I'm betting that one of the most unappreciated spots in Hattiesburg is downtown's Walnut Square. As the name gives away, it's located on Walnut Street — where else? That end of Walnut is surprisingly active, with a number of businesses concentrated in the area, including the charming Walnut Square Pharmacy & Gifts, a delightful departure from the bland, corporate big-box pharmacies on the west side of Hattiesburg. The store is filled with one-of-a-kind gift items that you won't find anywhere else in town. You can even get an old-fashioned scoop of ice cream while you're there. Besides the pharmacy, you'll find Cash & Carry Cleaners, along with a pair of tastefully designed office buildings that double as residential units.
But my favorite spot on Walnut Street is the cozy parklet that anchors the south side of the street. Driving past, you might miss it; but if you stop to explore, you'll discover a quiet and inviting getaway adorned with beautiful oak trees that provide ample shade from our soon-to-return hot afternoons. The park is completed with thoughtfully placed benches where you can sit and take a break in this pleasant little urban oasis tucked away in downtown Hattiesburg — a welcome contrast to the car-crazy west side of town and its impersonal collection of any-place-USA strip malls.
When visiting the park, though, I can't help but think how much Walnut Street has changed since my youth. The block is still busy, but it's a different kind of busy than 50 years ago. The big change — and my fellow old-timers will remember — is in that building directly across from the pharmacy that now houses the Hattiesburg Traffic and Construction Department. In the "old days," it was Hattiesburg's interstate bus terminal. To us, it was, simply, the bus station. Those were the days when, instead of flying or driving, many of us took the bus to get around the country. For one thing, it was usually cheaper than flying.
The bus station kept Walnut Street as busy then as it is today, maybe even more so. Hattiesburg was one of those cities where interstate buses would make longer stops so passengers could take a break from hours on the bus and grab a meal before continuing their journey. The nation's two biggest bus lines, Greyhound and Continental Trailways, made stops in Hattiesburg, living up to our title — the Hub City.
Greyhound traveled Interstate 59 between New Orleans and Hattiesburg, and on to points north. Continental Trailways, later to become simply Trailways, eventually merged with Greyhound. Trailways traveled U.S. 49 from Gulfport to Hattiesburg, then to Jackson and on to big northern cities like Chicago. Longer rides often meant making bus transfers in some of the larger cities, depending on your final destination. Besides Greyhound and Trailways, there was also a regional bus line that most of you have probably forgotten. Anybody remember Gulf Transport? They shuttled passengers between Hattiesburg and Mobile.
Riding the bus was always a treat for me. I was a late bloomer, not getting my driver's license until I was in my early 20s, so taking the bus was a cure for the spirit of wanderlust I was born with. That made Hattiesburg's bus station the starting point for many of my early travels around the Gulf South. I'd take day trips on Greyhound to New Orleans or Meridian, Continental Trailways to Jackson, and I even took Gulf Transport once for a day to explore Mobile. Today, of course, we drive to all of those cities and, for longer trips, chances are we're heading to an airport for a flight to our final destination.
Back in the 1970s, during summer break from high school, I loved taking Greyhound, all by myself, north to Detroit to visit family up north. They were part of the Great Migration from the South to the northern states, when many Black Americans moved there for better, higher-paying jobs. Admittedly, riding the bus for 1,000 miles took a long time, especially considering the number of stops you made en route. Sure, traveling at 550 mph at 35,000 feet in an airliner gets you there in a hurry. But traveling the interstate at 70 mph, you actually got to see America. It made getting there half the fun.
Along the way, the bus would stop for breaks in cities like Nashville, Louisville and Cincinnati at big-city bus terminals, often owned by the bus lines themselves. Greyhound had some particularly interesting terminals designed in the Art Deco streamline style. While many of them are no longer in use, they remain standing as architectural icons. Those terminals included their own restaurants and, since they were generally located downtown, you might even have enough time to look around a bit. Always the explorer, if time permitted, I'd take a short walk to see as much of the city's downtown as I could, making sure to get back to the terminal before the bus left.
Last summer, I drove to Los Angeles just for the fun of reliving a slice of my personal history. I was mimicking my first solo drive to Los Angeles in 1982 when I left Hattiesburg to begin the next chapter of my life in the big city. Over the years, I'd taken that route a few times on a Greyhound bus. But curiously, on my drive last summer, I saw very few Greyhounds as I zipped along Interstate 10 between here and California. What I did see, however, more than anything else were literally dozens of 18-wheeler Amazon delivery trucks. (A sign of our times.)
Greyhound has tried winning back passengers, offering amenities like free Wi-Fi — which you pay for on most airliners — and even free movies to those riders who travel with laptops. And who doesn't these days? But those changes don't seem to be enough to stop the decline in bus ridership. Like so many things that were once basic parts of our everyday lives — like landline phones and phone books (remember them?) — another slice of Americana is slowly biting the dust.
Gone are the days when Greyhound, Continental Trailways and Gulf Transport lumbered through the streets of downtown Hattiesburg. When buses traveled in and out of the bus station on Walnut Street, intercity buses were the pre-eminent form of travel for millions of Americans. And while Continental Trailways was a big competitor, Greyhound dominated America's highways. Who can forget its vintage buses, instantly recognizable with the sleek silver Greyhound adorning the sides? During the 1940s, the company had a fleet of nearly 5,000 buses. Today, though, like me, you'll spot very few Greyhound buses zipping past you on the opposite side of the interstate.
As I sit on my park bench at Walnut Square Park, my mind's eye can still see one of those shiny Greyhound Super 7 Scenic Cruisers and that iconic Greyhound racing on its side. The buses may be gone now, but I still have my memories of all the travel adventures that began for me---right there on Walnut Street.
Elijah Jones is a proud Hattiesburg native who enjoys writing. Email him at edjhubtown@aol.com.
