Meridian, Mississippi Meridian, Mississippi City of Meridian A view of downtown from the third floor of Meridian City Hall; the 16-story Threefoot Building dominates the horizon A view of downtown from the third floor of Meridian City Hall; the 16-story Threefoot Building dominates the horizon Flag of Meridian, Mississippi Location of Meridian in Lauderdale County Location of Meridian in Lauderdale County Meridian, Mississippi is positioned in the US Meridian, Mississippi - Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the sixth biggest city in the state of Mississippi, United States. It is the governmental center of county of Lauderdale County and the principal town/city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Established in 1860, at the intersection of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and Southern Railway of Mississippi, Meridian's economy was assembled on the stockyards s and goods transported on them, and it became a strategic trading center.
During the American Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman burned much of the town/city to the ground in the Battle of Meridian (February 1864).
Rebuilt after the war, the town/city entered a "Golden Age", as it turn into the biggest city in Mississippi between 1890 and 1930, and a dominant center for manufacturing in the South, with 44 trains arriving and departing daily.
Union Station, assembled in 1906, is now a multi-modal center, giving access to the Meridian Transit System, Greyhound Buses, and Trailways, averaging 242,360 passengers per year.
The populace inside the town/city limits, as stated to 2008 census estimates, is 38,232, but a populace of 232,900 in a 45-mile (72 km) radius and 526,500 in a 65-mile (105 km) radius, of which 104,600 and 234,200 citizens in the order given are in the workforce force, feed the economy of the city.
The region is served by two military facilities, Naval Air Station Meridian and Key Field, which furnish over 4,000 jobs.
NAS Meridian is home to the Regional Counter-Drug Training Academy (RCTA) and the first small-town Department of Homeland Security in the state.
Among the city's many arts organizations and historic buildings are the Riley Center, the Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian Little Theatre, and the Meridian Symphony Orchestra.
The town/city has been chose as the future locale of the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center (MAEC).
Other notable natives include Miss America 1986 Susan Akin, James Chaney an activist who was killed in the Mississippi civil rights workers murders in 1964, and Hartley Peavey, founder of Peavey Electronics headquartered in Meridian.
Main article: History of Meridian, Mississippi Previously inhabited by the Choctaw Native Americans, the region now called Meridian was obtained by the United States under the terms of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830 amid the reconstructionof Indian removal. After the treaty was ratified, European-American pioneer began to move into the area.
Ball and the more industrialized residents of the town/city supported the name "Meridian," believing the term to be synonymous with "junction"; the more agrarian inhabitants of the town/city preferred "Sowashee" (meaning "mad river" in a Native American language), from the name of a close-by creek; and Ragsdale proposed "Ragsdale City." Ball erected a station home on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad the sign on which would alternate between "Meridian" and "Sowashee" each day.
Eventually the continued evolution of the barns s led to an influx of barns workers who overruled the the rest in the town/city and left "Meridian" on the station permanently. The town was officially incorporated as Meridian on February 10, 1860. Its strategic position at the barns junction led to the Confederate assembly of a several military installations to support the war. During the Battle of Meridian in 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman led troops into the city, destroying the barns s in every direction, as well as an arsenal and immense storehouses; his forces burned much of the buildings to the ground. Sherman is reported to have said afterwards, "Meridian, with its depots, store-houses, arsenal, hospitals, offices, hotels, and cantonments no longer exists." Even with the destruction, the barns lines in the town/city were quickly repaired, back in operation 26 working days after the battle. Race relations remained tense amid the Reconstruction era, with the brawl of 1871 following a fire that damaged many businesses.
Between 1890 and 1930, Meridian was the biggest city in Mississippi and a dominant center for manufacturing in the South. Many of the city's historic buildings were assembled amid and just after this era, including the Grand Opera House in 1890, the Wechsler School in 1894, two Carnegie libraries in 1913, and the Threefoot Building, Meridian's tallest high-rise building, in 1929. Downtown Meridian in the early 1900s (photo taken near intersection of 22nd Ave and 4th St looking north) building, assembled to "provide luxury to the common man," opened in downtown Meridian, as did the Temple Theater, which was used as a movie home. The federal courthouse was assembled in 1933 as a WPA project. The rails were essential to transport gasoline and scrap metal to build military vehicles, so Meridian became the region's rail center again.
