Water Valley progress., May 01, 1897, EPWORTH LEAGUE EDITION, Image 1

About Water Valley progress. (Water Valley, Miss.) 1882-1918

Image provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

                
DONALD E. FOLLOW
COINS ARROW HEADS
ANTIQUES BOOKS PAINT...
108 MARTIN STREET
WATER VALLEY. MISSISSIPPI
the water valley pro
VOL. XV—NO 17.
WATER VALLEY, MISSISSIPPI SATURDAY, MAY 1,1897. vj
TERMS 91.00 A YEAR.
WA I KK VALLEY.
A Brief Sketch of the City’* Pro
gress During the Past Eighteen
ninths. A Few of the
Buildings.
Since ilie lust special edition of
Tub 1‘rouuksh,duted October26,
18115, and wliich contained an
elaborate amt thorough write-up
ot the c«t.v, ninny important
changes liave taken place. The
improvement mid growth of the
city lias not been so marked
along industrial lines since the
date of that odition up to this, as
iu Hie two years preceding the
former; but along lines of moral,
intellectual and material advance
ment the past eighteen mouths
luuai lane rank us the crowning
epoch of the city’s history. No
isiouary schemes of great manu
Vtories have beeu iudulged.no
frauds have been projected; no
ilUiful fabric of words or muss
l paper structures have reared
• tlieir uoble walls for a day, to
I come crashing about their san
I guine projectors the next. But
' the capacity of the electric light
plant, and tiie cit£ water plant
and sewerage system have been
doubled, miles of well paved and
well graded streets has been added
10 the city’s system of thorough
fares. The Illinois Central Rail
road company, the greatest and
wealthiest corporation doing busi
ness in the South, has built a
mammoth switch-yard in the
northern portion of the city,
thereby removing the objection
able switching from the populous
business section to a regipn com
paratively remote; in addition to
the switch yardi'he company has
made many I
additions to its aitoaqp valuable
plant—a- new car shop, new paint
shop, new boiler Sh«‘|r,^iow dry,
bouse, new car sheds and new
dispatcher’s office being among
the most prominent.
Hamilton College, one of the
handsomest aud most elegantly
equipped boarding schools for
young ladies in the South, has
"v been built and is now in the mid
'dlo of a successful first session.
The Main Street Methodist
church and parsonage have been
erected, and and the handsome
little church is already reckoned
on oi the flourishing, institutions
of the city.
The Presbyterians are building
a church at the corner of Main
and Church streets, to take the
place of their house of worship
which was burned in December,
’95, at a cost of 115,000, and
which would be a credit and orna
ment to a much larger city than
Water Valley.
The Baptists are also rearing a
noble structure on the site of their
former building. The walls of the
new church are well under way
and give promise of a handsome
and commodious structure.
v Our colored citizens have also
bnilt new churches and are now
remodeling and improving their
old. %
The city schools, under the vig
orous and efficient administration
of Prof. J. R. Preston, late state
superintendent of ednation, are
filled with eager students and
overflowing with prosperity.
Tbe city government is in the
hands of safe and progressive men,
and is being administered along
lines of efficiency and economy.
Above and beyond all of this,
however, those who are in closest
touch with our people feel that
the under or inner current of their
lives is more vigorous and pros
perous. It would be diffiealt to
point out practical evidences of
this, just as it is difficult to point
out evidences of moral and Intel
lectual advancement; bat the
healthier tone is hero—we feel it
and know it—it is in the sir, and
it is that feeling which makes our
people smiling and cheerfhl, pad
is the strongest mark of public
and private prosperity. It li not
| an extravagant estimate to say
I Water Valley lias given $100,000
to churches, schools and charities,
within the past two years. It is
not an extravagant assertion to
say the city and citizens spent an
other $100,000 iri public and pri
vate improvi meats. Indeed, the
latter estimate does not nearly
cover the sum when the new busi
ness hoi ses and residences erect
ed nnd the improvements made
upon the old are reckoned. The
past 18 months have not developed
an era of projection, or laying out
new lines; rather have they been
devoted to filling out the incom
plete plans of former years, in
rounding out to fruition the large
work begun even years ago. That
the growlh of the city has been
steady and rapid is evidenced by
the continued demand for resi
dences and the enhanced value of
real estate. That the people are
prosperous and believe in their
We do not wait for the visitor to
come to us and ask a welcome, we
go out in search of him and bid'
him come. The city is now en
tertaining four hundred visitors,
representing the wisdom and in
telligence, the dower and the
youth of all sections of the state.
