It has been nearly three years since Jessica Caswell and her husband Paul first found the home listing on Facebook that prompted a 700-mile move from West Virginia to West Point.
The couple had fallen in love with Elmview, the second oldest home in the city. Before ever seeing it in-person, the Caswells put in an offer. Then they visited the property and never looked back.
“I tell people we had our midlife crisis together,” Caswell jokes.
The Caswells packed up their family farm, including chickens, dogs and 12 fully-grown horses, and moved to West Point despite having never been to Mississippi. It was a scary milestone for Caswell, but she said those experiences are the ones that motivate her the most.
“It was terrifying,” she said. “But it’s also one of those things – if it doesn’t scare the hell out of you, it’s probably not worth doing.”
Drawn to its unique and historic charm, Elmview seemed special to Caswell. She knew the home had potential to be in her family for generations down the line.
“It was built in a day when you took pride in having something beautiful and a little different,” she said. “This was built so that they could pass it down to their kids. It was meant to last through generations. Family is really important to my husband and I, so that kind of drew us into it. We figured we could fix it up, and it would be something we could leave to our family.”
But making a new home in a new city required more work than just updating Elmview.
“The best way to get to know people is to get involved,” she said. “So I thought, ‘Well why not?’”
Caswell started working more with local organizations and got a job at Jubilations Coffee House. After working there for a little more than a year, she had the idea for a bakery that sells homemade sweets and baked goods with locally-sourced ingredients called The Confectionary at Elmview.
“It’s all fresh ingredients,” she said. “I don’t use anything pre-made. Everything is made from scratch.”
A typical day in her life starts in the kitchen around 4 a.m. to prepare breakfast goods – blueberry muffins, sausage rolls and breakfast quiches being the most popular. Five or so hours later, she starts the second round of baking, preparing the more time consuming selections like chocolate truffles.
She runs a small gift shop alongside the bakery, selling handcrafted jewelry, flavor roasted coffee beans, accessories and wax melts that are all created by independent artisans.
Opening day at The Confectionary was a huge success. Caswell was stunned by the support she saw from the West Point community.
“At one point, you couldn’t fit another person in this room,” she said. “West Point is really supportive. I wanted to be able to have an opportunity to give back.”
So she started thinking of more ways to bring the community to Elmview.
In March, she hosted the first Spring Fest, bringing more than 20 local vendors to her front yard to sell handcrafted goods. She partners with Brush It Off Paint Parties to host events each month where visitors can come to Elmview, create their own art and take it home.
For Caswell, each event is a step towards building a greater sense of community in West Point.
“There’s so much potential for West Point,” she said. “It’s a beautiful little town, and we want to help emphasize that.”
Caswell plans to continue building on the work she’s started in the community. She’s considering a second vendor festival in the fall and is on the planning committee for the annual Faith & Blue event, which seeks to build bridges between law enforcement and communities.
Whatever comes next, Caswell wants the focus to be supporting the West Point community. It’s in supporting the community where she feels most at home.
“We haven’t been here long, but we love the community,” she said. “It feels like home.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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