History of Crawford, Mississippi
Crawford was named after a Baptist minister, Rev. Peter Crawford, about 1852.289 Known as Crawfordsville until 1870 and then Crawfordville until the 1879 when it was changed to Crawford. The Mobile and Ohio Railroad came through Crawfordsville in 1857.
Above is the home of George William Hairston built in 1909 on Main Street in the town of Crawford. The photo, taken in 1910, shows George W. Hairston, his third wife Ela Tharpe and nurses holding their children Brown and Nicholas. George's first two wives, Mary Watt Hairston and Virginia Antionette Ervin died in childbirth. It appears that this photo of George W. Hairston was taken on the same day as the photo of him standing in front of the Brooks & Ledbetter store in the next section titled "The Business District of Crawford, Mississippi". The home was torn down in the 1960s. The home was located next to the home George William Hairston, Jr., which was still in use as of 2024.
Crawford, Mississippi Time Line
1821 - The Robinson Road was built in 1821 and went from Jackson, Mississippi to Columbus, Mississippi passing near Crawford. In Columbus it connected with Andrew Jackson's Military Road that went from Nashville, Tennessee to New Orleans, Louisiana.
1822 - The Robinson Road was made a U.S. Mail route
1830 - Lowndes County was created
1830 - Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek with Choctaw Indians
1832 - Treaty of Pontotoc Creek with Chickasaw Nation, they are relocated to Oklahoma in 1837-1838
1832 - John Dailey operated the Wayside Inn on the Robinson Road
1837 - Mississippi State Census, Lowndes County - Population 5,299 White and 7,365 Enslaved, Columbus and Plymonth are only towns listed.
1840 - Post Office opened at Dailey's Cross Roads (southwest of Crawford) on September 16, 1840. Postmaster was John A. Dailey until April 3, 1850.
1850 - Rev. Peter Crawford was the Baptist Minister in Lowndes County in the 1850 Census
1850 - The town of Crawfordsville was given it's name
1851 - Lowndes Academy in Crawfordsville with principles Peter Crawford and A. W. Richardson.
1852 - Crawfordsville Male and Female Institutes are incorporated by J. L. Edmonds, James A. Baird, James H. Gilmore, Mitchell Peden, John M. Lowry, John F. Carr, William B. Cavanah, N. F. Scales and P. H. Whitlock on October 21, 1852.
1853 - Mail Schedule: From Macon, by Brookville and Deer Brook, to Crawfordsville, 50 miles and back, once a week. Leave Macon Friday 6am, arrive Crawfordsville by 8pm, leave Crawfordsville Saturday at 6am, arrive Macon by 8pm.
1854 - Town of Crawfordsville was incorporated on January 26, 1854. The city extended "one-fourth of a mile in all directions, from a point commencing midway in a right line between the present residence of N. F. Scales, and the house now occupied as a Female Institute, by Jesse Nash, in said town."
1857 - J. F. Carr deeded land for the railroad in 1857 and later he was the depot agent
1857 - Mobile and Ohio Railroad went through Crawfordsville at mile marker 211.12 - Brooksville 206.2, Penns 214.95, Artesia 219.26, Mayhew 224.12
1857 - Eli Crowder is Postmaster of Crawfordsville, April 7
1858 - Albert G. Robey is Postmaster of Crawfordsville, Feburary 12
1858 - William Conner is Postmaster of Crawfordsville, April 27
1859 - William Huckaby is Postmaster of Crawfordsville, Janauary 14
1859 - Theophilus Harvey is Postmaster of Crawfordsville, January 15
1861 - Mississippi secedes from Union on January 9, 1861. The Confederate States of America formed.
1861 - The Prairie Guards, Company E was formed on February 15, 1861 at Crawfordsville.
1861 - The Prairie Guard entered Confederate service at Lynchburg, Virginia May 13, 1861.
