Sumrall – a town of about 2 square miles and roughly 1,800 residents – is, at any given moment, a place bustling with activity.
The town is home to several top-rated schools in the Lamar County School District, and that fact has contributed to its powerful population growth in recent years.
Town residents are fiercely proud of their schools, and they are also protective of the town’s distinct personality and interesting history.
Indeed, on its surface, Sumrall appears to be a sleepy bedside community and a quiet suburb of its much-bigger neighbor, the Hub City of Hattiesburg, but one does not have to spend much time in the town to discover its many unique features, such as a number of entrancing restaurants, charming homes and interesting shops along a well-manicured Main Street.
Those Main Street shops – and the women who own and nurture them – are leading a push to revitalize the historic town and to cement its standing as a tourist destination, shopping center, and a perfect place to live, work and play.
In other words, the people of Sumrall want the public to view the town independently of Hattiesburg and to instead judge it on its own merits.
“It’s a wonderful place to be,” said Joyce Hicks, who grew up in the town and later opened Blooms Company, a floral and gift shop in Hattiesburg.
Hicks is one of the many women championing the growth of Sumrall, and she serves as encourager-in-chief to the 15 women business owner-operators with shops – ranging from clothing boutiques to gift stores – on Main Street.
She took on that role a few years back after noting the depressing look of the once-vibrant Main Street.
“Sumrall was a great place to grow up,” Hicks said. “It was a small town, but there was a lot going on.”
She is filled with knowledge about the town’s historic buildings and other areas along its main thoroughfare, and she is partially responsible for the redevelopment of some of those buildings and for bringing in new businesses. During a late November interview with Signature Magazine, she pointed out a few of the buildings, and she took magazine staffers on a detailed tour of the street.
“I’d sit on that bench there … in front of that building … and I’d wait for the movie to start in this other building,” Hicks said, spinning about and pointing at a few impressive facades near Town Hall. “That building there was a Ford Model A and Model T shop, and this building was the bank. We had four grocery stores, and that building there was a hardware store. People gathered on this street, and it was my playground. We had a lot going on here.”
The town, as with many of its counterparts in the Pine Belt, benefited from economic activity associated with the timber business. A large sawmill was once located in the town, and, in 1890, the federal government opened a post office in the area. The town was officially incorporated by the Mississippi Legislature in 1903, and business boomed until the timber supply was depleted and the Great Depression struck in the 1930s.
Around that same time, Sumrall’s population started to decline, and the town – like many across America – was hit with another whammy with the birth of corporately owned retail giants. Hicks watched as the town’s Main Street – and the businesses of her childhood – shriveled up and faded from prominence.
“We want these beautiful buildings to be full of businesses, and we want them to succeed,” she said. “We don’t want a dead Main Street. I don’t want Sumrall to become a ghost town.”
Send in the cavalry
Hicks is not alone in her sentiments, and she has formed an association of Sumrall business owners to plan town events, share ideas and to support mutual growth and success.
“We have women-run businesses all along Main Street, and women are really leading the charge to revitalize this town,” Hicks said.
She pointed out a number of notable women in Sumrall – including Mississippi Supreme Court Associate Justice Dawn Beam, Police Chief Elsie Cowart and former mayor Gerolene Rayborn, who served in that role for nine years – as role models for female success.
“These women are inspiring figures, and they serve the town in great ways,” Hicks said. “Women are working together to make this place more viable, like it used to be.”
That effort involves rehabilitating some of the town’s historic structures while keeping their unique character. An example of these renovation efforts can be found in the old Lamar Bank building on Main Street, which was an eyesore until it was restored to its former glory by resident Judy Sumrall in 2019.
Another example can be found in the McBryde House, a historic home built in 1910 and recently purchased by Beam and her husband, Stephen. The Beams have transformed the old house into a bed and breakfast destination.
Meanwhile, the old bank building now houses Holland’s Pageant and Formal, a dress shop owned by Hailey Holland of the Improve community. She has operated her business for two years, but the shop moved to Main Street and its present location in August.
“I’ve always loved the small-town vibe … it’s like our own Hallmark movie here,” Holland said. “I moved my business here because I liked the community, and the fringe benefit of that is working alongside so many other great women business owners.”
Holland said the female business owners in Sumrall work together on a near-daily basis to promote one another and to pass along useful business tips.
“We’re always talking to each other, and it’s a sweet partnership,” she said. “It makes growth easy, and I’m optimistic for the future.”
Nicole Henley, the owner-operator of the Loose Ends beauty salon, moved her business to Main Street in July after a 2019 tornado destroyed her previous location.
“My fellow women business owners … they help me be successful because of word-of-mouth advertising,” Henley said. “We encourage one another, and we talk positively about one another, and, in a small town, that’s critical for success.”
Another Main Street newbie is Roxanne Courtney, who opened Lilac & Co., a children’s clothing store, on Main Street in September.
“I moved here from Texas, where I owned three clothing stores, and I moved my children’s line here,” Courtney said. “Business has been good, and everyone’s so friendly. It’s been an experience, for sure, but the people have been good to me.”