During the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Meridian was home to a Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) office and a several other activist organizations. James Chaney and other small-town residents, along with Michael Schwerner, his wife Rita, and Andrew Goodman, volunteers from New York City, worked to problematic a improve center.
They held classes amid Freedom Summer to help prepare African Americans in the region to prepare to regain their constitutional franchise, after having been excluded from politics since 1890. Whites in the region resented the activism, and physically attacked civil rights workers. In June 1964, Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman went to Neshoba County, Mississippi, to meet with members of a black church that had been bombed and burned.
Seven Klansmen, including a deputy sheriff, were convicted by an all-white jury in the federal courthouse in Meridian of "depriving the victims of their civil rights" and three were acquitted in the Mississippi civil rights workers murders trial. It was the first time that a white jury had convicted "a white official in a civil rights killing." In 2005, the case was reopened by the state, which brought charges in the case for the first time.
After strip commercial interests began to move downtown, the town/city worked to designate a several areas as historic districts in the 1970s and 80s to preserve the architectural character of the city. The Meridian Historic Districts and Landmarks Commission was created in 1979, and the Meridian Main Street program was established in 1985. Looking into downtown Meridian from the 22nd Avenue Bridge in 2008.
The Hotel Meridian was later demolished.
Meridian Main Street organized a several projects to revitalize downtown, including the assembly of a new Amtrak Station in 1997 based on the design of the historic train station used amid Meridian's Golden Age; it had been demolished. Other projects encompassed the renovation of the Rosenbaum Building in 2001 and Weidmann's Restaurant in 2002, as well as support for integrated urban design. Meridian Main Street, along with The Riley Foundation, helped renovate and adapt the historic Grand Opera House in 2006 for use as the "Mississippi State University Riley Center for Education and the Performing Arts." After ownership of the Meridian Main Street was transferred to the Alliance for Downtown Meridian in late 2007, the two organizations, along with the Meridian Downtown Association, spearheaded the downtown revitalization accomplishment. The Alliance serves as an umbrella organization, allowing the other two organizations to use the its support staff and housing, and in turn the Alliance serves as a liaison between the organizations. Plans were underway to renovate the Threefoot Building, but newly propel Mayor Cheri Barry killed the plans in early 2010. Today, the Alliance helps to promote further evolution and restoration downtown; its goal is to assist businesses such as specialty shops, restaurants, and bars because these help downtown turn into more active amid the day and at evening.
The Meridian Downtown Association is primarily concentrated on increasing foot traffic downtown by organizing special affairs, and the Meridian Main Street program supports existing businesses downtown. Historic hotels in Meridian Great Southern Hotel Meridian, Hotel Meridian Great Southern Hotel (1890) Hotel Meridian (1907) Union Hotel Meridian, Lamar Main article: Hotels in Meridian, Mississippi Given Meridian's site as a barns junction, its travelers have thriving the evolution of many hotels.
Even before Meridian reached its "Golden Age," a several large hotels, including the Great Southern and the Grand Avenue hotels, were assembled before the start of the 20th century. With the expansion of the barns s and the assembly of the initial Union Station in 1906, many hotels were constructed for passengers and workers. The Elmira Hotel was constructed in 1905, and the Terminal Hotel was constructed in 1910. Hotel Meridian was constructed in 1907, and Union Hotel was assembled in 1908. Union Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and both Hotel Meridian and Grand Avenue Hotel were listed as contributing properties to the Meridian Urban Center Historic District. As the town/city grew, the hotels reflected ambitions of the strong economy, as evidenced by the eleven-story high-rise building Lamar Hotel assembled in 1927. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the Lamar Hotel was adapted for use as a county annex building. In 1988 it was listed as a Mississippi Landmark. Young Hotel was assembled in 1931. A staple in the black company precinct that advanced west of the city's core, the hotel was one of the only places in the town/city during the years of segregation where a traveling African American could find a room. Rehabilitation of the Riley Center in 2006 has increased demand and a push for a new downtown hotel. The Threefoot Building has been proposed for redevelopment for this purpose, but restoration accomplishments stalled with a change in town/city administrations. The Threefoot Preservation Society was formed in 2013 to raise enhance awareness and support for the building's renovation, featuring tours of the first floor and anniversary affairs.