What u privilege aud pleasure
to have them with us. What
great good will come to the city
from the influence this vast band
of Christian workers will exert in
our homes and in tli« social at
mosphere of the city; and what
splendid advertisers they will
prove when back at their various
homes. i
Soon the Bankers’ association j
will assemble here. In February
of next year the Masonic Grand
Lodge, 500 strong, will he with us.1
Thus it is from month to month1
and year to year the city’s fame is
spreading. The Progress is1
Proud ot aud pleased with Water
good residence neighborhood,
high and commanding and sue*
cepUble to improvement, it was a
fortunate selection and is already
justifying the* wisdom of the
choice. The buildings are of
frame; the church, ns is seen by
the illustration, is of modern de
sign, substantial in appearance,
and is commodious, while the par
sonage is attractive and home
like. The work ol erection was
caried on under the supervision
ola building committee composed
of Rev. T. B. Cliffored, Capt. I. T.
Blount and Mr. J. M. Taylor, the
lot. and buildings complete costing
approximately $4,000.
_ The church was opened for pub
lic worship Sunday, June 4, 1896,
with appropriate services con
ducted by Rev. J. $. Oakley, of
Holly Springs, and Rev. J. M.
Wyatt, of Ripley. During the
week following a revival was con
ducted by Rev. Inman W. Cooper,
MAIN STREET METHODIST CHURCH AND PARSONAGE.
city is shown by the pride they
take in their homes, by the im
provements and additions they
are building, and by their proverb
ial readiness to throw wide their
doors and bid all the world a
hearty welcome. No city in the
state is, perhaps, so well adver
tised today as Water Valley; no
city baa been so much spoken of
and written of during the past
year and a half, and upon no city
is the public gase so frequently
directed. We are and have been
for years the pioneers of cityhood
in the old but reiuvenated South,
spiting examples of confidence
and progression in time of depres
sion; blazing out a pathway
through the wilderness of fogyism
to the Eden of modern life; lead
lag me way 10 neaun, nappmess
•M prosperity by going deep
down in oar pockets and paying
Ui the first complete system of
Waterworks, sewerage and eleetrta
lights owned by any city in the
state. All of that has served to
spread our city’s feme, tor other
cities have since followed the ex
ample set. Bat more than that—
more than oar handsome churches
massive business blocks, cosey
residences, broad streets and
prosperity, more than our splen
did college and excellent schools
—oar hospitality has made
Water Valley famous and her
name familiar throughout the
length sad breadth of the state.
Valley, for she has done well. Bat
that does not mean we are to be
satisfied and rest content with the
good work accomplished; rather
should it inspire nb to higher
deeds and more trying efforts in
the foture. We have tested our
strength, have tried the hearts and
sounded the pocketbooke of oar
people, and have not reached the
limit of the one nor the bottom of
the other. So let us hope and
believe and work, and even a
grander and a better Water Valley
than this beauteous, prosperous
and happy little eity will rise to
crown our efforts.
