Pine Belt (Mississippi)

The Pine Belt, also known as the "Piney Woods", is a region in Southeast Mississippi. The region gets its name from the longleaf pine trees that are abundant in the region.

Geography

The Longleaf Pine belt covers 10 counties in Mississippi; Jefferson Davis, Covington, Jones, Wayne, Marion, Lamar, Forrest, Perry, Jasper and Greene. It is east of the Mississippi Delta region, north of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and south of the Jackson area.

History

In the years before Mississippi was discovered by Europeans, Native American tribes populated the state. Specifically in the Pine Belt region of Mississippi, the Natchez tribe resided. The Natchez provided a formidable challenge for French and Spanish settlers, but their population halved less than 15 years after contact with Europeans. Disease and warfare eventually forced them to settle with the Creek people or English colonists.

The Mississippi Territory eventually became a U.S. state in 1817, and the Pine Belt became more populated and Mississippi's main economical attribute next to agriculture. After the American Civil War, railroads were extended into the area.

With its main industry inert, farming became more popular, but due to poor soil, the area struggled.

Principal cities

Education
Universities
Community colleges

Media
Newspapers, magazines, and journals
  • Laurel Leader-Call
  • The Hattiesburg American
  • The Times
  • Enterprise-Journal


Television

Transportation
Airports
  • Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport
Interstates
Highways

Notable people
gollark: I mostly just buy cheap hardware, end up having it get broken within ~3 years, and in the meantime try and fit my stuff into the constraints of said cheap hardware.
gollark: Did you not notice?
gollark: Also about five years ago?
gollark: It's a computer from the future... today.
gollark: They have socketed RAM. Mostly.

See also
  • Belt regions of the United States

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