Main article: Historic districts in Meridian, Mississippi Meridian, MS Historic Meridian has nine historic districts that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Meridian Downtown Historic District is a combination of two older districts, the Meridian Urban Center Historic District and the Union Station Historic District.
3 Meridian Downtown Historic District runs from the former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad north to 6th St between 18th and 26th Ave, excluding Ragsdale Survey Block 71.
4 Meridian Urban Center Historic District roughly bounded by 21st and 25th Aves, 6th St, and the barns .
Meridian City Hall after restoration accomplishments See also: List of mayors of Meridian, Mississippi Meridian has directed under the mayor-council or "strong mayor" form of government since 1985. A mayor is propel every four years by the populace at-large.
The five members of the town/city council are propel every four years from each of the city's five wards, considered single-member districts.
The mayor, the chief executive officer of the city, is responsible for administering and dominant the day-to-day operations of town/city government.
The town/city council is the legislative arm of the government, setting policy and annually adopting the city's operating budget. Meridian has been described as "the safest town/city in Mississippi with more than 30,000 citizens ." The East Mississippi Correctional Facility is positioned in unincorporated Lauderdale County, near Meridian.
It is directed by the GEO Group on behalf of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The chief of the Meridian Fire Department is Anthony Clayton. The fire department responded to more than 1600 calls in 2009, including 123 structural fires and 609 emergency service calls. The United States Postal Service operates the Meridian, North Meridian, and the West Meridian Station postal services. In state politics, the Mississippi Senate precinct map divides the town/city into three sections. The northern tip of the town/city is in the 31st State Senate District and seats Terry Clark Burton (R).
The and southeastern portions of the town/city lie in the 33rd State Senate District and seats Videt Carmichael (R). In the Mississippi House of Representatives districts, the town/city is divided into four districts. The southern and easterly portions of the town/city reside in House District 81 and are represented by Steven A.
On the nationwide level, the town/city is positioned in Mississippi's 3rd congressional district, represented by Gregg Harper (R), who has been in office since 2009.
Lauderdale County, home to Meridian, has voted for the Republican candidate in every United States presidential election since 1972.
Between 1980 and 2000, the populace declined more than 14%. As of the census of 2000, the city's populace was 39,968, and the populace density was 885.9 inhabitants per square mile (342.0/km2). In 2008, the town/city was the sixth biggest in the state. The populace increased as of 2010.
Meridian is the principal town/city in the Meridian micropolitan area, which as of 2009 consisted of three counties Clarke, Kemper, and Lauderdale and had a populace of 106,139. There is a populace of 232,900 in a 45-mile (72 km) radius and 526,500 in a 65-mile (105 km) radius. While the overall populace growth of the town/city has varied, there has been a steady expansion in the number and percentage of non-white residents. The only diminish in this group was between 1960 and 1970, when the city's overall populace declined markedly.
The populace of Meridian and its surrounds is fairly observant, with 65.2% of Lauderdale County identifying as affiliated with some type of theological congregation, compared with the nationwide average of 50.2%. Of the affiliated in 2000, 30,068 (59.0%) were in the Southern Baptist Convention, 9,469 (18.6%) were with the United Methodist Church, and 1,872 (3.7%) were associated with the Catholic Church. Immigrant Jews from Germany and easterly Europe were influential in commercial evolution of the city, building businesses and services. Congregation Beth Israel was established in 1868, just before the city's "Golden Age." Meridian once had the biggest Jewish improve in the state, with 575 Jewish citizens living in the town/city in 1927. Today, severaler than 40 Jews live in Meridian, most of whom are elderly. Meridian is positioned in the North Central Hills region of Mississippi in Lauderdale County.
Along primary highways, the town/city is 93 mi (150 km) east of Jackson, Mississippi; 154 mi (248 km) west of Birmingham, Alabama; 202 mi (325 km) northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana; 231 mi (372 km) southeast of Memphis, Tennessee; and 297 mi (478 km) west of Atlanta, Georgia. The region surrounding the town/city is veiled with oak and pine forests, and its topography consists of clay hills and the bottom lands of the head waters of the Chickasawhay River. Numerous small creeks are found throughout the town/city and small lakes and woodlands lie in the northern and southern portions of the city.
