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Kiln area is growing, growing ...
BY NAN PATTON EHRBRIGHT
THE SUN HERALD
Located on Mississippi 603, a major north-south route between the Coast to Interstate 10, this Mississippi-history-rich community has become famous nationwide as the town where Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre grew up.
Sports writers from across the U.S. who came to town several years ago to write about Favre’s home town referred to it as a sleepy community which hasn’t changed in years.
Wrong. Kiln has been one of the fastest-growing areas of Hancock County for some years.
The community was named for the huge kilns used by the original French settlers to bum charcoal to sell.
Sawmilling began in 1870 when Samuel L. Favre built and operated a sawmill along with a general store. In 1908; the W.W.
Carre Lumber Co. bought the mill site, moved all the old homes from the river bank and built one of the largest sawmills in the South.
The lumber mill burned in 1912. In 1913, the Edward Hines Lumber Co. bought the remaining interests, then extended the logging railroad to Lumberton, added passenger trains and built a hospital and a 50-room hotel.
During Prohibition, the territory around Kiln became a center of moon-shining. The quality of its illegal whiskey was touted as far north as Milwaukee, Wise. It is said that one boat alone brought 1,000 sacks of sugar a week to the area for the manufacture of the famous Kiln “shinny.” There were rumors that the Kiln had links to Al Capone’s Chicago gangsters.
The mill was closed in February 1930 and the railroad was tom up. The houses, hotel and hospital eventually disappeared into history.
Now, Kiln is seeing a building boom with new homes and businesses sprouting up all around.
There’s no hospital or hotel today, but the town has a new library, a new post office and an active business and professional association.
The 1990 census showed Kiln with a population of 1,446 people. Based a 756-household membership in the Kiln Water and Fire District and a 2.5 person household District, Kiln’s population today would be about 1,890 people, but Pat Curet of the district said not all residents are members.
Said Curet: “Most definitely, it’s growing.”
Celebrating HANCOCK COUNTY
This Mississippi-history-rich community has become famous nationwide as the town where Qreen Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre grew up.