photos by Reggie Thomas / correspondent Crowds flocked to the 2016 Soule’ Live Steam Festival at the Soule’ Steam Feed Works in Meridian Saturday, witnessing artisans demonstrating their skills and crafts, such as the process of sand casting.

History came alive at the Soule Steam Feed Works in downtown Meridian Saturday as crowds flocked to the annual Soulé Live Steam Festival at the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum.

As classic vehicles filled the street, the young and old filled the historic building, taking in what was once a bustling industrial operation. The entrance was covered with reminders of the past from Universal Motor Company to L.L. McRae Lumber Company. In the front office, typewriters and filing systems sat on display, but down a few steps, the machine shop was running full blast with the county’s largest operating machine shaft, which dates back 106 years.

Katie Richey, an admirer of the steam industry, has visited the festival several times.

“Meridian was built as a railroad town, and it is part of Meridian’s history,” she said. “I would like to see Meridian grow more, and Soulé helps that.”

On display were larger machines, and smaller ones as well, like Soulé’s Spee-D Twin 4301, the last of the first steam engines built by the company and last to sell in 1992. The little machine revolutionized the lumber industry, and steam engines affected the world in many ways.

“The industrial complex was one of the reasons why the Allies won World War II,” said Duncan Metcalfe of Athens, Tennessee.

Upstairs, the blacksmith exhibit, printing, weaving, broom-making, and gift shop held their own pieces of history. The rear of the building held the heart of it all, featuring steam machines that once allowed portable power for the lumber industry. Other displays included castings and wood patterns that once created the designs for the iron machinery.

Also on hand were supporters of the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum, like members of the Carousel Organization of American, who showed off their ornately-decorated organs, and representatives of Mississippi State University, who manned a full set up of the casting process.