Sowashee Creek runs through the southern portion of the town/city and chapters off into Gallagher's Creek, which flows through the center of the city.
Climate data for Meridian (Meridian Regional Airport), Mississippi Meridian Public School District Education 1050 City of Meridian Government 570 The town/city was the biggest in Mississippi around the start of the 20th century, with five primary rail lines and 44 trains coming in and out daily. The city's economy not only depended on the rails but the goods, such as timber and cotton, transported on them.
With these rail-based industries, the town/city was a great economic power in the state and region from about 1890 through 1930. Although its economy slowed with the diminish of the barns ing trade in the 1950s, the town/city has adapted, moving from a largely rail-based economy to a more diversified one, with healthcare, military, and manufacturing employing the most citizens . Along with Lauderdale County and the town/city of Marion, Meridian is served by the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation, which was formed in 1996 by a group of company leaders from the area. While as of April 2010, the city's civilian workforce force was only 15,420 citizens , there is a populace of 232,900 in a 45-mile (72 km) radius and 526,500 in a 65-mile (105 km) radius, of which 104,600 and 234,200 citizens in the order given are in the workforce force. The town/city thus serves as a core of employment, retail, community care, and culture activities. Eighty percent of Lauderdale County's workers reside in the county while 90% live inside 45 miles. In April 2010, there were 6,260 citizens working in the healthcare field in Lauderdale County. Rush Hospital is the biggest healthcare organization in the region, employing 2,610 citizens , followed by East Mississippi State Hospital with 1,500 and Anderson Hospital with 1,475. There are three hospitals in Meridian, as well as many other healthcare-related facilities.
Other healthcare facilities in Meridian include the Alliance Health Center and East Mississippi State Hospital, the latter of which has been in operation since 1882. Retail is another primary employer in the county, with 5,280 citizens working in April 2010. Nearly $2 billion annually is spent on retail purchases in the city. The 633,685-square-foot (58,871 m2) Bonita Lakes Mall offers over one hundred shopping venues, including department stores, specialty shops, restaurants, eateries, and United Artists Theatres. Phase I of the assembly of Meridian Crossroads, a 375,000-square-foot (34,800 m2) shopping center in the Bonita Lakes area, was instead of in November 2007, providing a primary boost to retail in the area. Also, the shopping precinct on North Hills Street has continued to expand, and in March 2007, additional retail and office space was opened near the Highway 19 Walmart Supercenter. The region is also served by two military facilities, Naval Air Station Meridian and Key Field, which supply over 4,000 jobs to inhabitants of the encircling area. NAS Meridian provides training for naval carrier pilots and other enlisted personnel.
Containing the first small-town Department of Homeland Security in the state, the town/city is the prestige in a nine county county-wide response team and a twenty-nine county county-wide response task force. Key Field is the site of the famous flight by brothers Fred and Al Key, who set a world endurance flight record in 1935. Key Field is now home to the 186th Air Refueling Wing of the Air National Guard and a support facility for the 185th Aviation Brigade of the Army National Guard. The site also contains an exhibit reviewing the history of aviation, and is the home of Meridian's Aviation Museum. In downtown, the MSU Riley Center provides revenue from tourism, arts, and entertainment sales. The Riley Center attracts more than 60,000 visitors to downtown Meridian annually for conferences, meetings, and performances. Loeb's Department Store on Front St has remained a Mississippi clothing landmark, having passed through four generations of family ownership.
Meridian Museum of Art Known for more than a century of arts, Meridian contains many art and cultural organizations and hosts many cultural affairs. One of the first art organizations in the city, The Meridian Art League, was established in February 1933.
Art exhibitions were originally held in Lamar Hotel in downtown Meridian, but after a name change to Meridian Art Association in 1949, exhibitions were held at various locations around the city.
After the Carnegie library at 25th Ave and 7th St was closed, the Art Association remodelled the building into the Meridian Museum of Art to serve as a permanent home for exhibits. The exhibition was opened in 1970 and has since featured rotating exhibitions as well as many educational programs for both students and grownups.
The Meridian Council for the Arts (MCA) was established as Meridian's and Lauderdale County's official arts agency in 1978.
