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Kiln renown center for sawmills & whiskey
Many reports have been mtten concerning life in Kiln, Mississippi as it was lived ome sixty-five years ago, lowever, S. Grady Thigpen, Ir. with wit, humor and a reat deal of knowledge of the rea, seems to have captured : best. Thigpen said: “Kiln ?as famous for two things: ne of the biggest and best awmills in the country and :>r “moonshine” whiskey.
Of the lumbering industry higpensaid: “Edward Hines umber Company decided in 312 to build their big sawmill t Kiln. Men were brought in om everywhere. First came le mill builders, the lillwrights, the carpenters, he men# who worked in a awmill in those days had to ve in the community where ley worked and within a very lort walking distance - or ith transportation on hor-;back or in a buggy or agon. Practically all of the ien employed in the Kiln mill /ed within a radius of a mile
•	so of the mill.”
Thigpen said the mill houses, some 200 of them, were built in a very short time and as the village was being built preparations for the foundation for the mill went (hi. It took almost a year to complete the sawmill, plane mill, power house and other necessary buildings. Also under construction was a modern school building, “well designed for the times.” “By 1913,” according to Thigpen, “Kiln grew into one of the best small towns in the state and was for a time the busiest town between Hattiesburg and New Orleans.
There was a “company store” at that time with an inventory of around $75,000 which included a meat market, vegetables, produce and other things. Clothing and shoes was also stocked and it was said “people from miles around traded at the company store.”
In the complex a 45 room hotel was built which had the reputation of serving fine food at reasonable prices. A good ‘■meal about cents. There was also a small hospital with a doctor and nurse on duty at all times.
“Lumber from Kiln was shipped by water down
Jourdan River and by rail over the company railroad by way of Lumberton where a daily passenger service was also available from Kiln to Lunaberton.” Kiln residents also enjoyed a “real nice pict ure show and a pool room. And baseball was the leading sport with Kiln’s semi-pro team one of the best in south Mississippi.
Whiskey making was “big business” in the Kiln area after the Mississippi Prohibition Act was passed in 1908. “This illegal business had another great growing spurt after the national prohibition act was passed by Congress in 1918," Thigpen recalled. It was said that an average of $4,000 of sugar a week was sold by a small local merchant. Kiln liquor had a reputation for high alcoholic proof and went under such names as Jourdan River Dew, White lightening, Shinny, etc. Many and amusing were the tall tales circulated about the effect of drinking Kiln liquor, and customers from areas of Chicago, Galveston, and sections of Tennessee were buyers of “wholesale quantities.”
In reflection Thigpen said: “The mill closed down after 20 years of operation..jnost of the men moved away...and the Kiln dwindled down to a small village again. Franklin Roosevelt with the help of Congress repealed the prohibition act and that killed the thriving bootleg whiskey business.” But, said Thigpen: “The area of which Kiln is a part has many assets and balmy gulf breezes caress and cool the hot days of summer. The lay of the land in this general section approaches perfection, rolling enough for perfect drainage, level enough to prevent erosion of the soil. The most beautiful streams it has been my privilege to see anywhere are found in this coastal area. There are a number of small streams but Jourdan River and Rotten Bayou are beautiful beyond description, as well as bang excellent fishing streams.”
*	Original settlers of the Kiln were described by Thigpen as being of Freich blood. “These friendly, cordial, sincere ( people I admire,” he concluded.