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HISTORY OF MATHISTON MS
Mathiston, Mississippi, situated in the southeastern section of Webster Co., was settled around 1888 when the Georgia Pacific Railroad began laying tracks through this sparsely settled region. The land that makes .p Mathiston was originally 80 acres of land old by George Polk Clegg to W.G. "Bill" Mathis for $400. It was located on the old Natchez Trace near several Choctaw Indian pounds supposed to have been an old Indian settlement in the early 1800's. He conveyed . 20 acre tract through this land that was located in the northeast corner of Section 3, Township 19, Range 11 East to the Georgia Pacific Railroad Co. 20 February 1889 for depot purposes. The place then was appropriately named Mathis Town in his honor, put in later years the pronunciation was hanged and made into one single word, Mathiston. After Mr. Mathis made a survey of the land, only three residents occupied the new settlement George Polk Clegg, H.M. Hardin, and Luke DeVore.
The thriving town of Spring Valley, which had sprung up in 1854 on the old Natchez Trace two miles north of the rail line, relocated to the railroad settlement and was directly the basis of its subsequent beginning. With one tremendous bound the village sprung into existence.
By 1890, there were a number of business houses including a post office with Major C. Alford as its first postmaster. At this time, life revolved around the comings and goings of the daily train. At train time, the citizens gathered about the low frame depot waiting for the train's arrival with the mail bag. Activity then shifted to the post office where young and old gathered to visit while the mail was being sorted.
It would be well to relate here that Mr. Mathis became a prominent merchant at Mathis Town operating a general store. He was married to the former Allie Barmore and had two sons, Putman and Charlie. They were residents of Mathiston until sometime after 1906 when the family moved to Texas.
The original settlement of the town was located south of the Georgia Pacific Railroad, later known as the Southern Railroad then the Columbus and Greenville for which it is still named. This section of town can be pointed out as "old town" by many of the town's residents and is primarily a residential area today except for the public school property.
The town was incorporated in 1890 with the corporation limits beginning at the depot house of the Georgia Pacific Railroad extending east, north and west one-half mile and south three-quarters of a mile in length and a mile and a quarter wide. Commissioners appointed to oversee the legislative act were Dr. S.C. Randall, J.S. Dodd, and J.H. Pierce. Not until 1976 did the city limits increase.
The expansion included an additional 700 acres almost doubling the size of Mathiston and was the first Annexation since the town Mississippi Governor J.M. Stone.
The elected officials for the village of Mathiston in 1895 comprised of Mike Hickey, mayor, Crow White, C.C. Crow, and Henry Vaughan, alderman. Appointed officials were C.M. Bland, clerk, T.H. Carter, street com-missioner, and J.C. Randall, treasurer.
There were many ordinances passed by the early governing body defining the people's rights and responsibilities to the village. These ordinances mentioned are copied from the ordinance Book of the Village of Mathiston from the years 1895-97