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Page Twelve
SOUVENIR CENTENNIAL EDITION, HANCOCK COUNTY EAGLE
August, 1958
WORTHWHILE PROJECTS OF PRESENT DAY
(1)	THE CITY-COUNTY MEMORIAL LIBRARY has developed from a very small beginning in 1934 (200 books stacked on the floor of a donated room on the second floor of the Hancock Bank building). Thanks to the efforts of a devoted librarian Miss Louise Crawford, hard-working committees, and with generous donations of money and books from hundreds of loyal friends, Bay St. Louis now owns a well-equipped Library building, stocked with more than 17,000 volumes. It is truly a credit to Bay St. Louis and Hancock County and ranks with the best.
(2)	LOCAL HOSPITAL—In 1927 a local circle of the International Order, Kings Daughters and Sons was formed, which a year later started the first emergency hospital in Bay S't. Louis in the upper story of the late Dr. D’. H. Ward home on Main Street. The first patient was admitted on June 16, 1928. Later a larger house on Main Street was rented where the hospital remained until a larger house on Carroll Avenue was purchased and equipped. Here the hospital continued to operate as the Kings Daughters and Sons Emergency Hospital until, because of financial difficulties, it was forced to cease operation in 1957. In 1958 it was reopened as the Hancock County Hospital, and will continue to operate as such until the new proposed Hill-Bur-ton Hospital, estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $300,000, will have been built and opened to the public.
(3)	THE BAY ST. LOUIS LITTLE THEATRE was organized in 1946 and held its first plays in the Bay High School auditorium. In 1948, the Theatre purchased a lot on Boardman Avenue, and bought two war surplus buildings which it joined into a T-shape and paint-
ed barm red. Today it is a well-equipped theatre building seating 150 spectators and has consistently presented to appreciative audiences, many Well-known Broadway successes. It has high hopes for continued success in the future.
(4)	THE PRESENT BAY-WAVE* LAND YACHT CLUB was constructed in 1950, on the site of the old oyster factory, at the intersection of North Beach and North Second Streets. Besides year-round entertainment of all sorts for its members, it provides excellent opportunities for sailing, fishing and swimming is the setting for many of the town’s loveliest social affairs. It is really a credit to the community, of which we might all be proud.
(5)—THE	LOCAL ROTARY CLUB, one of the finer organizations of our city, was organized in May, 1925. It has a large and active membership and has been of inestimable value to Bay St. Louis and Hancock Cdunty, having been instrumental in getting, among other improvements, the seawall and natural gas for this area. Its participation in practically every civic endeavor, is noteworthy and commendable.
(6)	THE BAY ST. LOUIS YOUTH CENTER, on Ulman Avenue, was built in recent years, and owes its existence primarily to the indefatigable efforts of one man, Joe B. Burrow, present cashier of the Merchants Bank and Trust Company. The Center has provided wholesome recreational facilities for the hundreds of young people of this community and surrounding area and its value cannot be overestimated. It is only through the combined efforts of organizations of this kind that
juvenile delinquency will finally be defeated.
(7)	THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
The local Hancock County Chamber of Commerce was organized as the Bay St. Louis Chamber of Commerce on November 13, 1925, umder the leadership of the following sfficers:
H. S. Weston, President; Georgo R. Rea, Vice-president; Joseph O. Mauffray, 2nd. Vice-president; Dr. James A. Evans, 3rd. Vice-president; William Cooper, Secretary. (The first three of the above-named officers are now deceased.)
It was later changed to its present name of the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, on the 15th day of November, 1945 and down through the years, has proven itself to be invaluable as a medium of promoting the civic, tourist, and industrial development of our community.
(8)	MARD-I GRAS CELEBRATIONS were begun by Bay High School Parent-Teacher Association and are still held annually under its auspices. Each year, at Mardi Gras time, the schools, merchants, and various organizations, decorate floats and provide the townspeople with an elaborate parade and day-long celebration of fun and merriment. Operating under the name of “Krewe of Chicapoula”, the paraders are watched by thousands along their route. Many of the spectators mask and wear colorful costumes for the occasion. A king and queen and their court are chosen from the eighth grade of Bay High School, and a ball, held in the school’s auditorium, is the climax to the day-long round of festivities. Most of the citizens of the town and surrounding area participate actively or as spectators.
OSOINACH STORE OF BYGONE DAYS
Interior View , Of Old Bay Mercantile Company
The Bay Mercantile Co., is one of the oldest establishments in Hancock County. It was formerly located where Olen’s Department S'tore now operates and was owned by the late John Osoinach and later by the late Henry Osoinach, Sr., still in operation at a new location, at the corner of Main and Beach front it is owned and operated by the third generation of Osoinachs, Henry, Jr.
The Bay Mercantile, when owned and operated by Mr. John Osoinach, carried an immense line of dry goods, shoes, hats, clothing, notions, graphophones, matting, glassware, hardware, ship chandlery, paints, oils, varnishes, rope, crockery, wooden and willow ware, hammocks, graniteware, also a very large line of high and medium grade furniture, house furnishings, rugs, mattings, baby
carriages, and go-carts, saddlery amd harness, mattresses and pillows, cooking and heating stoves. In connection with his lines Mr. Osoinach made a specialty of the Beacon Shoes; his trade included the Gulf Coast, and far into the interior of the County; the store building had a frontage of 63 feet, the entire basement being used as a warehouse for the storage of reserve stocks. After several years Mr. Osoinach had the misfortune to suffer heavy losses by fire, at which time his store building, residence and the handsome opera house building, which was a monument to his enterprise were all burned. Later the building where Olens is located was rebuilt, and the business carried on, (which was later damaged by storms, fire) but still stands. From here Henry, Jr., moved to his present location.
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