I like Hattiesburg for the:

[daisy]

I wanted to hear what others like about Hattiesburg. I like the pine trees-- their beauty, their different shapes-the slingshot pine on 49S.

I like their sounds in the breezes and the pine straw,pinecones and their smell. What do you like about Hattiesburg?:smt006 :smt038 :smt119 :smt103

[JB2379]

I like the location. I like the shopping areas. For the most part, the people are nice also.

[58ford]

A friend of mine once said he always though the "slingshot pine" looked like a chick with her legs inthe air.

[fuzzis]

I like the people.

fuzzis

[BayStBum]

I like Hattiesburg for the little pond at USM, for the tiger’s roar at HHS, for the groundhogs at the zoo, for the cheeseburgers at the Gold Post, for the old houses on the east side, for the ironwork at the post office, for the beauty of its daughters, for the Santa at Forrest General, for the overabundance of azaleas and crepe myrtles, for the rain and the one cool month a year, and for being home.

[58ford]

The confidence inspiring as well as down right entertaining City government.

[wilebill]

I hate pine trees. They want to snap halfway up and fall on your house when the wind blows hard. They should be confined to tree farms for pulpwood. The city should outlaw pine trees within the city limits.

Wynn should then be reappointed as the head tree cutter so he could keep a job and not hurt anybody's feelings.

[58ford]

BEAVERS!!!
Go to city park in the evening & watch the beavers swimming in gordon's Creek.

[wilebill]

Like Fuzzis said, I like the people (most of them anyway).

I like the economic opportunity. If you can't make a decent living here you ain't trying.

I like that we're close to a lot of places but not in the middle of any of them.

[gilgamesh]

A friend of mine once said he always though the "slingshot pine" looked like a chick with her legs inthe air.

You are completely incorrigible! was she eating donuts?

[daisy]

I like the Christmas decorations in Hattiesburg--downtown,The Oaks, back off S.34th and all through there.

[ACEsmom]

I like the shopping on the west side.

I like that it's not Jones County - where everyone is related.

I love Hudsons!!!

[58ford]

You are completely incorrigible! was she eating donuts?

No, but she will be the next time i tell that story.

[gilgamesh]

Glad I could help.

[daisy]

I like the diversity of the events at the Forrest County Multi-Purpose Center. I think they're having a dog agility show there this week.

[Derrick B]

Iwas born and raised here and I love Hattiesburg for many reasons. I've lived other places in my life but Ive always came home. Seeing the Beverly Drive-In theater on my way up hwy 49 makes me realize I'm home. I love a 1 dollar draft beer at the End Zone. The way people will let you out into traffic no matter how busy or late they are. I love a greasy Wards Big one combo. I love to hear the Eagle scream after a touchdown at a USM football game. I love the way people from other parts of the country and the world always say "There are the nicest people here that the've ever met." Most of all I love my family now and my mom and dad are buried here and I hope to be also one day and have Ice cream served at my funeral because its hard to cry holding an ice cream cone:smt038

[MrPaulB007]

BEAVERS!!!
Go to city park in the evening & watch the beavers swimming in gordon's Creek.

I love Hattiesburg because people occaisionally post positive things like this thread. I also love Hattiesburg for the memories, the current conditions, and the possibilities.

Try this, I did it as a kid and it was great! Get in Gordon's creek at 28th and Lincoln and walk to the zoo in the creek!

Yeah, there was broken bottles here and there, but you can see a Mississippi nature trail while walking in less than knee deep water. Then, get out at the zoo and see what animals have been shipped in there.

Like I said, the memories, the conditions and the possibilities are what I love. Most of that is possible and positive because the people are.

That and I like to eat turnips...or kudsoo! Beavers are fun to watch and eat as well. Plus, Beavers take out the pines Wilebil hates. No downside to beavers unless you are a timberfarmer!

I think the creek should be another rails to trails, only call it a "the splashing path!" What other town in MS would have such an attraction?

[Big Enos Burdette]

... because I married a woman from here ... because I can still have a seat and eat at Coney Island with a chili recipie that is older than I am ... because when I've ever needed help, I've never been unable to obtain it ... because the golf courses are nice ... because I can drive to NOLA or Jackson or Mobile or Birmingham in a really short amount of time (even though I fly most often) ...

