Webster At Home 2021

Webster County, MS

October 2021- October 2022

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On the cover: Passengers enjoy a tethered balloon ride at Eupora's Spud Stennett Park. The Eupora Main Street Association sponsored the first-ever Eupora Summer Ballon Fest in June 2021 with plans to make it an annual event. The EMSA focuses on celebrating all Eupora has to offer, for its residents and those visiting the area. The association offers fun and safe activities around town, while raising money for future events and beautification and cleanup projects. For more information or to get involved, visit www.facebook.com/EuporaMainStreet. (Courtesy Photo/Paula Rumore)

A Welcome to Webster County at home

Retail Advertising:

in Webster County

Kathy Johnson

Publisher:

Charlotte Newman

Joseph McCain

Other Contributing Staff:

Writer/Editor: Russell Hood Ad Design: Kelly Thompson

Chasatie Fisher Mark Newman 662-258-7532 A Webster Progress Times Publication

On behalf of the people of Webster County, I extend a warm welcome to visitors, newcomers and residents alike.

Webster County is situated in the north-central portion of Mississippi and is named for early American statesman Daniel Webster. You will find Webster County small and quaint, but rich in heritage and hospitality.

Cummings Together, our towns and communities make Webster County a special place to work, play, live and raise a family. You will find our citizens to be friendly and hospitable.

We have an excellent school district and are in close proximity to two universities, both of which offer financial assistance to Webster Countians through the E.H. Sumners Foundation Scholarship.

We also have outstanding healthcare and emergency services, numerous churches, and recreational opportunities ranging from youth sports to hunting, fishing, boating and camping. Also, the Natchez Trace Parkway with its scenic picnic areas and historical sites traverses our county.

Webster County is a wonderful community to visit, shop and stay. From our parks and lakes to holiday festivities and special events, our community has something to offer everyone all year long.

Pat Cummings President of the Webster County Board of Supervisors

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Community

Webster County: our communities

Originally a part of Choctaw County, Webster County was established April 6, 1874, under the name of Sumner County.

On Jan. 30, 1882, its name was changed to Webster, in honor of the great statesman Daniel Webster. The county seat is located in Walthall.

Once a predominately agricultural economy, Webster County saw a rise in manufacturing that began in the mid1900s. Cotton, corn and timber are the leading agricultural products grown in Webster County,

which has a population of 9,926.

Made of up 425 square miles of pristine land and beautiful countryside, Webster County has an abundance of hunting properties and lakes. The headwaters of the Big Black River are located in the northeastern part of Webster County. The scenic Natchez Trace Parkway runs through Webster County.

Eupora

Eupora was earlier known as Early Grove. In 1888, the Georgia-Pacific

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Railroad began surveying a route on the north side of the Big Black. The final route was a line down the Big Black Valley, passing through the site of present-day Eupora.

Engineers laying out the route of the railroad they boarded in the home of Jim Eudy and his wife, Eupora. The engineers were so struck with the euphony of the word “Eupora” that they declared the new town should receive that name.

The settlement was given the name of Eupora and

was incorporated in 1889.

Eupora is the largest municipality in Webster County with a population of 2,152. its many amenities include Whites Creek Lake and Park, and the James O. Gary Sports Complex (Gary Park). The city is also a qualified resort area.

Mantee

The village of Mantee was originally known as the Center Grove community. In 1895, S.F. Gullett, who was postmaster at the time, was informed

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Community

Family members enjoy the springtime throwing a flying disk at Whites Creek Lake Park in Eupora.

that another town in the state was called by the name of Center Grove.

He sent in the name “Montee” for one of daughters. The name, however,

was misspelled with an “a” and the town went on record as Mantee; the

error was never corrected.

In 1904, the railroad was built through the commu-

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Community

Veterans are assembled at the 2021 Memorial Day program in Mathiston.

nity and the town moved to its current location along the railroad.

Mathiston

The land that makes up Mathiston was originally 80 acres of land sold by George Polk Clegg to W.G. “Bill” Mathis. A 20-acre tract was conveyed to the Georgia-Pacific Railroad for depot purposes in February 1889.

The place was appropriately named Mathis Town in his honor. In later years, the pronunciation was changed and made

into one single word, Mathiston. The town was incorporated in 1890 and is the second-largest municipality in Webster County.

Walthall

In May 1876, Mount Tabor, known today as Walthall, became the official county seat of Sumner County.

By the order of the Board of Supervisors on May 23, 1876, the name of the county seat was changed from Mount Tabor to Walthall. The village grew

quickly.

