Two previous mayors of the City of Hattiesburg will soon be honored by having two of the Hub City’s most prominent buildings named after them.
During the July 5 meeting of Hattiesburg City Council, council members voted unanimously to name the Hattiesburg Intermodal Facility – more commonly known as the Hattiesburg Train Depot – after J. Ed Morgan and the Hattiesburg Public Safety Complex after Johnny L. DuPree. After building dedications, which are tentatively scheduled for this fall, the buildings will be known as the J. Ed Morgan Intermodal Facility and the Johnny L. DuPree Public Safety Complex.
“I believe naming city facilities is not a responsibility we should take lightly. When we honor someone, several factors should be considered, including the position held, the overall record of service, and the person’s association with what is being named,” Mayor Toby Barker said. “For each of these respective buildings, Mayors Morgan and DuPree contributed a great deal toward the vision, funding and community support that made their completion possible. Both served our city admirably. The community’s progress over the past few decades can be attributed in part to their vision and leadership.”
Train Station/J. Ed Morgan
The train station was constructed in 1910 at 308 Newman Street in downtown Hattiesburg. The 14,000-square-foot building includes a waiting room known as the Grand Hall, along with a loading platform. In 2001, the depot was selected as a Mississippi Landmark, and the next year it was designated as a contributing resource within the Hub City Historic District.
In April 2007 a $9 million renovation of the station, using combined federal and local funds, was completed. Planning for that venture began under the Morgan administration.
Morgan, whose professional background is construction, attended the University of Alabama and the Jackson School of Law at Mississippi College. He served as mayor of Hattiesburg from 1989-2001.
From 2004-2008, Morgan served as a member of the Mississippi Senate, where he was on the Fees, Salaries & Administration, Finance Judiciary, Division B, Ports and Marine Resources, Public Health & Welfare and Universities & Colleges committees.
“I have been proud and pleased with the development of the depot,” Morgan said. “It should be noted this project has succeeded through the efforts of multiple administrations, and its historic value is priceless.
“It will be used for years by the citizens of Hattiesburg and the Pine Belt region.”
Public Safety Complex/Johnny L. DuPree
The safety complex project – which had been discussed for the last several years as a solution to the police department’s aging facility that had been on James Street for more than 30 years – took its first official step in September 2016 under DuPree. At that time, municipal court moved from that site to a temporary location in the former federal courthouse on West Pine Street.
That move was followed by the Parks and Recreation Department, which relocated from Katie Avenue to a new location at Tatum Park, allowing HPD’s dispatch to move temporarily into the Katie Avenue building.
LIFE of Mississippi, which was located adjacent to the former HPD building, then moved into a new location on West 7th Street before HPD staff moved into a temporary location on Klondyke Street. Demolition on the former police department was completed in late 2018, minus the former Methodist hospital section that was preserved.
In September 2022, officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new, $30 million Hattiesburg Public Safety Complex. The 90,000-square-foot facility features three stories that host offices, interrogation rooms, dispatch, patrol, a traffic sector and a community room, which can be rented out by residents or organizations for various functions.
DuPree earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi, along with a PhD from Jackson State University. He entered in public service in 1987, when he was appointed to the board of directors of the Hattiesburg Public School District.
In 1991, he was elected to the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, where he served for 10 years. From 2001-2017, he served as the first Black mayor of the City of Hattiesburg.
“Thank you to Mayor Barker and the Hattiesburg City Council for honoring my family and me in this way,” DuPree said. “We started work on this complex more than 20 years ago, and we are proud to have played a part in providing our police and court personnel a space to work where employees and citizens of Hattiesburg can be proud.”
In the case of the Hattiesburg Public Safety Complex, the original Methodist Hospital building will retain its name as the Vinson-Everett Building, in honor of two of the city’s fallen police officers – Patrolman M.W. Vinson and Patrolman Jessie James Everett.
