Magnolia, on the Illinois Central railroad, is the seat of justice of Pike County. It had its start upon the completion of the railroad to that point in 1856. The county seat was located here in 1875.
Among Magnolia’s early business men were: L. R. Jones, carpenter, who built the first business house in the town; Robert L. Carter, W. H. Joyner, W. H. B. Crosswell, Joseph Evans and Abraham Hiller, merchants; L. Gournly, first postmaster, and E. M. Bee, the first depot agent, who served nineteen years.
The population is seven hundred and fifty.
Holmesville was the first incorporated village of the county. It was incorporated in 1817. Osyka was the next, and for two years was the terminus of the Illinois Central rail-road.
Back to: Mississippi Counties, Cities and Towns, 1891
Source: Biographical and Historical Memories of Mississippi, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891