Two downtown Hattiesburg landmarks have been recognized by Forbes in its “Best Places to Travel in the U.S. in 2023” feature: the Hattiesburg Pocket Museum and the Lucky Rabbit.
Forbes – a global media company focusing on business investing and technology – listed those two attractions for the “Mississippi” section of the feature, along with spots in Waveland and Jackson. “Best Places to Travel,” which can be found at https://bit.ly/3Hd3735 was put together on the Forbes website in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which hampered travel for the past two years.
Located in an undisclosed alley in downtown Hattiesburg, the pocket museum is overseen by the Hattiesburg Convention Commission and bills itself as “Mississippi’s Tiniest Museum.” Its exhibits, which change every month, can range from collections of Smurfs to shrunken heads and Woodstock memorabilia.
“We’re certainly very pleased and very happy about (being named in Forbes),” said Rick Taylor, executive director of the Hattiesburg Convention Commission. “There was a small group of places they identified in Mississippi – not just here in Hattiesburg, but elsewhere – so it feels nice to be one of the ones that they identified as unique and interesting to visitors and tourists.
“It’s been surprising to us – we’ve discovered quite a number of people who have come across it in different ways, and have planned their travels to swing by and take a look at it. So I think this will do the same – I think it will encourage more people from out of town to kind of make it a stop.”
In addition to the museum, galleries and numerous outdoor art installations are featured in the alley, including a Kelsey Montague painting on the city parking garage across from the museum window, and two Damian Guerrero street-art installations. Visitors to the alley also can check out the changing miniature model dioramas, which can be found on electrical boxes, ledges and nooks up and down the alley.
“Really what started the whole thing was, during the pandemic, we didn’t really see a lot of people downtown,” Taylor said. “We were a little frustrated – we couldn’t operate the Saenger Theater because of the pandemic.
“So the whole point of doing it was to kind of create something that people could come to any time of day, and be outside and safe. We kind of joke about it a little bit, that it took on a life and now we can’t quit – we can’t let it go.”
The Lucky Rabbit, which is located at 217 Mobile Street, is a 15,000 square-foot variety store filled with unique finds and nostalgic vintage items. It was founded in 2013 by Brandon and Abby Thaxton and offers features such as vintage arcades, old cola machines, working payphone boots, and old video game systems.
The Thaxtons also display “photo op” items such as a 1978 Westfalia Volkswagen bus, a vintage camper and nostalgic TV show recreations.
The shop is open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturdays and from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sundays. The Thaxtons were unavailable for comment before press deadline.
