Post Card from the 1950's or 1960's

This is a post card from either the late 1950's or early 1960's showing the courthouse.  As you can see, two wings had been recently added to the sides of the buildings during an expansion phase .

Courthouse Renovations Continue

Circuit Courthouse Renovations

Renovations to the Lamar County Circuit Courthouse continue to move along as planned.  The demolition phase started in early January.  I will post photos during the next year as the project moves along.  The photo attached is from the main courtroom on the second floor shows the exposed ceiling and the old balcony.  The balcony area had been boarded up for years.  Once the dropped ceiling was removed the the boarded up balcony was exposed, the entire area looks so spacious.  More to come.  Thanks.

Lamar County Agricultural High School

1917-1918 Catalogue

Here's an interesting note, did you know that the first Agricultural High School in Mississippi was the Lamar County Agricultural High School?  The first session of the school began October 3, 1910, giving us the honor of opening the first such school in the state.  The school graduated five in the Class of 1912.  By 1917 the school had 124 students enrolled.  The Board of Trustees in 1917 were: Alexander S. Hinton of Lumberton, A.Q. Broadus of Purvis, J.J. Masey of Purvis, Joseph E. Baxter of Baxterville and H.L. Aultman of the Epley community.  The majority of the students came from Lamar County, however, the roster shows young people from across the state and even some from nearby Alabama and Louisiana.  While the students took the standard classes of the day, the school boasted that the it was a place where students do real farming, learn the scientific methods while also serving as an inexpensive way to educate the children.

Old Post Card

Collecting history from Lamar County has been very enjoyable.  This is a photo of a post card from a unknown time period.  The card was sent from students from Lamar County Agricultural High School.  Yes, Lamar County once had an Agi High School.  This is just one of many examples of items being collected by the Lamar County Historical Society.  If you have items of interest, please contact the LCHS.  We would love to display your items.  Currently, we are working in conjunction with the county on a display to include in the upcoming soon to be renovated Circuit Courthouse. 

LQC Lamar

LQC Lamar 1825-1893

Lucius Quintus Cincinatus Lamar II.  This is the man whom the county of Lamar is named.  Lamar was a politician and jurist.  A United States Representative and Senator, Lamar was named as Secretary of the Interior under President Grover Cleveland.  Later in his career he served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  A Georgia native, Lamar came to Mississippi in 1849 taking a position as a professor of mathematics at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.  After a brief stint back home in Georgia, Lamar returned to Mississippi and in 1856 was elected to the US House of Representatives.  He was active in state politics following the Civil War and even drafted the state's Ordinance of Secession.  From March 1885 to January 1888 he served President Cleveland as a part of his administrative team.  Cleveland appointed Lamar to the Supreme Court and he was confirmed January 16, 1888, serving until his death on January 23, 1893.  He is the only Mississippian to serve on the court.  Today counties in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia are named in his honor.