1862 - Union Army under U.S. Grant advances toward Corinth (north end of railroad line running through Crawford) leading to Battle of Shiloh
1863 - Crawfordsville soldiers killed at Gettysburg: William A. Allen, John W. Ball, Thomas Carr, George W. Edwards, Pleasant Goolsby, Henry P. Halbert, J. Leander Huckaby, Jonathan T. Jones, Liberty S. Martin, John R. Mimms, Thomas P. Mimms, Fletcher S. Norwood, David C. Wilkins, and Henry M. Wilkins.
1865 - Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865 and Mississippi on May 4, 1865.
1865 - John H. Kennon is Postmaster of Crawfordsville, December 11
1865 - December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment to the US Constitution, abolishing slavery
1866 - Memorial Day founded in Columbus, Mississippi on April 25 1866
1866 - John S. Allen is Postmaster of Crawfordsville, May 31 1866
1867 - Joseph D. Gunter is Postmaster of Crawfordsville, April 29 1867
1868 - Charles Keier is Postmaster of Crawfordsville, October 19 1868
1870 - Mississippi readmitted to Union
1870 - The "s" was dropped from Crawfordsville, changing the city to Crawfordville
1872 - George W. Rogers was Postmaster, November 11, 1872 to December 5, 1873
1873 - James Nance was Postmaster, December 5, 1873 to December 19, 1878
1874 - The gin-house of Maj. N. E. Hairston near Crawfordville, was accidentally set on fire and burned down for a loss of about $8,000.
1878 - Theophilus Harvey was Postmaster, December 19, 1878 to October 3, 1879
1879 - The "ville" was deleted from Crawfordville and the city became Crawford
1879 - Theophilus Harvey was Postmaster, October 3, 1879 to March 8, 1880
1880 - Arthur W. Halbert was Postmaster, March 8, 1880 to May 26, 1880
1880 - E. M. Owens was Postmaster, May 26, 1880 to June 4, 1880
1880 - John Martin was Postmaster, June 4, 1880 to January 11, 1881
1880 - Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi founded - later became Mississippi State University
1881 - James H. Whitefield was Postmaster, January 11, 1881 to August 21, 1882
1880 - G. R. Bowles was Postmaster, August 21, 1882 to December 12, 1882
1880 - A. D. Whitfield was Postmaster, December 12, 1882 to July 31, 1883
1883 - "August 17, Friday night fire destroyed 12 stores and 6 warehouses, loss of $100,000, insurance $16,000" Memphis Daily Appeal 19 Aug 1883 - "On one side of street were B. V. Halbert and Company, Woodin, Jim Nance, Irvin & Hairston, Randall & Smith, Smith & Reeder, Kier & Carr Brothers, N. Scales and Company and on the opposite side of street, Ferguson, Brooks & Peace, W. P. Wyatt, Lawrence & Hales, Theophilus Harvey." From The Autobiography of a Little Man. p. 62-63.
1883 - A. C. Lawrence was Postmaster, July 31, 1883 to September 15, 1884
1884 - Mississippi Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls was formed in 1884 in Columbus and became the first public women's college in the United States, later named Mississippi State College for Women (MSCW) in 1920 and then Mississippi University for Women (MUW) in 1974
1899 - "Crawford is now an incorporated town with J. T. Hairston as Mayor; D. J. Martin, Marshal, A. J. Ervin, W. A. Hartman and J. F. Waller, Aldermen." The Macon Beacon, Sat April 1, 1899
1900 - Artemus Jennings Ervin, Jr. elected Mayor of Crawford.
1906 - Railroad Conductor R. H. Harrison of Mobile & Ohio Railroad, was shot and killed
1908 - Battleship USS Mississippi (BB-23) - launched 1905, sold to Greece 1914, sunk by Germans 1941
1909 - Prohibition starts in Mississippi and does not end until 1966, 33 years after the 21st Amendment ending prohibition
1910 - Jesse R. Waller was Postmaster, January 15, 1910 to August 28, 1912
1911 - Election June 12, 1911 - H. H. Smith, Mayor; M. B. Kemp, Marshal; D. P. Brooks, D. A. Flournoy, L. C. Gibson, Aldermen.
