Purvis, Mississippi
| Purvis, Mississippi | |
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| City | |
Current Lamar County Courthouse in Purvis, Mississippi, circa 1956.
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 Location of Purvis, Mississippi |
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| Coordinates: 31°8′33″N 89°24′28″W / 31.14250°N 89.40778°WCoordinates: 31°8′33″N 89°24′28″W / 31.14250°N 89.40778°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Lamar |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Roger H. Herrin [1] |
| • Alderman | Ward 1: Nancy Pylant Ward 2: Vernon Hartfield Ward 3: Allen Stuart Ward 4: John W. Jordan At-Large: Milton Bourn |
| • State Senator | Tom King (R) |
| • State Delegate | Joey Fillingane (R) |
| • U.S. Rep. | Steven Palazzo (R) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.9 sq mi (10.2 km2) |
| • Land | 3.9 sq mi (10.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 387 ft (118 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 2,164 |
| • Density | 551.0/sq mi (212.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 39475 |
| Area code(s) | 601 |
| FIPS code | 28-60480 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0676425 |
Purvis is a city in Lamar County, Mississippi. It is part of the Hattiesburg, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,164 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lamar County. The Town of Purvis was incorporated on February 25, 1888 and was founded by and named after Thomas Melville Purves, originally of Marion County, Alabama. Purves, born March 8, 1820, was a second generation Scottish-American; his grandfather emigrated to Charleston, South Carolina in 1765.
Purvis acquired a land grant in 1870 for a parcel of real estate which was located, at that time, in Marion County, Mississippi. In 1871, Purves moved from his home in Greene County and homesteaded the 160 acres (0.65 km2), along with his wife, Dorothy Abney, born May 14, 1826 in Hinds County, and their five surviving children, to the rural property. Dorothy, also known as Dollie or Dolly, was a doctor who tended the sick of the area and delivered babies. Purves built a two-room log cabin for his family with an open fireplace in one room used for cooking and heating. John, Thomas Purves’ third surviving child, was the town’s first Mayor.
In 1884, the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad gained right-of-way on Purves' property and a depot was erected, along with a marker, reading “Purvis”. There were various recognized spellings of Scottish Clan Purves (Family Name) with both names previously listed being only a few of many. Purves eventually changed the spelling of his surname to match the town’s depot marker which you can see evidenced on his tombstone located in Fillingame Cemetery in Purvis. Purves built and ran the first boarding house for the men who were working on laying rails for the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad. This building was called a “section house” because that is what a house built for railroad crew was termed at that time. Mrs. Anna Bufkin was a member of one of the first families to live in the section house as her husband was one that helped grade and build that part of the railroad in Purvis. There were around fifty men in the crew working in that area and the water supply was inadequate for that many additional people. They found a second source of water from a spring across the railroad track that was originally used by Thomas Purves (Grandpa Purvis) years before the town sprang into existence.
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