Officials from the City of Petal have set the lineup of events for the city’s Golden Anniversary, as residents gear up for a trio of events to celebrate the city’s 50th year of incorporation.
The first event, Petal’s 50 Years Strong Celebration, will take place from 6-8 p.m. April 4 at Petal Civic Center, 712 South Main Street. The come-and-go event will feature birthday cake, beverages and photographs showcasing Petal’s history.
In addition, attendees will be able to enjoy a special video featuring residents who played pivotal roles in Petal’s incorporation.
“It’s a casual event – there’s no charge for it,” said Valerie Wilson, executive director of the Petal Area Chamber of Commerce. “We just want people to come out, enjoy some birthday cake and Petal memorabilia, and see some photographs from the past.
“It will be an open event where people can just mill about and visit. (These events are) the only opportunity to celebrate our 50th anniversary – it only comes one time, so it’s a big event for us. We want people to appreciate what those people did in 1974 to incorporate our city.”
That event will be followed by the 50th class reunion of Petal High School, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. April 6 at Petal Civic Center. Mayor Tony Ducker will be present at 6 p.m. to issue a proclamation to the class.
“I had lots of people asking me if we were going to have a 50th class reunion, and so I asked several people if they were interested,” said 1974 graduate Gail Burkhalter Mars, who is serving as organizer of the reunion. “So then I just started gathering everybody’s information to get going on it.
“This is a big milestone for us … so everybody wanted to get together with their classmates, especially the ones that are out of town and don’t get to see everybody often.”
Although the Petal School District did not incorporate until 1976 – two years after the formation of the city – the graduating class of 1974 was the first class to do so under the new city, approximately a month after that measure. Mars – who now lives in Texas – is expecting a good turnout for the event, with classmates coming from as far as Idaho and Virginia.
“We have already gotten acknowledgement from around 70 people, which is pretty good,” she said. “Our class was (approximately) a hundred and sixty-something classmates that graduated, so we felt like that was a pretty good turnout, with all of us at our age.
“So we feel like we’re going to have a good turnout.”
The third event, Petal’s 50th Birthday on the River, will take place from 6-10 p.m. April 6 at Petal River Park, 786 U.S. 11 Petal. That occasion, which is similar to the annual Star-Spangled Celebration on the River, will feature food and beer vendors, along with live music from The Molly Ringwalds at 7:30 p.m.
Fireworks will begin at 9:30 p.m.
“We ask that people park in the upper parking lot, and we’ll have some buses that will carry (attendees) down to the river park,” Wilson said. “No personal fireworks or tents or allowed, and no coolers are allowed, but you’re free to bring blankets and lawn chairs to sit on and to be comfortable.”
Sponsors include the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, Shows Dearman & Waits, Mississippi Power, Southern Beverage, the City of Petal, Coca-Cola and the Petal Area Chamber of Commerce.
According to information provided by the Petal Area Chamber of Commerce and the book A History of Petal, members of the Choctaw Native American tribe were the earliest inhabitants of what would become the city. The first record of American settlers coming to Petal comes from the early 1800s, when those individuals were attracted by the abundant pine forests that were ripe for logging.
By 1850, the community – as of yet unnamed – opened its first church, and in 1819 the Chappell family built what is now known as Chappell’s Log Landing on the Leaf River. The oldest existing structure in the city is the Carter Cabin, which settler Isaac Carter built for his family in 1846 and is currently located off of Old Richton Road.
The growth of the Petal community remained steady over the next few years, with a small list of notable items including:
- The construction of a turpentine still “around the turn of the 20th Century” between New Richton Road and Old Richton Road, along with the following of the Bowers Lumber Company on McInnis Street. The mill underwent a change of hands in 1956, becoming the Richton Tie and Timber Company.
- The opening of Petal Meat Market and Grocery in 1926 at the corner of Central Avenue and McInnis Street, followed by the opening of Petal Drug Store in 1928.
- The construction of the first broom factory in Petal in 1933, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and South Main Street.
- The opening of several churches, including Petal First Baptist in 1946, Temple Baptist in 1951, Harvey First Baptist in 1952, Crestview Baptist in 1956, Woodlawn Baptist in 1957, Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1959, Calvary Bible Baptist in 1966, Petal Assembly of God in 1969, First Southern Methodist in 1975, Carterville Baptist Church (date unlisted) and Petal Church of God (date unlisted).
- The construction of a frame school building sometime before 1920 on the corner of Main Street and Central Avenue.
- The opening of the Petal Branch Library in 1962.
On April 4, 1974, Petal separated from the City of Hattiesburg, and the next day, Petal was incorporated as the City of Petal. Two years later, members of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors and other officials officially formed the Petal School District after deciding to separate Petal’s schools from Forrest County’s school system.
Fifty years after its incorporation, the City of Petal is home to more than 11,000 residents, while the Petal School District hosts more than 4,000 students across its five campuses. Those include Petal Primary School, Petal Elementary School, Petal Upper Elementary School (formerly W.L. Smith, Petal Middle School and Petal High School.
Including Ducker, the city has featured seven mayors over its existence, as follows:
- Ulmer Byrd, who served from 1974 to 1977;
- Sidney Smith, who served from 1977 to 1989;
- Jack Gay, who served from 1989 to 2001;
- Tony Phillips, who served from 2001 to 2005;
- Carl Scott, who served from 2005 to 2009;
- Hal Marx, who served from 2009 to 2021; and
- Ducker, who was elected in 2021.
“It’s a pretty cool thing to just happen to be here when all of these events are taking place, and there’s so much activity taking place in our area,” Ducker said. “It’s hard to imagine some of the things the early (officials) went through, because there’s been a lot of change even since my time in office.
“We’re a changing town, and I would hope the decisions we make these days – if (the founders) knew we were making those decisions – they’d be proud of what our city’s done. There’s a lot of opportunity and a lot of hope in where our city can be in five or ten years from now.”