1912 - Annie F. Kier was Postmaster, August 28, 1912 to December 19, 1914
1914 - Thomas Watt Gregory, born in Crawfordsville on November 6, 1861, was appointed Attorney General of the United States on August 29, 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson.
1912 - John D. Flourney was Postmaster, December 19, 1914 to March 8, 1919
1915 - First concrete paved road in Mississippi is part of US-45 in Lee County and is 49 miles long
1917 - Battleship USS Mississippi (BB-41) launched in 1917 and earned eight battle stars in WWII. She fired the last gun salvo in naval history to be fired by a battleship against another heavy ship
1919 - Lillie H. Flourney was Postmaster, March 8, 1919 to February 28, 1922
1920 - Women win right to vote
1921 - Crawford Bank was robbed Sunday, 27 Feb 1921. "YEGGS BREAK IN CRAWFORD BANK -- FINANCIAL INSTITUTION IS ROBBED SUNDAY -- GET VERY LITTLE CASH -- $12,000.00 IN BONDS -- Stolen But Bonds Were Registered -- Robbers Made Their Getaway in Safety -- No Trace of Them Yet. ----- Crawford, Miss., Feb. 28 -- A check up today showed that $12,000 in registered Liberty bonds, $50 in cash and an unknown amount of jewelry was taken by yeggs who blew the door to the safety deposit vault at the Bank of Crawford early yesterday morning, according to A. J. Ervin, cashier at the bank. Every box in the safety deposit vault was ripped open and looted. Quantities of silverware and jewelry were found on the floor. The $12,000 in bonds belonged to E. W. Hairston, a local merchant, and as they are registered, it is not believed that he will suffer the loss. No effort was made to enter a huge steel safe that contained the bank's funds. No trace of the yeggs has been found. Suspicion attaches to four strange men in an automobile who arrived in Crawford late Saturday afternoon, although is probable that they were merely tourists." ---- The Commercial Dispatch, Columbus, Mississippi, Wednesday, March 2, 1921, page 1. (Yeggs is an old term for burglar or safecracker)
1922 - Noah B. Scales was Postmaster, February 28, 1922 to March 31, 1925
1925 - Leonard C. Gibson was Postmaster, March 31, 1925 to May 28, 1931
1927 - Crawford School is built
1928 - First telephone system in Crawford by W. A. Gentry and his wife was the switchboard operator
1931 - J. D. Frazier, Mayor; J. W. York, Marshal; M. R. Henkel, Clerk and Treasurer; H. P. Hartman, G. B. Triplett, M. R. Henkel, Aldermen.
1931 - Lowndes A. Hairston was Postmaster, May 28, 1931 to May 23, 1932
1931 - William B. Potts was Postmaster, May 23, 1932 to September 30, 1947
1932 - Mississippi starts a state sales tax of 2%
1933 - Prohibition repealed, but Mississippi stays dry
1931 - Charles D. Bragg was Postmaster, September 30, 1947 to March 16, 1949
1936 - "Crawford School, a brick veneer building, constructed in 1927 at a cost of $10,000, is located at Crawford, Mississippi. It has six class rooms and an auditorium. Six teachers and the principle, Prof. O. P. Breland, are employed, teaching eleven grades. The school has a well equipped library, and two buses are run, one from Lowndes and one from Oktibbeha County. The enrollment from Lowndes is 110, with about 25 or 30 pupils coming from Oktibbeha." - from 1936-38 Works Progress Administration
1949 - Leonard C. Gibson, Jr. was Postmaster, March 16, 1949
1956 - The Rebel train south bound leaves Okolona, MS (near Tupelo) at 4:00AM and stopped at Artesia 4:57AM, passing thru Crawford at 5:25 AM and arriving in Meridian at 7:05 AM. By rail from Artesia you could go to Tupelo in 57 minutes, to Meridian 1 hour 50 minutes, Mobile 5 hours 40 minutes, Tuscaloosa 2 hours 22 minutes, Montgomery 6 hours 35 minutes. Trains went between 45 and 59 mph.
1960 - Telephone dialing system installed in Crawford