Where in Mississippi is ... Woolmarket?

It could be called the little town that wasn't. The small community of Woolmarket, situated off Highway 67 northwest of Biloxi, may have a storied past and a close-knit band of modern citizens, but it actually never was a town at all. No mayor, no city council, no police force. But even without an official government. Woolmarket has managed to flourish for more than 150 years.

This Harrison County community got off to what seemed like a booming start before the Civil War, when a railroad into the area from the north was proposed and the right-of-way secured, according to a report on the community's history obtained from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Because of the war, the railroad was never built, but the already cleared right-of-way became a major caravan route that headed straight for Woolmarket. "Down came ox-trains bearing wool, charcoal, rosin, and beeswax; later, during the lumber boom of the 1880s, came wagon loads of lumber," the report states. These wagon trains sometimes extended for more than a quarter-mile in length. All of this traffic, along with the town's prime position on the banks of the Biloxi River, helped the community to prosper.

Nearby, Captain Joseph Marion Stiglets established Stiglets Landing on the river, along with a store and shelters for overnight visitors and their mules and oxen. Stiglets operated a fleet of schooners from this landing, and he employed some 500 men in logging and shipping operations. This spot became the center of the wool trade in south Mississippi; farmers from the surrounding counties and as far away as Hattiesburg traveled to the market here, many bringing either the wool from their sheep back home or the sheep themselves for shearing right there at the market. The wool, along with lumber, charcoal, turpentine, fur, beeswax, and other goods, was loaded onto the schooners and shipped down the river and on to New Orleans or Mobile, where it was sold or traded. Indeed, the wool trade was the primary industry here for years and gave the community its name.

"After unloading their products..., the weary travelers could spend the night at Stiglets Landing in a barracks-like building called the 'country house,' though it provided not much more than a shelter from the elements and a hot meal," wrote Murella Powell, local history and genealogy librarian, in a 2000 Biloxi Sun Herald article. The next day, the traders would reload their own wagons with staples such as flour, coffee, medicines, and shoes for the journey borne.

But despite its popularity as a riverboat landing and spot for commerce, Woolmarket never was incorporated. When a new port opened at Gulfport at the turn of the 19th century, the shipping business waned. By the 1940s, Woolmarket had become a quiet community of farms and rural homes. Few businesses operated here at the time, but one institution stood strong--the Woolmarket Consolidated School, which had been established in 1910 as a centralized educational facility for the growing population. It was the first consolidated school established in the state of Mississippi and one of the first in the nation.

The early school, while a vast improvement over its predecessor one-room schoolhouses, was still somewhat primitive, according to a report written by Shirley Hardman's fourth-grade gifted education class at the current Woolmarket Elementary School. A former student at the consolidated school here told the current students that classrooms had been heated by wood-burning stoves, there was no running water, and pigs often roamed onto the school playground to wallow in the mud after a rainstorm.

"Many hundreds of students have entered here with their hearts in their throats and a deep respect for the paddle-swinging teachers," noted the foreword of the school's 1948 annual. "These same students have left as men and women, with a feeling of pride, an accumulation of knowledge and friends."

The current Woolmarket Elementary School building, located on the same site as the original consolidated school, was constructed in 1930 and now serves some 535 students.

In 1952, two historic events took place in Woolmarket in the same week: the centennial celebration for the local Coalville United Methodist Church and the launch of telephone service in the area. The church had been founded in 1852 and got its name from the early industry of burning charcoal for shipment to Biloxi and New Orleans. A combined school and church called "Old Rough and Ready" was first built by the coal burners, who, while not believed to have grown wealthy from their occupation, were known widely for their devotion to "religion and honest industry," according to the Archives and History report. The Coalville Church still stands today, serving about 450 members; across the street, the church cemetery includes tombstones that date back to the 1700s, Pastor Joe Reynolds said. "There is a lot of history over here," Reynolds said. "The roots really run deep." in fact, many of the current church members can trace their ancestry back to the founding members, he said.

The telephone service launch was celebrated with as much fanfare as the church anniversary; the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company held a big barbecue and all-day program in the auditorium of the consolidated school. The day's climax was the placing of a long-distance call from prominent resident M.W. Brush to Congressman Bill Colmer in Washington, D.C.

As the years passed, modern life continued to infiltrate the small town. In 1998, the Sun Herald reported a business boom in Woolmarket, as more and more commercial establishments were created in the community to meet the needs of its growing population. At the time, 32 businesses were operating in the area, many of which had only sprung up in the last few years. The next year, most of Woolmarket was officially incorporated into the city of Biloxi.

Today, Woolmarket is a quiet place, far enough from the coast to avoid the tourist crush and retain a rural feel but close enough for its residents to enjoy their own peaceful style of Gulfside living.

A 1935 report on the town's history ends optimistically: "Based on a better soil, surrounded by natural beauty, and inspired by a noble ancestry and proud history, Woolmarket is today a clean, forward-looking, and crime-free community whose farms are just a little more progressive and independent and whose homes are a distinct credit to the county, state, and nation ..." Residents today share the same pride and optimism about their town that never officially was a town.