Oh, I'm sure I can think of more reasons (and, as well, many reasons why I like OTHER places) ... maybe more later ...

BEB

[BiGCoUnTrY06]

i like Chain Electrics christmas display. I can remember when I was a kid driving almost 30 miles to see the display.
I take my kids every year so they will have memories too.

[Conveyor Belt]

Where is the Chain Electric display?

[BiGCoUnTrY06]

Well it was at the Chain Electric building on West Pine Street.
It has Been 2 yrs since I was last there.

[daisy]

I like Hattiesburg for the honesty and diversity of businesses and professions. Whether it be hairstylist, car mechanics, jewelry repair,veterinarian, banker, lawyer etc; if you look and ask around you can find someone to meet your needs who will usually stay in Hattiesburg for a long time.

[58ford]

I like Hattiesburg for the honesty and diversity of businesses and professions. Whether it be hairstylist, car mechanics, jewelry repair,veterinarian, banker, lawyer etc; if you look and ask around you can find someone to meet your needs who will usually stay in Hattiesburg for a long time.

and Beavers!

[Kitty]

I like Hattiesburg for the:

People, including the multi-generational "old Hattiesburg" families who were instrumental in establishing the city; the retirees who relocate here from other regions of the country and become actively engaged in making our community an even better place; the Southern Miss graduates who love the area so much they decide to put down roots here.

Places, including the Rose Garden at Southern Miss; the Zoo at Kamper Park; Downtown.

Things, including comprehensive medical services; a vast array of shopping and retail establishments; great restaurants.

People. Places. Things. I guess that makes Hattiesburg the perfect "noun." :)

[Neenytwo]

... ... because I can still have a seat and eat at Coney Island with a chili recipie that is older than I am ...

I love to eat at Coney Island. If you have never had a Debbie made BLT you are missing out. Too bad they arent open on the weekends. Yummy that sounds so good.

I miss Ward's! Ya'll are making me hungry. I want a chili cheese dog...

[The east man]

I Love to walk the old railway nature trail, I love the zoo and Kamper park, I love the shops, and restaurants, (so different from over here). I love Mug Shots, and the new movie complex. I love the tailgating when the football team is at home, I love the football games at the rock, I love and feel so proud when my daughter runs unto the soccer field to play for USM. But most of all I love the people. Always friendly, always polite, and always helpful. We have only 2 visits left, one in October for our daughters senior day, and our final visit for her graduation day in May. I will miss Hattiesburg and the people when we leave for the last time, it has given us so many happy memories. Cherish what you have, you are very lucky people:smt002

[Donzi]

I like tailgating at the "ROCK".:smt038

[Blondie]

USM football, Downtown, the Southern hospitality and food, seeing people sell watermelons and sweet potatoes on the side of the road, that in times of need people will help each other even if you don't know each other, seeing the students come to H'burg every August. Great place to live!!

[daisy]

I like Hattiesburg for the beautiful sunset on 98 west and the sound of the trains.

[XC9]

I used to love Hattiesburg because it was small enough to where most people knew each other and got along great. It is just to BIG now. Sorry everyone, but I hate progress. Progress brings crime in most instances. I do love the pines, I miss the heck out of Van Hook Golf Course and yes, most people who have been here for 20 years plus are very helpful and nice. I used to enjoy going to Hudsons when it was out by the drive-in-a LONG time ago. Progress just means you are aging and we all know I do not believe in that. lol

[ynotme297]

i'm a transplant here. i've lived here more years than any other place i've ever been. i love this city, even with all the crap that is going on now days. i just hope and pray that things will turn around and it will be the safe, friendly city it once was.

