Efforts began this week to clean out the attic at Meridian Railroad Museum with many of the items found being for sale. The public is invited to come see what treasures they can find to take home. Photo by Anne McKee

This week, as we cleaned the attic at Meridian Railroad Museum, I thumbed document after document with family names I recognized and stared into unknown faces, many in snap shots but as many were pictured in nice framed images. I could almost hear their stories.

We all know the story, how the first settler to this area, Richard McLemore, longed for a real city with churches, schools, families and children. He longed so intensely that he actually gave away land but only a few moved to the community known as Sowashee Junction.

 

That was until 1854 when officials from the Mobile and Ohio Railroad arrived at his farm and made a proposal. They were building a line from Mobile, Alabama, to Macon, Mississippi. I have read several accounts detailing that in October 1855, the first Mobile and Ohio train stopped at McLemore plantation and put up a sign, Sowashee Station.

 

Of course we know that later the officials changed the name to Meridian.

 

But McLemore’s dream came to fruition. McLemore embraced the new population because things moved quickly. And it wasn’t too long until the Southern Railroad Company decided to run a line from Vicksburg, to Montgomery, Alabama.

 

And the first cross-roads (rail tracks) were completed at a place soon to be known as Meridian, Mississippi.

 

The people came: families, churches and schools as McLemore had wished and two of the men were named Ragsdale and Ball, known today as the founders of Meridian. You can meet them at the annual Rose Hill Cemetery Tour in Meridian on the last Saturday in September. But more about that later.

 

It wasn’t too many years until General Sherman visited Meridian, and I will tell you all about the General and his famous quote in a later newspaper story.

 

But throughout many years, many additional train lines arrived and merged and reorganized, changed names and destinations and Meridian has continued to be a rail center.

 

Here is a quote from the Illustrated Handbook  of Meridian, Mississippi, 1907.

 

“Meridian is essentially a child of the railroad …”

 

From my research, it is thought that from 1910-1940s, the years were known as the  golden age of railroading in Meridian. Employment at the shops reached upwards of 5,000, peaking during World War I and again in the 1940s during World War II.

 

I wrote all of that to write this. This week as we cleaned and brought items down from an attic that have not seen the light of day for 50 plus years, we feel that once again, Mr. McLemore was in the room, and he was smiling.

 

If railroading is your thing, if you are a rail-fan or your grandfather was a railroad-man, then come to the Meridian Railroad Museum and see it all in person. The items will be for sale.

 

Let me be clear. We have many artifacts in the museum “on-loan” and of course, they will not be included in the sale.

 

One more thing, the first customer last Friday said, when first observing  the items, “It’s overwhelming.”

 

Anne McKee is executive director at Meridian Railroad Museum. Call her at 601-479-2483 (before or after regular hours) or stop by museum at 1805 Front Street.