The business veterans
Longtime Sumrall business owners like Elizabeth Davis, who has operated the Hair Time salon for 20 years, said they are thankful for the renewed energy on Main Street and for the numerous businesses that are either opening or relocating to the area.
Davis said her business is booming, and she recently hired the town’s first female barber to work in her shop.
“It’s a great time to be in business in Sumrall,” she added. “There’s a lot of energy here, and that’s been mostly brought on by the focus on Main Street businesses and by women who are dedicated to this town.”
Milissa Petty owns Vintage Dragonfly Boutique, and she moved to her present location on Main Street in February 2018.
“I believe in community over competition, and I think a lot of my fellow business owners do, too,” she said. “Working together helps us draw in more customers, and I’ve certainly seen a lot of new customers because the town is growing.”
Patricia Sumrall – who is related through marriage to town founder Daniel Sumrall, a grist mill operator who fought as a Union soldier during the Civil War – is the owner of Sumrall Framing, a mainstay business on Main Street. Her building was once a washeteria and a variety store, and her husband, Allen, operates a Shelter Insurance business in the old post office next door.
“I opened my business because I didn’t want the building to be empty, and this was originally a furniture store,” she said. “There’s a lot of history in these walls and buildings, and I think new businesses and their owners position us – as a town – for great possibilities.”
Looking to the future
Those possibilities are virtually limitless, said Heather Russell, who owns CHEH Posh Designs & Boutique on Main Street.
Russell shares space in the building with her sister, Karla Verardo, who owns KMV Photography.
“We just opened in Sumrall,” Russell said. “I was open in Bellevue for a few months, and then I moved here. We teamed up to get the space. Since we were little, we wanted to be in business together, and this has been a dream come true.”
The sisters are currently planning their next venture, which will be a coffee shop in the back of their space. The timeline for opening that business is still in flux, but the sisters hope it will become a great attraction on Main Street.
“We want to be successful, and we think Sumrall is the right place to be for that,” said Russell.
Hicks agrees, and she points to Sumrall’s recent population growth as evidence of success. According to United States Census figures, the town has nearly doubled in population since 2000.
“We have a great school system, obviously, but we also have easy access to the Longleaf Trace,” Hicks said, referring to the 44-mile recreational trail that runs from Hattiesburg to Prentiss and cuts directly through the heart of Sumrall. “Add to that mix a number of great small businesses, and you have a winning product.”
Beam – who was appointed to the state’s highest court in early 2016 by then-Gov. Phil Bryant and is a former owner of Lovie’s of Sumrall – said people who are seeking an excellent place to raise a family should seriously consider Sumrall.
“People want to go where the schools are good, of course … and we have a lot of parental involvement, and that’s such a key to success,” she said. “This town offers a great, nurturing environment, and it’s a perfect family atmosphere.”
She added that the gifted women who own and operate businesses along Main Street – like her daughter-in-law, Snow, who manages the McBryde House while also offering painting and dance classes – make people “feel good about life.”
“We have a lot of gifted women here, and, in addition to running great businesses, they also offer atmospheres that can be a retreat from the stresses of daily life,” Beam said. “I think it is fabulous to have so many active women business owners in one small area.”
Get involved with Sumrall
Hicks said the Christmas season is the perfect time to visit the town, and Main Street certainly looks picturesque for the occasion. Greenery and other decorations are present at many of the businesses, and merchants are busy planning the annual Sumrall Olde Towne Christmas Festival, a two-day event, for Dec. 4-5.
Specific festivities include:
• Dec. 4 from 5-7 p.m. – A Holiday Open House event for Main Street businesses.
• Dec. 4 from 6-8 p.m. – A live nativity scene and concert at Beam’s Park.
• Dec. 5 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. – The Miss Olde Towne Pageant, entertainment, a silent auction, vendors, entertainment and more.
• Dec. 5 at 3 p.m. – Dedication of illuminated angels along Main Street to memorialize residents who died in 2020.
Social distancing protocols will be in place, and people interested in attending the festival can learn more at bit.ly/sumrallfest.
For more information on Sumrall, visit the town’s Facebook page at facebook.com/townofsumrallms or website at sumrallms.org.
The list
Female-owned or operated businesses in Sumrall include:
• CHEH Posh Designs & Boutique, which is owned by Heather Russell.
• Flower Petal Florist, which is owned by Deborah McCraw and Alisha Jones.
• Hair Time, which is owned by Liz and Dana Davis and features the town’s first female barber, Kayla Smith.
• Holland’s Pageant and Formals, which is owned by Hailey Holland.
• KMV Photography, which is owned by Karla Verardo.
• Lilac & Co., which is owned by Roxanne Courtney.
• Loose Ends, which is owned by Nicole Henley.
• Lovie’s of Sumrall, which is operated by Gianni Molina.
• Southern Gifts & More, which is owned by Brandi Jarrell.
• Sue’s Thrift Store and Sumrall Dry Cleaners, which are both owned by Sue McKinley.
• Sumrall Framing, which is owned by Patricia Sumrall.
• Swilley Vanilli, which is owned by Brandy Leslie.
• The McBryde House, which is operated by Cheng Xue, also known as “Snow.”
• Vintage Dragonfly Boutique, which is owned by Milissa Petty.