[58ford]

When I was little kid (8-10yr. old)I would walk all the way from my grandmothers house on Court St. to the public library to get books.
she'd give me some change so my brother & I could get burgers at Coney Island. We use d to play down by Gordon's Creek & in the abandoned Rebel arms building. I went to Camp Elementary School. I was terrified as a 4 yr. old by a mechanical robot in Kent's Department Store. My dad gave me 50 cents to walk to the gas station for gas for the lawn mower & I had enough left over for candy. When I was 6 I kissed Shelley Grace Green in the bushes behind Mrs. Wright's kindergarten & almost cried when she told our teacher. We rode our bicycles on the sidewalk. I was born in the old Methodist Hospital where the the Police station is now. My dad handed out Bubble gum cigars in the old Hospital Cafe across the street 'cause he couldn't afford real cigars. He had a gas tiller & tilled other people's gardens for extra cash. Huricane Camile Knocked down a pecan tree between my Grandparent's house & garage & missed both of them. I've got a picture of my brother & I playing in the fallen tree. Dad had a '67 dodge Charger & wore Aqua Velva.

I love this town.
I've lived other places, but this Hattiesburg is my home.
Stop F**king with it!

[TheGenius]

I like Hattiesburg for the Academia. Such activities as Astronomy, Astrology and Music.




"We (mankind) are unlikely to survive if we do not make full and creative use of our intelligence" -Carl Sagan pg 238 "The Dragons of Eden: Speculations of the Evolution of Human Intelligence".

[daisy]

I like Hattiesburg for the pretty landscaping in the medians along 98 west and along Hardy West to 49.

[HubCityMan1912]

Well MH folks, hope y'all longtime members dont mind "a re-run" too much, but this "I like H'burg" thread reminded me of a similar thread from last summer titled "What's right with Hattiesburg?", so I thought I'd pull up a (rather long-winded) post of mine from then and share it again here, since it seems to [partially] apply in this context (i.e. what's "right" with Hattiesburg--especially it's proud past--is mainly what "I like Hattiesburg for")...

Fellow Hattiesburgans: All of the above "right/good/positive" answers posted so far as answers to the timely question of "What's 'right' with Hattiesburg" are true and valid (and there are plenty more that yet could/should be listed)...I sincerely thank and commend the good person "Tully Mars" who commenced this thread...

But, since my own personal "roots" go deep here in South Mississippi (1843 maternally, 1917 paternally), I'd respectfully like to try and go back to "ground zero" first (i.e. our "Foundations" and actual Founding), and work our way up to our present times, and then hopefully we can opinionate upon the "right, good and positive things" in store for Hattiesburg's short and longterm future...

*1) Almighty God's original splendor Graced upon this Blessed domain of His earthly Creation: The Great "Piney Woods" (now more commonly called "the Pine Belt")--the vast unbroken stands of the massive virgin Southern Yellow Pines atop the gently rolling hills and the sparkling crystal streams...The "Native Americans" (Choctaws/Cherokees/Biloxis, et al) and the earliest "white" settlers recorded that: "...A man could ride horseback in a steady full gallop from Meridian to Biloxi Beach without breaking stride..." [Meaning that so tall and dense was the ever-green pine-needle canopy overhead that little or no sunlight penetrated to the forest floor, which meant no obstructing undergrowth/underbrush--only the flattened piles of soft brown pinestraw as far as the eye could see.]...Such was the terrain, color, and smell of these spectacular piney woods, that the early Americans described this magnificent Pine Tree land as "a natural outdoor cathedral"! (Sadly, it's hard for us of today to even imagine--much less actually experience--such a grand and pristine scene of sight and smell...)

*2) The original Piney Woods inhabitants (as far back as we presently know--possibly 8000 years or more): The "Native Americans" (especially the "Choctaws") of our homeland were an intelligent, highly developed, and peace-loving people (unlike a number of warlike "Indian Tribes"--particularly in the West), who were part of the famous "Five 'Civilized' Tribes" of the American South--who nurtured, respected, and preserved this beautiful land and its abundant creatures, and who largely accepted and embraced the Christian Gospel and the Western European culture, society, and political/economic system based upon it . These original piney woods dwellers therefore also readily "inter-married" with the new settlers of European and African descent, and thus some 90% (according to the "experts") of present-day native South Mississippians--"black" and "white"--have at least some proud Native American blood in their genetic heritage! (This includes myself.)

