Mississippi Locator Map (Pine Belt Region)

The Pine Belt, also known as the

Piney Woods The Piney Woods is a temperate coniferous forest terrestrial ecoregion in the Southern United States covering of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. These coniferous forests are dominated by several spec ...

, is a region in Southeast

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 ...

. The region gets its name from the

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

trees that are abundant in the region. The Pine Belt includes 9

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

: Covington, Forrest, Greene, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Marion, Perry, and Wayne.

History

Before the arrival of

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...

, the area that would later become the state of Mississippi was populated by several Native American tribes, including the

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States * Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...

and

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 na ...

in the Pine Belt. The population of these Native Americans declined as a result of armed conflicts with the Europeans, attrition from diseases, or coalescence with other tribes. In 1817, the western portion of the

Mississippi Territory The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the western half of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Mississippi. T ...

was admitted to the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

as the

State of 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. Mississ ...

. Yet, the vast longleaf pine resource in Mississippi's Pine Belt remained mostly undisturbed, because there was no efficient system for transporting cut timber to sawmills for processing into lumber. That changed in the late 1800s, when railroads were built throughout the Pine Belt. These railroads provided an inexpensive means for moving passengers as well as logs and lumber, and opened Mississippi's Pine Belt to both industrial growth and community development. Notable railway construction during this era included the

Gulf and Ship Island Railroad The Gulf and Ship Island Railroad (G&SI) was constructed in the state of Mississippi, USA, at the turn of the 20th century to open a vast expanse of southern yellow pine forests for commercial harvest. In spite of economic uncertainty, entrepren ...

;

New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad The New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad was a Class I railroad in Louisiana and Mississippi in the United States. The railroad operated of road from its completion in 1883 until it was absorbed by the Alabama Great Southern Railroad subsidiar ...

; and the Mobile, Jackson and Kansas City Railroad. The Pine Belt's booming timber industry ended around 1930, when the virgin pine forests were depleted. As

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

raged in Europe, military training sites were being created throughout the United States. As part of that effort, one of those training sites was established in the Pine Belt south of

Hattiesburg Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 45,989 at the 2010 census, with the populat ...

in 1917. Over time, that training site transformed into Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center. Camp Shelby is the largest state owned military training facility in the United States and covers more than .

Geography

As of 2020, Mississippi's Pine Belt had a population of 306,672 and an area of about 5,200 mi² (13,400 km²). In the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, the area is split between Mississippi's

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and 4th congressional districts.

Principal cities and towns

Education

;Universities *

The University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

William Carey University William Carey University (also known as Carey, William Carey, or WCU) is a private Christian university in Mississippi, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Mississippi Baptist Convention. The main campus is in Hattiesbur ...

;Community colleges *

Pearl River Community College Pearl River Community College is a public community college in Poplarville, Mississippi. It was founded as Pearl River County Agricultural High School in 1909 and became the first junior college in Mississippi in 1921. Residents of Hancock, F ...

Jones County Junior College Jones College is a public community college in Ellisville, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and serves its eight-county district consisting of Clarke, Covington, Gree ...

Southwest Mississippi Community College Southwest Mississippi Community College is a public community college in Summit, Mississippi. History The college was officially started in 1908 as an agricultural high school. The Pike County Agricultural High School opened on September 3, 1918, ...

* Copiah-Lincoln Community College

Media

;Newspapers, magazines, and journals *'' Laurel Leader-Call'' *''

Hattiesburg American The ''Hattiesburg American'' is a U.S. newspaper based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, that serves readers in Forrest, Lamar, and surrounding counties in south-central Mississippi. The newspaper is owned by Gannett. History The ''Hattiesburg ...

'' *''The Times'' *''Enterprise-Journal'' ;Television *Hattiesburg - WDAM 7 *Hattiesburg - WHLT 22 *Hattiesburg - WHPM 23

Transportation

;Airports * Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport ;Interstates *

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...

Interstate 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. The ...

;Highways * U.S. Highway 11 * U.S. Highway 49 * U.S. Highway 84 *

U.S. Highway 98 U.S. Route 98 (US 98) is an east–west United States Highway in the Southeastern United States that runs from western Mississippi to southern Florida. It was established in 1933 as a route between Pensacola, Florida, Pensacola and Apalachicola, F ...

Notable people

References

{{coord, 31.122799, -88.936746, display=title Regions of Mississippi Natural history of Mississippi Belt regions of the United States