MCA operates its Community Art Grants program, the annual Threefoot Festival, a several workshops, and other special affairs each year. MCA is partnered with many arts organizations in the town/city and county including the Meridian Museum of Art, the Meridian Little Theatre, and the Meridian Symphony Orchestra. Meridian Little Theatre, one of the South's earliest subscription-based improve theatres, was assembled in 1932 and presently provides entertainment to inhabitants of and visitors to Meridian and Lauderdale County, entertaining over 22,000 guests each season, making it Mississippi's most-attended improve theatre. The Meridian Symphony Orchestra (MSO) established in 1961 played its first concert in 1962 and its first full season in 1963.
The Orchestra helped the Meridian Public School District precarious its own orchestra and strings programs and also helped precarious the Meridian Symphony Chorus.
A $10 million grant in 2000 by the Riley Foundation, a small-town foundation chartered in 1998, sparked the building's restoration while $15 million came from a combination of city, county, and federal grants. The opera home's renovation was instead of in September 2006 under the new name "Mississippi State University Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts." The Riley Center, which includes a 950-seat auditorium for live performances, a 200-seat studio theater, and 30,000 sq ft (2,787 m2) of meeting space, attracts more than 60,000 visitors to downtown Meridian annually for conferences, meetings, and performances. Meridian is rightly considered an architectural treasure trove being one the nations most endured metros/cities from the turn of the last century.
Architecture students from around the country and Canada are known to visit Meridian in groups as part of their coursework due to various structures in the town/city having been designed by noted architects.
Noted California Architect Wallace Neff designed a number of homes in Meridian as well as in the Alabama Black Belt which adjoins the town/city athwart the close-by Alabama State line.
He had relatives in Meridian and Selma who were executives in the then grow railroad trade and would take commissions in the region when commissions in California were lean.
The Meridian Post Office with its interior done entirely of bronze and Verde marble is also noteworthy as a very fine example of the type of Post Office structures assembled in grow and well to do metros/cities in the 1920s and originally had Lalique lighting which was removed sadly amid a 1960s remodeling and which are now in private residences on Poplar Springs Drive and in North Hills.
Meridian has also been chose as the future locale of the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center (MAEC).
The Mississippi Legislature allowed the idea in 2001 and in 2006 promised $4 million in funding if private contributors could raise $8 million. The town/city donated $50,000 to the cause in September 2007. The MAEC, as proposed, would be positioned on 175 acres (71 ha) at Bonita Lakes and consist of an outside amphitheatre, an indoor concert hall, and a Hall of Fame honoring Mississippi artists. The Hall of Fame will be positioned downtown in the old Montana's building.
That property and the adjoining Meridian Hotel building were acquired in July 2010 for $300,000. In February 2009, the MAEC revealed its Walk of Fame outside of the Riley Center in an attempt to promote the prepared Hall of Fame.
The first star on the walk was dedicated to Jimmie Rodgers, a Meridian native. In September of the same year, the second star was revealed, recognizing B.B.
King, a famous blues musician from Mississippi. On June 1, 2010, authors Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty, and William Faulkner were added to the walk. Sela Ward was added to the walk on June 24, 2010. The MAEC plans to add many more Mississippi-born stars to the Walk of Fame; names mentioned include Morgan Freeman, Jimmy Buffett, Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, and others. In addition to the exhibition building itself, there are outside memorials, and a vintage steam locomotive on display. A Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker has been placed in Meridian to honor the town/city as the place of birth of Jimmie Rodgers and emphasizes his importance to the evolution of the blues style of music in Mississippi.
The town/city was the first site to receive this designation outside the Mississippi Delta. Also, a Mississippi Country Music Trail marker was placed in Oak Grove Cemetery with respect to Rodgers on June 1, 2010. Each year since 1953, the town/city has held a festival amid May to honor the anniversary of his death. Since 1992, Meridian has been a host of the State Games of Mississippi, a statewide annual multi-sport event modeled after the Olympic Games. The organization is a member of the National Congress of State Games, which is affiliated with the U.S.
Originally the games were held in one weekend in June, but as more sports were added, the event was period to two weekends. Opening ceremonies always begin on the third Friday in June in downtown Meridian. The games are held at a several sports parks, including Northeast Park, Sammie Davidson Complex, and other various fields throughout the city.
