Mississippi Highway 57 (MS 57) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in southeastern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. It runs in a north/south direction for approximately , serving four counties:

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community *Greene, Iowa, a city *Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene *Greene (town), New York ** Greene (village), New York, in the town ...

, and Wayne.

Route description

MS 57 begins in Jackson County on the

Ocean Springs Ocean Springs is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States, approximately east of Biloxi and west of Gautier. It is part of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 17,225 at the 2000 U.S. Census ...

/ Gautier city line in the small community of

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...

at an intersection with

U.S. Route 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. With the exception of a short-lived ...

(US 90). It heads north as four-lane divided highway through mostly rural woodlands, passing by some homes and businesses here and there, for a little under to have an interchange with

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

(I-10) at its exit 57. The highway now narrows to two-lanes as it leaves Fontainebleau, as well as the city limits of both towns, to wind its way northward through a mix of farmland and wooded areas for several miles to pass through the community of Vancleave before paralleling the

Pascagoula River The Pascagoula River is a river, about 80 miles (130 km) long, in southeastern Mississippi in the United States. The river drains an area of about 8,800 square miles (23,000 km²) and flows into Mississippi Sound of the Gulf of Mexic ...

along its western banks and crossing into George County. MS 57 continues winding its way north to cross Black Creek and travel through the community of Benndale, where it has an intersection with MS 26, before passing through the

De Soto National Forest De Soto National Forest, named for 16th-century Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, is of pine forests in southern Mississippi. It is one of the most important protected areas for the biological diversity of the Gulf Coast ecoregion of North Ame ...

and traveling past where the Pascagoula River splits into the

Leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

and Chickasawhay rivers, with MS 57 following the Leaf River and crossing into Greene County. The highway passes through the community of

before crossing over a railroad track to enter the town of

McLain McLain is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Denny McLain, American baseball player * Hardy McLain (born 1952), American hedge fund manager *Jeremiah McLain Rusk, American politician, 15th governor of the state of Wisconsin * Raym ...

and have an intersection with MS 198. It now bypasses downtown along its eastern side before having an intersection and becoming concurrent (overlapped) with US 98. They head east as a four-lane divided highway to immediately cross a bridge over the Leaf River, as well as leave McLain, and travel through woodlands for couple miles, where they have another intersection with MS 198 (through this section is a short dead end due to the demolition of that highway's bridge over the Leaf River), before MS 57 splits off as a two-lane highway and travels through another section of the De Soto National Forest for the next several miles. MS 57 crosses over Big Creek to leave the National Forest and pass through the community of

Hillman Hillman was a British automobile marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had b ...

, and travel past the Green County Campus of Jones College, before entering the town of Leakesville and becoming concurrent with MS 63. They pass through town along Main Street, traveling through some neighborhoods and a business district before traveling straight through downtown. They then pass through more neighborhoods before crossing a long bridge over the

Chickasawhay River The Chickasawhay River is a river, about long, in southeastern Mississippi in the United States. It is a principal tributary of the Pascagoula River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The Chickasawhay's tributaries also drain a portion of we ...

to leave Leakesville and pass through some woodlands for the next few miles (where it has an intersection with its old alignment) to an interchange with MS 594, where MS 57 splits off and heads north along a four-lane divided expressway through remote woodlands (part of the

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) for the next several miles. MS 57 has a couple more intersections with its former two-lane alignment before entering the town of State Line, which it mostly bypasses along its eastern side as it has an interchange with MS 42 (St. Peter Street), where it crosses into Wayne County. MS 57 comes to an end shortly thereafter at a large interchange with

US 45 U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as . US 45 is notable for incorporatin ...

History

Former MS 57

The MS 57 designation was first used from 1932–1960 along what is now the southern segment of MS 15 between

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

and its north end, as well as a portion MS 26 to the town of

Wiggins Team Wiggins Le Col (), also known as ''Team Wiggins'' in media, was a professional developmental cycling team based in the United Kingdom, which began competing in elite road bicycle racing and track cycling in 2015. The team folded at the e ...

MS 59

Between 1932 and 1958, the current routing of MS 57 was designated as Mississippi Highway 59 (MS 59). In 1960, it was renumbered to MS 57 in order to avoid confusion with the then new

I-59 Interstate 59 (I-59) is an Interstate Highway located in the southeastern United States. It is a north–south route that spans from a junction with I-10 and I-12 at Slidell, Louisiana, to a junction with I-24 near Wildwood, Georgia. ...

Four-lane expressway

Between Leakesville and the highway's northern end in State Line, MS 57 was completely transformed from a narrow, rural, two-lane highway to a modern four-lane divided

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

. The project was completed in 2007, with portions of the new highway either overlapping or bypassing the original route. The purpose of this project was to connect four-lane US 45, which continues on to

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

, to the

Mississippi Gulf Coast The Mississippi Gulf Coast, also known as Mississippi Coast, Mississippi Gulf Coast region, Coastal Mississippi, and The Coast, is the area of Mississippi along the Mississippi Sound at the northern extreme of the Gulf of Mexico. Geography At th ...

, via the expressway continuing south along MS 63 into

Pascagoula The Pascagoula (also Pascoboula, Pacha-Ogoula, Pascagola, Pascaboula, Paskaguna) were an indigenous group living in coastal Mississippi on the Pascagoula River. The name ''Pascagoula'' is a Mobilian Jargon term meaning "bread people". Choctaw ...

. The original two-lane alignment followed MS 63 across the Chickasawhay River out of downtown Leakesville, as it does today (through it was on the original, now closed bridge on River Street). MS 57 then split off of MS 63 immediately thereafter and headed north along Old Highway 57 through farmland, then woodlands as it enters

, for several miles to join the current alignment for the next several miles. MS 57 then split off along Old Highway 57 to have an intersection Highway 45 Shortcut Road (a connector to the community of

Yellow Pine In ecology and forestry, yellow pine refers to a number of conifer species that tend to grow in similar plant communities and yield similar strong wood. In the Western United States, yellow pine refers to Jeffrey pine or ponderosa pine. In the S ...

) before entering the town of State Line along Main Street and passing through neighborhoods. Old MS 57 then came to an end at an intersection with MS 42 at the southern edge of downtown.

Major intersections

References

External links

*{{commons category inline 057 Transportation in Jackson County, Mississippi Transportation in George County, Mississippi Transportation in Greene County, Mississippi Transportation in Wayne County, Mississippi