p.m.
Following the Oak Grove and Lily Grove stops, visitors are encouraged to continue the expedition toward the downtown phase of the tour at the Lucedale-George County History Museum, 287 Cox Street. However, because it is a progressive style tour, visitors are welcome to start at any location. Presentations will begin every fifteen minutes. Question and answer sessions will be offered at the end of each presentation.
From 2 p.m. until 5 p.m., eight sites located in the downtown area between Cox Street and Park Street will feature local tour guides presenting histories. Passports with a map of all tour spots will be available at each site.
Tour guides at each site will give stickers for the passports. Prizes will be awarded to visitors who visit all 10 sites.
In addition to the museum, tour guides will be at the historic George County Courthouse, a Mississippi Landmark. Other sites on the tour are City Hall, the George County Times, Bailey’s Scratching Post, and the Veterans’ Memorial, which is located near the pavilion in City Park.
Two other pilgrimage sites, also in the park, can be accessed on foot by walking up the hill or by automobile via Park Street.
Those include the historic jail built in the late 1800s to house prisoners in Merrill, which was moved in 1911 to the newly built George County Courthouse.
After it was no longer used, it was moved to City Park. The other stop on the list is the County Line Schoolhouse, which sits near the old jail. The schoolhouse operated from 1880 until 1924 in the Evanston Community and was moved to City Park in 1969 for historical preservation. It, too, is a Mississippi Landmark.
In addition to the Pilgrimage Tour, more free activities are set from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. in City Park with live music, dance performances and the announcements of contest winners for poetry and tee-shirt design.
Artwork, submitted by area students but non-judged, are on display at the George County Tax Assessor’s Office, the George County courthouse, City Hall and the Lucedale-George County History Museum.
At 5 p.m. the 125th Anniversary Celebration/America’s 250th Celebration will continue on Main Street with Second Saturday events following the same theme.