Other sports fields include the Meridian Jaycee Soccer Complex, Sykes Park, and Phil Hardin Park. There are also a several golf courses in the city, including the aforementioned Lakeview Municipal Golf Course, an 18-hole course open to the enhance daily. Briarwood County Club, positioned on Highway 39 North, is a private club with golf, swimming, fishing, and dining facilities. Other golf courses serving the town/city include Northwood Country Club, Okatibbee Creek Golf Center, and Ponta Creek Golf Course. Amtrak's Crescent line joins Meridian with the metros/cities of New York, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Charlotte, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; and New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Union Station Multi-Modal Transportation Center (MMTC) is positioned at 1901 Front Street, part of the Meridian Downtown Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Originally assembled in 1906, but later completed in 1966 then rebuilt in 1997, the station includes a several modes of transit including the Meridian Transit System, Amtrak, Norfolk Southern rail corridor, Greyhound buses, Trailways and other providers of transit services.
The town/city is served by Meridian Regional Airport, positioned at Key Field, 2811 Airport Boulevard South, 3 mi (4.8 km) southwest of the city.
From June 4 until July 1, 1935, the brothers flew over the town/city in their plane, the "Ole Miss." Begins in Meridian and runs north to Shuqualak, Mississippi.
Begins in Meridian and runs north to Lynville, Mississippi.
Meridian Community College has served the town/city since 1937 Early enhance education in Meridian was based on the 1870 Mississippi Constitution.
From 1870 to 1885, trustees appointed by the City Council served on the Board of School Directors, which had authority to operate the schools. Although there were a several schools in the town/city before 1884, they were privately owned and only enrolled about 400 students.
The town/city did not build its first publicly owned school until September 1884. The first enhance school for blacks in the town/city was held in facilities rented from St.
The Mississippi Legislature amended the town/city charter in January 1888 to allow the town/city to maintain its own municipal school district, and in March of the same year $30,000 in bonds was allowed for the town/city to build new enhance schools. From this bond, the Wechsler School was assembled in 1894, becoming the first brick enhance school building in the state assembled for blacks. From this early precinct and later additions, the Meridian Public School District interval to its current size, which now includes six elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and 3 high schools. The town/city also contains a several private schools including Lamar School, Calvary Christian School, Community Christian School, and St.
Patrick's Catholic School. The ground of Meridian High School, the chief high school in the district, is situated in 37 acres (15 ha), including six buildings and 111 classrooms.
Meridian Community College, established in 1937, is positioned at 910 Highway 19 N and offers no-charge tuition for four semesters to graduates from the Meridian Public and Lauderdale County School Districts as well as homeschooled kids who reside inside Lauderdale County. Originally known as Meridian Junior College and positioned at Meridian High School, the college moved to its present locale in 1965.
The name change from Meridian Junior College to Meridian Community College took place In 1987 "to more accurately reflect the range of opportunities it provides for a burgeoning improve area." Mississippi State University also operates a ground in the city.
Meridian is served by the Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library, positioned at the corner of 7th Street and 26th Avenue.
Paul Methodist Church, and the library for caucasians was established in a building originally owned by members of the First Presbyterian Church of Meridian, who sold it to the town/city on September 25, 1911. The African American library was the only library for blacks in the state until after World War I and is the only Carnegie library ever assembled for African Americans in the country. The two libraries served the town/city until 1967, when the establishments became integrated because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, combined their collections, and moved all materials to their current location. The former white library was renovated and converted into the Meridian Museum of Art in 1970, and the former black library was completed on May 28, 2008. The command posts of Meridian's only daily newspaper, The Meridian Star The only daily journal printed in the town/city is The Meridian Star, which has been in operation since 1898. The paper was originally titled The Evening Star but was retitled in 1915 and has been Meridian's only daily journal since 1921.
Although the Meridian Star is now the only journal printed in the city, there have been a several other historical newspapers.