i
fUln Street Church and! Par——gr. I
Oh oi the finite of the Meth
odist mfrr. net held in' *thi* city
in November, 1885, ia the hand
some little church and cony par
sonage on upper Main street,
a good cut of which appears on
thin page. The church w«» pre
jected by the board of minaioas of
the North Mississippi Conference,
nn allowance waa made toward its
erection and maintenance, and
Bev. T. B. Clifford, oae of the
yonageet bnt ablest and moat en
terprising preachers in the con
ference, was appointed peator hi
charge. In the spring of *86 the
work of erection was begun on a
lot which seemed to hero been
especially deaigned tor the pnr
poae. Lying just west of Main
street, adjacent to City park, in a
of Haxlehurst, resulting in quite
i number of accessions to the
church. The church tnembersbip,
beginning with — now fane 113
on the rolls, with 120 on the roll
in the Sunday school, an Epworth
Lesgue with 117 members, and a
Woman’s Parsonage and Horn#
Mission society with 27 mem
bers. The church building is
lighted with electricity; on either
side the rostrum and choir stand
are rooms arranged for infant
classes-and pastor’s study. Am
expensive silver oonmealoa serv
ice, together with a handsaw*
puipu dims ana ujm mok, wtn
presented to the church hy aladT
in the city. new ehnreh hu
prospered end grown since He
doom were diet opened. Her.
Mr. Clifford has endeered himself
to the people end is asking of
Mein Street church, one of the
urast popular places of worship
in the city.
MISSISSIPPI ORPHAN’S HOME.
’ At 1
Mme.” At the Conference ses
sion in Huxlehurst, In Dece mber,
IS93, the committee reported that
but little progress had been
! made, but expressed their cottvic
I tion of the importance and prac
ticability of the enterprise, and,
! aaked for further time. Coring
| the following year the attention
I of the public was called to the
proposed orphanage, and some de
cree of interest excited. This
Jed to the appointment at the
session of the North Mississinni
vjODicrfnct1, ii6lu in DeceiutMr,
1804, of a committee consisting of
J. A. Bowen, J. M. Wyatt and J.
H. Sherard, to confer with a sim
ilar committee from the Mississip
pi Conference as to the practica
bility of establishing an orphanage
under the Joint patronage of the
two C onferences in Mississippi.
la Jackson, Miss., on Jan. 8,
1896, the board of directors, con
sisting of B. J. Jones, W. A. Gun
ning, A, P. Watkins, M. L. Burton
and John S. Turner of the Missis
sippi Conference, and J. A. Bowen.
J. M. Wyatt, W. S. Lagrone, J. B.
Streater and J. H. Sherard, of the
North Mississippi Conference, met
and organised with W. A. Gun
ning, president; J. M. Wyatt, vice
president; A. F. Watkins, secre
tary, and J. A. Bowen and M. L,
Burton, treasurers. The name,
‘Mississippi Orphans’ Home,” was
adopted, a committee was appoint
ed to procure a charter, and the
secretary was ordered to adver
tise for bids for location.
On the twenty-third of April, in
Winona, a second meeting was
hold, at which the charter was
tuopiea, ana water Valley was
•elected as the location of the*
iome. At a subsequent meetii
_ select*
a contract
ireetian of tbe building <
This ■ prosperous aud
tire city secured the Orphl
... I i I W ii full
Hue land lying immediately adja
cent to tbe city and adjoining the
corporate limits on the east. The
lituation ia admirable in every
way, being close enough to the
city for all purposes yet fa*
enough removed to give that quiet
and retirement so essential in th<
surroundings of such an institu
tion. Twenty-live acres of the
land is high aud rolling, and is
covered with magnificent timber;
tbe other twenty-five acres lien
just south of and
Home lot and
there is in the state.
THB BUILDING
is situated on tlie highest point of
land and in the corner nearest the
city. It fronts the west, with an
essy drainage to east and west,
andshouldla psrtleniarlyboalthy.
The main building is 74x192 feet,
two storjee high, and has an ob
servatory, or “deck," on the man
sard nwf^ofr. The cut printed
in connection with this article
given* ftood idea of thd general
appearance of the buUdtag fhe
ground floor is AlvldedtSto a
handsome reoeptiou ball, class
rooms, dining hail, kitchen, atm
on tho second floor ara Ioanna
the dormitories, library, fcofp
keeper’s rooms, and ,the napes—iy
Hapura [VUUIB,1UU,,DB M
pantries and eloseteior the;
of surplus wearing apparel
young wards. All of the
are finished in fine planter :
well lighted and ventilate
building will aooommodnS
fcgftSIgr!
thein^ioaofthe
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