By 1906, the small town of Hattiesburg, MS had shown such growth through its railroads, highways and businesses that it had become a thriving city. Due to its location, being almost equidistant from Mobile, Alabama, New Orleans, Louisiana and the state capitol of Jackson, Mississippi, Hattiesburg became known as the Hub City and saw even more growth.
Seeing this growth and the city’s bright future, a number of members from Main Street Presbyterian Church (now known as First Presbyterian) felt that two churches would better serve the needs of the growing population.
With the blessing of the leadership of First Presbyterian and the Meridian Presbytery a new Presbyterian congregation was formed on April 8, 1906 with fifty members.
A location on what was then the south side of town was chosen mainly because those living south of Gordon’s Creek could not attend worship when rains caused the creek to rise.
The new congregation wasted no time in beginning construction on a place for worship. The Lord blessed the young congregation and the building was completed on schedule despite the “panic of 1907”. Throughout our 100 plus years Bay Street Presbyterian Church has seen a lot of changes in the city, our country and the world! But in all this the vision of Bay Street has remained the same; to faithfully proclaim the Word of God to all. As Hattiesburg continues to grow our prayer is that we grow along with it and continue to provide the enduring message of God’s Word to our culture.