As many readers know, I’ve spent the last three years working for The Dispatch remotely. And I do mean remotely, 246 miles remote, according to my GPS.
So while I still write mostly about what’s going on in Columbus and the Golden Triangle, my home address is in Moss Point, just a few miles west of the Alabama state line and a few miles north of the Mississippi Sound.
I knew Moss Point would be my destination as far back as 2018, when my then-girlfriend/now wife, Tess, returned from a trip to Pascagoula to see her sister and mentioned, almost casually, that she had bought a house.
Neither of us have been the sort to go around buying houses willy-nilly, so I had plenty of questions. First and foremost was, “Where is this house?”
“Moss Point,” she said. I winced. I had previously lived on the Coast for 14 years. Of the nine cities located along the Coast, Moss Point was widely regarded as the least desirable, a city in decline, noted for its poverty and crime.
Tess did not seem aware of this nor did she seem at all phased. She knew a good deal when she saw one and instantly proceeded to do a complete make-over, turning a falling-down foreclosure into a pretty little cottage poised handsomely on a bluff, a block from the Moss Point marina and downtown, which hugs the banks of the Escatawpa River.
We love it. It’s as safe as any place I’ve ever lived,
In the three years since I’ve lived in Moss Point, I’ve come to see some real parallels to Columbus. Like Columbus, Moss Point was a wealthy town, with fortunes made in the lumber business. In the late 1890s, it emerged as the largest pine exporter in the world, with no fewer than nine sawmills operating within the city limits.
When the lumber yards began to close, other industries moved in, but a steady decline began in the early 1980s.
Do you think Columbus has problems?
Consider Moss Point.
Over the past 40 years, Moss Point’s population fell from 28,000 to 13,500. Its school district shrank from 5,000 students to 1,200. Businesses left, and so did families.
In 2014, Moss Point put up $8.5 million for new water meters. They began failing almost immediately. For the past six years, Moss Point has been billing water customers based not on actual water used, but estimates. City officials say they’ve been losing $4-to-$5 million annually. The city is suing the manufacturer of the meters, but there is no resolution.
In 2021, the mayor and his wife pleaded guilty to fraud, using funds that were supposed to go to the schools for mental health programs for their own personal use. The city’s police chief resigned in 2016 after being clocked driving 100 mph going the wrong way on a one-way street in Pascagoula. Another Moss Point police officer was arrested for stealing money from a drug dealer.
Failing schools, failing infrastructure, failing leadership. Revenue in a freefall.
The city had a $2 million deficit last year.
Yet, there is a spirit of optimism in Moss Point that defies both its current state and its troubled history.
In 2021, Billy Knight, a well-known and respected educator and coach, was elected mayor. Two years later, Oswego Harper became Superintendent of Schools.
The leadership they have provided has united the community, Black and white, in a way never before seen. In 2023, Moss Point High earned its first A rating and the school district its first B rating, only 66 points shy of an A rating.
It is widely perceived as a miracle.
The mayor, meanwhile, went to work recruiting new businesses. Two new auto dealerships and a Tractor Supply store are set to open next year. The city has used its ARPA money for water meters, which will be installed by next year. That will go a long way in putting Moss Point’s finances in order.
Moss Point may never be what it once was and it still has a long road ahead to be considered a success.
But the leadership of two men has altered the atmosphere and united a community. The success of Moss Point’s schools has restored the community’s faith in itself. A respected mayor not afraid to meet challenges head on has restored its hope.
The challenges Columbus faces seem almost trivial when compared to what Moss Point has suffered and endured and is poised to overcome.
If it can happen in Moss Point, it can happen anywhere.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
