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The directors of the Hancock Association were the first to make an application to the Rural Electrification Administration in Washington for a loan to defray the cost of a line to supply electricity to prospective users in the two counties in which their Association proposed to opeate. Many months elapsed while REA studied the feasibility of the application. During this period, interest in the project lapsed and hope for a loan died out.
Finally the good news came from Washington -- REA would finance 150 miles of electric line! The Mississippi Rural Electri fication Authority at Jackson, which had rendered invaluable assistance to the group, began preparing plans and specifications for construction. A contract bid opening was held at Bay St.
Louis in the first part of September 1937. The Delta Construction Company of Clarksdale, Mississippi was awarded the contract. f
Despite the publicity given the project, so much time had passed that the people had given up all hope of obtaining electricity. The project manager, Carl Vickers, could not convince even 50 families to wire their homes so that a line could be constructed. Through diligent effort on the part of the directors, the manager and several members of the REA staff, (including your correspondent who was then an REA staff engineer) the necessary agreements were obtained and construction was begun. The first line was energized on the afternoon of May 20, 1938.
A large group of people assembled at Aaron Academy, on the Bay St. Louis-Picayune Highway, and watched the lights turned on. It was a great day for Coast Electric Power Association!
In the meantime, the Gulf Coast group had also made an application to the REA for a loan to build an electric line in Harrison County. After a thorough study, the Washington office of the REA suggested that this group combine with the Hancock Association so as to reduce operating costs in the future. After several meetings between the two groups, the Associations were
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