The Digest concentrated on issues relevant to the black population of the region, gathering a circulation of about 5,000 citizens . Other newspapers in the town/city have encompassed The Colored Messenger, The State, The Weekly Mercury, The Blade, Weekly Echo, Fair Play, Headlight, Meridian Morning Sun, Teacher and Preacher, and Clarion. The town/city is the principal town/city in the Meridian, Mississippi Designated Market Area (DMA), which includes 72,180 homeholds with televisions. WTOK-TV broadcasts as an ABC partner from the city, headquartered at 815 23rd Avenue. WTOK operates two digital subchannels, WTOK-DT2, a My - Network - TV affiliate, and WTOK-DT3, Meridian's CW. WGBC-TV, the market's NBC affiliate, is headquartered at 1151 Crestview Circle. Since January 5, 2009, WGBC has also been the market's FOX affiliate, and it also features some programming from the Retro Television Network (RTN).
The town/city is also the principal town/city in the Meridian Arbitron Radio Market, which includes 64,500 citizens over the age of 12. WUCL (FM 105.7), headquartered at 3436 Highway 45 North, takes the biggest share of ratings in the market at 14.8% in Fall 2009.
Meridian has produced or hosted many famous citizens in the arts and other areas.
Gil Carmichael, Meridian businessman and transit specialist, was the Republican nominee for the Mississippi Senate in 1966 and 1967, U.S.
Lewis Mc - Allister, a businessman in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was the first Republican to serve in the Mississippi House of Representatives since Reconstruction, 1962 1968; he resided in Meridian before to 1971.
Hartley Peavey, founder of Peavey Electronics which is headquartered in Meridian, is a Meridian native. Walker, a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for East Baton Rouge Parish from 1964 to 1972, was born in Meridian in 1923.
The guitarist-songwriter George Cummings, born in Meridian in 1938, was a beginning member of Dr.
Paul Davis, a singer-songwriter best known for the late 1970s and early 1980s pop hits "I Go Crazy" and "'65 Love Affair", was born in Meridian in 1948; after retiring from the music business, he returned to the town/city where he remained until a fatal heart attack in 2008. The Jimmie Rodgers Museum is positioned in Meridian, and the Jimmie Rodgers Festival has been an annual Meridian event since 1953. George Soule, the singer-songwriter most famous for the rhythm and blues anthem "Get Involved", is a resident of Meridian, where he was born in 1945.
Singer Al Wilson, born in June 1939, was a Meridian native.
Cullen Bohannon, the protagonist of the AMC series Hell on Wheels, hails from Meridian, Mississippi, where he was a tobacco farmer and later a Confederate soldier amid the American Civil War. a b c d Campbell Robertson, "Last Chapter for a Courthouse Where Mississippi Faced Its Past", New York Times, September 18, 2012, p.
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The Meridian Star.
"Rodgers, Williams, Welty, and Faulkner Honored in Meridian Today".
The Meridian Star.
Retrieved June 1, 2010.
The Meridian Star.
"Meridian Chapter ATOS Temple".
"Meridian, Mississippi Temple Theater History".
"Temple Theater, Meridian, Mississippi".
"Steam Locomotive Information Meridian & Bigbee RR No.
Meridian, MS: The Meridian Star.
Dealy, Jessica (June 1, 2010).
"City of Meridian, MS Recreation".
"State Games of Mississippi FAQ".
"State Games of Mississippi About Us".
Meridian Star.
"Parks in Meridian, MS".
"Sports Fields in Meridian, MS".
"Briarwood Country Club Meridian, MS About Us".
"Meridian, MS FAQ".
"Meridian Regional Airport".
"Meridian Regional Airport General Information".
Meridian, Mississippi: T.
"Meridian Public School District Elementary Schools".
"Meridian Public School District Middle Schools".
"Meridian Public School District High Schools".
"Private Schools in Meridian, Mississippi".
"Meridian High School History".
Meridian Public School District.
"History of Meridian Community College".
"MSU Meridian Quick Facts".
Meridian, MS: The Meridian Star.
"FPC Meridian History".
National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Merrehope Historic District.
The Meridian Star.
"Lauderdale Count The Meridian Star".
The Meridian Star.
"Mississippi Public Broadcasting Coverage Maps".
The Meridian Star.
The Meridian Star.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meridian, Mississippi.
Wikisource-logo.svg "Meridian, a town/city and the county-seat of Lauderdale county, Mississippi, U.S.A.".
Categories:
Cities in Mississippi - Cities in Lauderdale County, Mississippi - Meridian, Mississippi - County seats in Mississippi - Cities in Meridian micropolitan region - Mississippi Blues Trail
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