(Article provided by Covington County Chamber of
Commerce)
Covington County was one of the first Mississippi counties(1819) and our
early settlers were, for the most part, citizens of the Carolinas, Virginia
and Georgia, who were searching for a new beginning for their families. These
early settlers found a land covered with virgin timber, laced with cool creeks
and inhabited by a small band of Choctaw Indians. Treaties gradually pushed
the Chactaws farther west and the homesteaders began the process of building
a life out of the wooded wilderness. The War Between the States and the
subsequent Reconstruction slowed the process considerably and it was not
until the coming of the railroad in 1899 that the economic picture brightened.
Eight or nine large lumber mills were quickly built, mostly along the railroad
track, and workers and their families, just as quickly, came to claim jobs.
After the timber was depleted, the people began to seek new ways of making
a living; growing strawberries, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, cattle, soybeans,
cotton, corn and later establishing small industries. During our almost 200
years of history, we have had three county seats: Speedtown, Williamsburg
and Collins. The present courthouse, built in 1907, has recently been listed
on the National Register of Historical Places. Our county's story is mainly
that of our churches, our schools, our communities and our families, for
these are the values that we cherish. Today we still sense a spirit of the
early settlers and we strive to preserve the past and work diligently to
insure a progressive, positive future.
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