*3) Our illustrious Founder and Namesake (his [really!] beautiful and loving wife): Captain and Mrs. William Harris & Hattie [Lott] Hardy...We are completely fortunate and blessed to have a Forefather (and Foremother) of such high calibre: A classic and true "Southern Gentleman" of highest morals and intelligence, genuine intregrity and courtly dignity (it's about like being able to claim Rev. Billy Graham as your Founder today--of irreproachable yet humble character, commanding the highest respect); a multi-talented "Doer" of true distinction, and REAL ACCOMPLISHMENT! "Dreamers" (like me) are a dime-a-dozen, but Captain Hardy [b.1837--d.1917] was one of those special citizens who dreamed--yet had the rare ability to make those dreams come true!...He was a successful teacher, educator/administrator, soldier/officer/veteran, [honest] lawyer, judge, engineer, entrepreneur, financier, PR/promoter, and--last-but-not-least---active Churchman (he once served as Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention and several terms as President of the Mississippi Baptist Convention)...

For you folks who understand and respect "where the rubber meets the road" and "the bottom line" (i.e. MONEY): It was Captain Hardy who--among many other things--went "up north" [New York City, etc.] and to London, UK, to secure the critical initial "investment funds" & "seed capital" required to get that first railroad built (the N.O.N.E.), which pretty much is the single one thing which commenced and sustained this incorporated "business" chartered by the Sovereign State of Mississippi known as "The City of Hattiesburg", in A.D. 1884...

He was truly a great and good man who was an authentic progressive and a real visionary (e.g., he was [relative to his time and place] PRO-"civil rights" for African-Americans/Native Americans as early as 1911!)...His life and times deserve to be studied, taught, known, appreciated, and celebrated, and I sincerely recommend and encourage any and all Hattiesburgans (and [I]all Mississippians, Southerners, and Americans at large) who love and care for Hattiesburg and South Mississippi (past, present, future) to read he and his son's great and fascinating book: "No Compromise With Principle--The Life and Times of William Harris Hardy and the Mississippi He Loved" [auto-biography/biography, Toney Hardy, 1947]. (Shamefully currently out-of-print, but available in hardback for [non-checkout] reading via the City and University public libraries).

*4) In addition to Captain Hardy's seminal and indespensible leadership in the 1880's and beyond, the genuine initiative, real optimism, and authentic LEADERSHIP lived out by the early Hattiesburg citizens who played the key roles in securing what is now Southern Miss and Camp Shelby just 7 years apart (1910 and 1917 respectively), which--along with Captain Hardy's already noted groundwork--laid the very FOUNDATIONS which have made possible most of the "good things about Hattiesburg" that we've so far listed on this site. (The "powers-that-be" of Hattiesburg at the time pro-actively sought and successfully secured USM and Camp Shelby [via money, land, politics] against fierce comptetion from other cities/counties in Mississippi [and in Shelby's case beyond]...Neither "cornerstone" institution was simply "given" to Hattiesburg--our leaders and our citizens in general had to go out and "get" them!...So the People of Hattiesburg deserve their many benefits! "We" EARNED them!)

Oh, that we could regain and maintain that kind of leadership, cooperation, and loyalty to our beloved City in these seemingly less-united times! We earnestly must PRAY AND WORK for it--just as our Hattiesburg ancestors surely and successfully did! We unquestionably enjoy a great and worthy History, Heritage, and Tradition! Let us therefore cherish our shared "roots" in Hattiesburg and South Mississippi with appropriate Pride and Thanksgiving, and by God's "Amazing" Love/Mercy/Grace remember always and everywhere to Forgive one another (including ourselves), and then--in [Good] Faith, Hope, Peace and Love--seek to emulate and enhance our priceless Legacy as Hattiesburgans and South Mississippians!

Well, I should think this ought to do for now in terms of "historic" starters concerning "What's right with Hattiesburg"...Now, if someone else more knowledgeable will chime in and get us on up from the teens into the 20's and beyond (or who may have more to share/contribute regarding Hattiesburg's earliest "right and good things"), and on up into our present days, we can hurry up and start talking about our exceedingly Bright Future here together! Godspeed Everyone!