The history of Picayune is now on display on the historic side of City Hall.
The grand opening and ribbon cutting of the Pearl River County Historical Society museum was held Thursday morning. When the idea of a museum first came up Pearl River County Historical Society member Jerry Stough thought no one would want to part with their historic items. As it turns out, he was mistaken because he now has about 170 donations, with more coming in every week.
City Manager Jim Luke said the day before the opening a community member donated two coins from the C. & R. Stores Inc., which was proprietary money that could only be used with that Picayune merchant decades ago.
Other donations include an artist’s conception of the old Army Ammunition plant out at Stennis Space Center, a Coke glass used at the old Picayune Soda Fountain and the orginal plans for city hall drafted in the 1930s. Stough said he also has pictures of the inside of the historic soda shop he intends to display.
With so many items to display, but limited space to show them, Stough said the museum will be a work in progress.
Historic items are generally fragile, so Stough has plans to protect the them by installing UV shades on the windows and changing the current fluorescent lighting to an LED alternative.
Historical Society member Juanita Gex said she appreciates the city of Picayune and its administration for providing the space, and all of the Historical Society board members and volunteers that helped with establishing the museum.
City Manager Jim Luke said he was happy to help preserve the history of the city and commended the mayor and council for not only approving its establishment, but embracing it the way they did. He said a number of city administrators contributed items from their own collection.
The museum is located on the third floor of the historic side of city hall. Members of the Pearl River County Historical Society will man the museum on Mondays and Thursdays, typically in the morning. If anyone would like to visit the museum they will need to make an appointment one of those days by calling Stough at 601-590-3268. Stough said appointments for other days of the week can be made. The reason an appointment is required is due to the implementation of new locks on the upper floors of City Hall to protect the staff.