Merrill is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

George County, Mississippi George County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,350. Its county seat is Lucedale. The county is named for James Z. George, US Senator from Mississippi. George County was inclu ...

, United States. Prior to the creation of George County, Merrill was located in Greene County. Merrill is located on the former

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illin ...

and was once home to nine general stores, three

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...

distilleries, two sawmills, and a drugstore. A post office operated under the name Merrill from 1898 to 1960. The Merrill Bridge is the oldest still-intact bridge over 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 Mexico. ...

. The bridge was built in 1928 and was the first bridge to cross the Pascagoula. It replaced a ferry that previously operated on the site. The bridge is now closed to traffic and is listed as a

Mississippi Landmark A Mississippi Landmark is a building officially nominated by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and approved by each county's chancery clerk. The Mississippi Landmark designation is the highest form of recognition bestowed on prope ...

. However, foot traffic is welcome on the bridge. The confluence of the Leaf River and

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 that flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The Chickasawhay's tributaries also drain a portion of wester ...

can be seen north of the bridge.

References

Unincorporated communities in George County, Mississippi Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area Unincorporated communities in Mississippi {{GeorgeCountyMS-geo-stub