The Webster County Courthouse is located in Walthall on Highway 9 across from the Highway 50 intersection. The village converted the site of the former courthouse and surrounding grounds into a community park with the assistance of the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

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Local Governments Webster County

6333 MS Hwy. 9 Walthall, MS 39771 Phone: (662) 258-4131 Eupora 390 Clark Ave. Eupora, MS 39744 Phone: (662) 258-2291 Mantee P.O. Box 172 Mantee, MS 39751 Phone: (662) 456-1561 Mathiston P.O. Box 178 Mathiston, MS 39752 Phone: (662) 263-4898 Walthall P.O. Box 306 Walthall, MS 39771 Phone: (662) 258-6250.

Community Walthall Trade Days at the Walthall Court Square Park

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Education

Teachers replicate storytelling via podcast MATHISTON — History was originally passed down through story telling. Beginning with cave drawings and reaching now into advanced technological realms, storytelling has bound humanity to its ancestors and roots.

“My grandfather Jim Wills lived in the Simpson community in Choctaw County. He was a walking encyclopedia of local history. He would tell all of us stories of growing up and of the Depression Era in Choctaw County. I found it particularly fascinating,” says Lavelle McAlpin.

“That oral storytelling is something I learned at his knee. In 19171918 he helped bury victims of Spanish flu. He worked in the Mississippi Delta hauling the huge trees out. He told us about walking from Simpson to Ackerman to a political rally.”

McAlpin teaches history at East Webster High School. During the COVID outbreak, someone suggest-

ed that East Webster’s students would enjoy hearing their history via podcast. It’s like history being broadcast on the radio.

“Students wanted learning to continue,” McAlpin said. “Enough stated an interest that we thought local history was the best idea.”

He says the goal is to replicate the old tradition of Southern storytelling — the type of thing once down around the kitchen table and passed down from generation to generation.

McAlpin grew up in Mathiston.

His grandfather was a watermelon farmer in Smith County who had 13 children. As he aged he knew he didn’t want to continue in the melon business and saw a small farm listed in the Mississippi Market Bulletin. That brought the family to the Mathiston area about 1961.

McAlpin graduated from EWHS. He graduated from University of Mississippi in managerial finance

and went to work at Wood College as a financial officer.

The first year he ran for alderman, he asked questions about Mr. Mathis, father of the town of Mathiston. No one seemed to know much about him, and that piqued McAlpin’s interest. He began searching for information and eventually was contacted by a member of Mathis’ family. The railroad had brought the family to town and the depot itself was named MathisTown, for Mathis. The town grew up around the depot and became Mathiston.

McAlpin’s been teaching at East Webster since 2003. He taught Chance Carden, who teaches Introduction to U.S. History and English at East Webster, and also co-hosts “The Grateful Historians Podcast” with him. The two are part of the new generation of public educators: teachers who are working hard to teach critical thinking skills

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Education along with content.

Carden’s English skills and analytical approach provide a nice balance to McAlpin’s storytelling skills.

Nine episodes have been recorded; each lasts about 45 minutes.

“It’s the equivalent of listening to old-time radio but with state-of-the-art technology,” McAlpin explained.

McAlpin is also public address announcer for football and did this at EWHS before he started working there. His voice sounds like it was trained for radio, but it’s all-natural.

One of the upcoming podcasts will be about a book called “The Captured” by Scott Zesch.

“It’s about children who were taken captive on the Great Plains,” McAlpin said. “They lived with the

Comanches for one to two years and were eventually reunited with their families but they never acclimated to the culture.”

McAlpin has been an alderman for the town of Mathiston since 2005.

“I think if people understand where they come from, they are a lot more likely to be engaged with the community and not do

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things like throw trash out on the road and be disrespectful,” he said. “They have a deeper understanding so they take care of the community.”

The podcast is carried by six major sites: ITunes,

Spotify, anchor.fm, Google Podcasts, PocketCasts and RadioPublic. Go to any of those sites and search for “The Grateful Historians Podcast” and there will be an option to subscribe.

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Service

Civic organizations, volunteers serve community Local service organizations and volunteers show their love and support of Webster County through their projects to better the community.

There are many benefits for the community and for the service-club volunteer, including giving back to the community, making new friends who have a variety of interests, listening weekly to speakers who are community thought leaders, engaging in social activities and businessn e t w o r k i n g .

Communities win with service club involvement because it reflect to visitors and others that the

Eupora Juniorettes make favorite book cards for display at local libraries to encourage reading.

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Service

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community is cared for by the actions of the clubs. It also helps keep the community clean and active.

Volunteering provides valuable community services so more money can be spent on local improvements. Volunteer groups also help unite people from diverse backgrounds to work toward a common goal along with building camaraderie and teamwork.

Understanding community needs helps foster empathy and self-efficacy among all the volunteers and those they are helping in the community.

(Right) Ray and Vanessa Beeson planted 10 trees at Diversicare of Eupora in the summer of 2021. They both serve on the Eupora Main Street Association's Beautification Committee.

