Leaf, Mississippi

Leaf, Mississippi
Unincorporated community
Leaf, Mississippi
Coordinates: 31°01′33″N 88°47′44″W / 31.02583°N 88.79556°W / 31.02583; -88.79556Coordinates: 31°01′33″N 88°47′44″W / 31.02583°N 88.79556°W / 31.02583; -88.79556
Country United States
State Mississippi
County Greene
Elevation 95 ft (29 m)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
  Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code 39456
GNIS feature ID 693696[1]

Leaf is an unincorporated community in Greene County, Mississippi, United States.[1]

Leaf is located east of Leaf River Wildlife Management Area, within the eastern boundary of De Soto National Forest.

The town is named for the Leaf River, which flows a few miles east.[2]

History

Leaf was settled in 1838, and originally called "Salem". Most of the early settlers in the region were Irish, Scottish or English, and Salem's first families were the Thomsons, Cowarts, McKays, and McLeods.[3]

Salem Academy was founded by W.W. Thompson, and operated between 1845 and 1862. Thompson later served as a Superintendent of Education of Greene County.[2]

Leaf was a stop on the Mobile, Jackson and Kansas City Railroad, which later became the Illinois Central Railroad.[4]

In 1902, three partners bought two sawmills in Leaf, as well as carts, oxen and wagons, and opened the Thomson Brothers Lumber Company. The mills had a total cutting capacity of 50,000 ft (15,000 m) per day, and produced longleaf yellow pine timber and lumber, dressed and rough. In 1903, the company sold the sawmills and nearly 1,600 acres (650 ha) of timber, to William F. Green of Bay Minette, Alabama. Green operated the mill under the named W.F. Green Lumber Company. The sawmill was destroyed by fire in 1906, at a loss of $20,000. The mill was rebuilt, but its operations ceased in 1909 when W.F. Green moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi.[5]

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 "Neely, Mississippi". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. 1 2 "Greene County History of Towns". Genealogy Trails. January 19, 2014.
  3. Green, Jr., Byron E. "Greene County History". USGenNet. Retrieved February 2014.
  4. Howe, Tony. "R. C. Avent & Son". Mississippi Rails. Retrieved February 2014.
  5. Hoffman, Gil. "Thomson Brothers Lumber Co. (1902-1903)". Mississippi Rails. Retrieved February 2014.
  6. "Lloyd Green - Biographic Information". Lloyd Green Tribute. Retrieved February 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 17, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.