1989: Woodville's Courthouse Square
The history and architecture of Woodville's small-town downtown area
This story was selected by the Country Roads magazine editorial team as the representative piece for 1989 in the archival project "40 Stories From 40 Years"—celebrating the magazine's 40th anniversary on stands. Click here to read more stories from the project.
The Woodville Town Square offers visitors an increasingly rare chance to witness a unique era of American culture which is rapidly fading away. As stores and businesses in many cities and towns today begin to make the flight out of the downtown area to re-locate on bypasses and in malls, many town squares have evolved into slums and ghost towns. Woodville is one of the very few towns still existing which has successfully managed to maintain the charm and traditional character of the old fashioned bustling courthouse square.
Older residents say our town square has changed little in appearance during their lifetimes. The names of many businesses have changed and re-located time and time again, but for the most part, storefronts and many buildings appear just as they have since the early part of the century.
Woodville, founded in 1811 in Mississippi's second oldest county, Wilkinson, is one of Mississippi's oldest and most historical towns. The first courthouse in Wilkinson County was at Wilkinsburg, now little more than a name in a history book, having existed in the area of the site of the present day Fort Adams on the Mississippi River. The courthouse was moved to Woodville in 1829.
An impressive Federal style building was built in 1832 which served as our courthouse until it was razed in 1903 to build the current structure. The grounds are basically the same as they have been since the early 1800s, including the old herringbone pattern brick sidewalk which was recently restored and the beautiful old landmark, "The Royal Oak," the ancient live oak which towers over the street of its name on the west side of the courthouse. Many old maps use the Royal Oak as a reference, as it was well known throughout Mississippi and Louisiana even in the early 1800s.
On the south side of the courthouse, particular attention is given to two very historical buildings. On the southeastern corner, with six columns across the front, is the former office building for the Wilkinson-West Feliciana Railroad. Built in 1832, the building is reputed to be one of the oldest railroad office buildings. It is currently being restored by the Woodville Civic Club. Directly down the street facing it, on the southwestern corner of the square is the old building which housed a branch of the territorial bank. Built during the mid to late 1810s, this building is also being restored by the Woodville Civic Club.
The street running between the two buildings is called Commercial Row. At the far eastern end, the building which houses Foster Insurance and Sue's Sewing Boutique was probably constructed around the early 1830s. The upstairs houses an apartment which is currently being restored by David Smith, co-owner of South of the Border Restaurant. Next to this, where Newman's Funeral Home is located, is an old building constructed possibly as early as the 1840s, which was used around the turn of the century as the shop of Sarphie's Jewelry, which is now a major jeweler in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, but began right here in Woodville. The building which houses Withers' Florist was constructed around the early 1900s or late 1890s and fits that period's business architecture well. The red brick building with the iron shutters is the old Bramlette law office where 4 generations of their family have practiced law. The long row of offices in the white wooden building on the western end dates back very far into Woodville's history. No one knows when these buildings were built, but the architectural style indicates a building date of around 1810. This building originally had fireplaces in almost every office and ox-blood plaster walls. Many years of constant renovation have altered this somewhat, but the general style is still present. This building held the offices of many of Woodville's earliest lawyers.
On the hill at the far western end of the Commercial Row is the law office of this writer, which for many years was the law office of Mr. Clay Tucker and his father, Mr. W.F. Tucker. Mr. Clay practiced in Woodville for over 60 years. Before being moved from Natchez Street, this building housed the office of Dr. J.P. Casey.
At the north end of the square sits the Woodville Town Hall, which originally was the bank. It, too, was recently renovated close to its original state, though some further work is planned for the future.
On the eastern side of the square is Boston Row, which contains several interesting buildings. Polk's Meat Market at the northern ed has become somewhat of a nostalgia symbol for many Woodvillians. On down the street is the old Woodville Hotel which saw its last guests about twenty-five years ago. Although the second floor of the building was added around the early twentieth century, the ground floor shops, which are really a series of several buildings joined together by the front facade, are believed to have been constructed between the 1820s and 1840s. Cumbo's Frame Shop is in an attractive building of the style of the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Next is a building which is currently being restored and completely renovated to serve as the law office of our Mayor, Ron Senko. The next building is the former Best's 5 & 10 Store. It bears the date of its construction at the top, 1869. Martens' Drug Store was long the drug store of Mr. August Martens and is a substantial fixture of Boston Row.
Several important buildings which have been lost from our town square include the old Odd Fellows building and the old Masonic Lodge. These two burned in 1930 and 1932 respectively. The original Odd Fellows building was built in 1858 and burned the first time on October 1, 1900 and then again on November 10, 1930. The old Masonic Lodge was an even older structure. The current buildings are substantial buildings reminiscent of the early 1930s.
At the south end of the square, about where the modern post office is today, was the old Gabe Kahn store, which was a quaint two story brick building with an iron balcony. It was probably built around the early 1800s and was razed about 1960.
Every generation since Woodville was founded has its own memories on the square. While I have fond memories of Martens' Drug Store, my grandmother vividly remembers Adam's Drug Store and her father used to talk of McGehee's Drug Store, and so on. The names and faces have changed a little, but the sights and scenery have remained basically the same, aging gracefully with the passing of the generations. It seems a pity that any businesses in any town would ever have abandoned our rich and colorful squares. After all, what is a town square in reality but a large open air shopping mall constructed around the hub of the county's government.