Group Tour Escort Manual - Mississippi

HATTiEsburG
Rose Garden, University
of Southern Mississippi
Population: 44,779
Main Industry: Medical, Education
Famous Natives: Osceola McCarty, Brett Favre, Clarence Weatherspoon
Major Festivals/Events: Hubfest, Mississippi Miss Hospitality Pageant, Historic Downtown’s Victorian Candlelit Christmas
Tourism Office Phone Number: 866-4HATTIE
l Camp Shelby, home of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum, is the largest National Guard training facility in the United States.
l The forerunner of rock’n’roll music was called “rocking and reeling” and was first performed by musicians as early as 1929 in
Hattiesburg, according to The Rolling Stone Illustrated History Book of Rock’n’Roll. This is depicted at Hattiesburg’s official
Mississippi Blues Trail Marker.
l Hattiesburg’s Longleaf Trace is a 42-mile stretch of railroad track which has been converted into a recreational trail for walking,
biking and horse-back riding and is a path that takes you back to nature when railroads ruled the countryside.
l Hattiesburg is the site of the Sullivan-Kilrain fight, America’s last bare knuckle fight.
l A favorite photo opportunity, The All-American Rose Garden on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi features
over 750 award-winning bushes.
l An artistic masterpiece, The Spirit That Builds Mural is 167-feet of storybook history of South Mississippi, hand-painted on
sand-blasted stainless steel and suspended from the atrium of the Hattiesburg Library.
l Swing to the sounds of the Historic Saenger Theater’s original 1929
Robert Morton Pipe Organ in this elegant 1,000-seat movie
palace placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For more information about Hattiesburg, visit www.visithattie.com