What used to be there
Do you ever drive and think about what used to be “there” during your drive? After finding some old photos of what used to be I thought I would jog some old memories. The What Was There project was inspired by the realization that we could leverage technology and the connections it facilitates to provide a new human experience of time and space – a virtual time machine of sorts that allows users to navigate familiar streets as they appeared in the past. The Pierce Home
The Pierce home was located on East Lampkin Street and their hardware store on the same piece of land facing Jackson Street. . According to the late Beverly Robinson, she grew up in this home (grandparents, the Pierce’s lived here). She said, “the Pierce’s owned the land where Kennard Ward’s Central Service Station was buillt in 1925.” She remembered it being their garden and of course, the next building facing Jackson Street was their hardware store that can be seen on the building being renovated at Jackson Square.
Simeon Pierce was born in Kentucky in 1827 and died at Starkville, Miss. February 2, 1910. He went to Mississippi in the early forties, from which State he enlisted in the Mexican War, becoming a member of Company A, 2nd Regiment Mississippi Volunteers. He gloried in the victory of his country and the gaining of so great a republic as Texas.
In the strife between the States Simeon Pierce was again found at his post of duty, serving under the immortal Lee in many a gallant charge or marching with the “ragged legions” that were fought to a frazzle for principle. Comrade Pierce in his time held many positions of honor and trust. For a number of years he was County Treasurer, prominent in fraternal circles and a consistent member of the church.
According to Judge Carroll’s book, “Simeon Pierce was a good man, a devout Baptist. Some of the older citizens remember his prayers, always beautiful and usually concluding with the petition “When done with the time and fellowship on earth, save us with an everlasting salvation, Amen. Pierce married Lucy, daughter of Churchill Carpenter. Some of the children are Will, the hardware merchant; Mamie (Mrs. Chambers) and Clarence (died in 1929).” Kennard Ward’s Central Service Station My sister, Melanie, sent me your request for information on the part our uncle’s service station played in the Old Main fire.
Our uncle, Amos Kennard Ward, who always went by Kennard, operated a Standard Oil Service station at the corner of Lampkin and Jackson for
over 40 years. For a lot of those years he had a contract with the City of Starkville to supply gasoline to city vehicles, including fire trucks. On the night of the fire, our uncle was asleep at home at 514 S Washington and unaware of the fire.
At some point, the fire chief called him, told him of the fire and that the fire trucks were running out of gasoline. My uncle organized some of his employees and began ferrying gas to the trucks in five gallon cans in the back of the service station pickup truck. When they arrived at the fire they found sparks falling around the fire trucks making it highly dangerous to carry gasoline to the trucks. The solution was to wet a piece of canvas which was held aloft by a man at each corner with a man carrying the gas can under the canvas. In this way they advanced to the fire truck and poured the gas into truck. I don’t know how many times this was repeated and whether or not our uncle supplied gas to the fire trucks from surrounding cities or not.
The only person who might still be alive from our uncle’s crew would be William Coates. His last name might be Coats or Cotes. He left our uncle’s employ in the 60s and went to work for Lockport Felt Company, where I suspect he worked until he retired. He would be in his 80s now. At that time, he lived on S Lafayette St between the railroad tracks and Gillespie. I remember the house as being on the west side about midway.
Another employee, William Brown, would have certainly been involved, but he died a number of years ago.
As an interesting note from another generation, our grandfather and Kennard Ward’s father, James C. Ward allowed the fire department at
the turn of the 20th century to use his carriage horses whenever they wished to spell the regular horses used to pull the fire equipment of that era.
I was 11 years old at the time of the Old Main fire and living at 52 Magruder Street. The glow from the fire awoke my parents who got us
four children up to see what was happening. At first we thought it was the president’s house burning since it was in a direct line from
our house to Old Main. I remember standing on the old railroad tracks to the south of the fire watching for a long time.
Try googling “What Was There” and placing this photo on the map and see how you like this program.