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Sandra W. Dewberry Owner/Agent P.O. Drawer 392, 625 West Fox Ave. Eupora, MS 39744

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Service

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Eupora New Century Club members are planning several projects for the 2021-22 year. Club officers include Sue Vance, president-elect; Gretchen Purtee, parliamentarian; Kala Langston, recording secretary; Haley Jones Murphy, vice president; Amanda Upchurch Knight, treasurer; and Lauren Hood Smith, president.

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Safety

Special Response Team formed for county

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Eupora Rotary Club Service Above Self - They Profit Most Who Serve Best The Eupora Rotary Club has been encouraging and fostering the ideal of service in Webster County since 1937.

Our service projects include sponsorship of the Eupora Christmas Parade and scholarships for deserving seniors at Eupora High School and programs to promote literacy.

We welcome all newcomers to our county.

P.O. 662-258-7835 P.O. Box Box 22 • Eupora, MS •• 662-258-7532

Members of the Special Response Team include (kneeling), Dewey Martin, Deputy Ben Pruitt, Chief Deputy JC Smith, (standing) Sgt. Brandon Chaille, Deputy Andrew Banks, Reserve Deputy Calvin Lim and Sgt. Beau Powell.

Community members and Sheriff’s Office deputies have formed a Special Response Team for Webster County.

Members of the SRT are trained to respond to active shooters and to provide medical assistance to wounded civilians. Sheriff David Gore said the team, which voluntarily trains twice a month, is still a work in progress.

The team is led by Chief Deputy JC Smith, who has had training in law enforcement and the military with the Marine Corps. The rest of the team is made up of Sgt. Brandon Chaille, Sgt. Bo Powell, Deputy Ben Pruitt, Deputy Andrew Banks, IT Specialist Dewey Martin, Medical Specialist Dr. Craig Moffett and Firearms Trainer/Medical Specialist Calvin Lim. Classroom, active shooter, basic room clearance and medical training has taken place at the former Wood College campus in Mathiston. The team plans to do some training at the local schools in the future.

“Not only are our schoolchildren in mind here but we are training for any kind of need that Webster County might have such as disasters, natural or manmade,” Gore said.

First Baptist Church

520 W Fox Ave., P. O. Box 268 Eupora, MS 39744 (662) 258-3491 firstbaptistc57@outlook.com Facebook - FBC Eupora facebook.com/groups/firstbaptisteupora

Join us: Sundays 9:30 a.m. Sunday School 10:30 a.m. Worship Service 5:00 p.m. Worship Service

Pastor: Travis Gray Assoc. Pastor & Music: John Herring Youth Minister: Lamar Land Children’s Director: Charla Boatman

Wednesdays 5:30 p.m. Children’s Activities 6:00 p.m. Prayer Meeting / Youth Bible Study

Important Phone Numbers Emergency...911

In an emergency dial 9-1-1. Always call 911 for help any time you need assistance from law enforcement, fire services or EMS.

Municipal Offices Eupora City Hall: 258-2291 Mantee Village Hall: 258-4571 Mathiston Town Hall: 263-4898 Walthall Village Hall: 258-6250 County/State Offices Chancery Clerk: 258-4131 Circuit Clerk: 258-6287 DHS Child Support Enforcement: 258-3010 DHS Economic Assistance: 258-4771 DHS Family & Children's Services: 258-7733 Extension Office: 258-3971 Forestry Commission: 258-6661 or 258-7679 Health Office: 258-3761 Justice Court: 258-2590 Sheriff's Department (Non-Emergency): 258-7701 Tax Assessor-Collector: 258-6446 Webster County Schools Central Office: 258-5921 East Webster Elementary School: 263-8373 East Webster High School: 263-5321 Eupora Elementary School: 258-6735 Eupora High School: 258-4041 Webster County Career and Technology Center: 258-8206 Post Offices Bellefontaine: 258-2267 Eupora: 258-7759 Maben: 263-8239

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Mathiston: 263-8335 Stewart: 262-4982 Walthall: 258-3651 Libraries Eupora: 258-7515 Mathiston: 263-4772 Utilities Natchez Trace Electric: 258-2941 4- County Electric: 1-800-431-1544 or 327-8900 Atmos Energy: 1-888-286-6700 AT&T: 1-800-288-2020 Other Eupora Police (Non-Emergency): 258-4121 Mathiston Police (Non-Emergency): 263-4898 Maben Police (Non-Emergency): 263-4212 Highway Patrol (Non-Emergency): 323-5314 NMMC-Eupora (Non-Emergency): 258-6221 Duncan Veterinary Clinic: 258-2206 Brandy's Animal Care Center: 258-6868 Natchez Trace Parkway: 1-800-300-PARK Eupora Head Start: 258-8111

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Wishing you a warm welcome

Webster County!

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