When I was a little kid in the 1970s, Shuqualak, Brooksville, and Scooba all had active, jumping downtowns -- especially on a Saturday morning. Now most of the buildings are decayed or gone entirely. For that, we can thank the Walmart in Starkville, Columbus, and Meridian. Once a Walmart started popping-up everywhere in the late 1970s-early 1980s, all the little grocery stores, furniture stores, clothes stores, etc closed down for good. It really destroyed these small Southern towns.

Mississippi may be the poorest state, but we are the most generous as well. For the most part we don't find much value in money.... it's mostly found in family, humility, community, church and the simplicity and quiet that comes with it. It's a live and let live kind of lifestyle, but if you need help, just holler and expect the same of others.

Love the rural middle of nowhere videos!!

I’m from Shuqualak. I lived there from 1989-1997. I went to EMCC in Scooba, a great experience. The Shuqualak downtown 30 years ago was booming with grocery stores, movie rental, bank, furniture store, clinic, shops, bookstore, etc. It’s very sad to see how business has left the city. The population was 500 plus back then. My grand parents would say it had more going on in their day. We didn’t even think we were so poor because the town was so rich in love. I went back and rehabbed one of the homes to get it up to date and now lease it out. The current tenant is buying it. I wanted to do more, but it’s hard finding workers being out of town.

I still live here in Mississippi and I appreciate you are revealing to the world our Post slavery condition

William Faulkner once said, “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.”

These small towns are all over the country. An important thing to remember is that the people in these towns depend on each other and help when they can. It is likely that for “big groceries” they would go to Columbus or Meridian for that and stock up.

There’s a fantastic bakery called Old Country Bakery in Brooksville. It’s owned and run by the Mennonites. They make the best baked foods I’ve ever eaten. I used to drive all the way from Tupelo to buy cakes and pies. I hope you didn’t miss it. Good video

Being poor doesn't make you a criminal, being poorly raised does. Working for everything you have makes you respect what it takes to earn it.

Ever think about interviewing some of the locals where you travel to get their takes on their towns? Love your facts and figures...I'm a MS native and attended MSU but have never visited those areas...knew lots of kids from those areas...love your channel!

Born in Macon, MS. Graduated high school there. I left the state after graduating college but all of my family is still there. Small town but people with big hearts. I visit very often.

Love your videos. I’m a history buff and especially interested in what happened to these towns and the people in them. So one of my favorite things to do is find pictures of them from their heydays. I’ve done that from a few of your featured towns. Maybe a really cool feature for you to add would be archival photos of these little towns at the end of the video. More work I know, but I think your viewership would enjoy it. Take care.

I was born and raised in CA . My dad was originally from MS and I have relatives there so I came here when I retired for financial reasons. I live in a small town in the southern half of the state. I have an interest in genealogy so I visit lots of cemeteries in small rural areas.

I think your channel is valued due to the decent and moderate way of narration you accomplish. What I like you keep calm showing flaws of locations you visit. You emphasize twice the crime is low than average though high poverty. This reveals the folks are not bad. If so, they will succeed and overcome the recent obstacles and hardships.

I grew up poor. we had everything we needed, except money. I was made to keep myself clean, mannered, and respectful. I managed to get through high school, and landed in a job fixing telephone systems. I didn't know We were poor, until I received my first paycheck. Man, we was dirt poor. It's all about what is expected of you when you come up.

It's interesting to see these places many of which I've passed through. You should be a required channel for a geography class. Local facts and figures are so important. My husband taught social studies for twenty years and mentioned that if he were still teaching your vlogs are better and more informative than any textbook he's seen. Great channel and looking forward to more of your destinations.

I seen the wrong way down the one-way in front of the post office lol, love your vids thank you , I am always on the lookout for a cat

This is a very sad story in all these struggling towns. But in saying that, your videos are very eye opening, enjoyed them.

The footage of Greenwood is amazing. Yes, it's empty but it's pretty, neat as a pin and the buildings are so cool. It looks like the people just vanished, but it's not derelict, graffitied or covered in trash. My great grandfather and great aunt lived there in the 1900 through 1950s and he owned a restaurant called The Greenwood Sandwich Shop. I'd love to come see it sometime and visit his gravesite.

These rural videos are great. No other channel shows this content. Info about median income and crime rate is very informative

Family is from there. Went there in the summer as a kid. Never felt poor that’s the crazy thing. I had everything I needed and felt no lack whatsoever. Definitely appreciate the things I have.

My folks live in Brooksville; well outside of it, off of 388, and out in the sticks. I love going down there. My mom and them are from Noxubee county. My dad is from Hinds county, I was born in Jackson. I’ll take Brooksville over Jackson any day! When we moved up to Kansas we would beg to go home and spend the summers and any holiday we could in Brooksville. It used to be better than this. I loved going to the library in Brooksville. Annie’s has the best food. So much has changed but the people haven’t. It’s a beautiful place with beautiful people and amazing values.

Glad you are including the grocery stores, I had wondered about those!

Very interesting town names. Enjoyed the tour and learning about the towns. I appreciate the additional information! The speed bumps in Scooba appeared to be a bit much! Impressive community college! Looking forward to more of your adventures! Love seeing the local cats and dogs 🐾🐈‍⬛🐕‍🦺

Looking at some of the vehicles you are passing while talking about poverty it cannot be too terribly bad. If someone could find one of these small towns that is safe from crime they might be a decent place to retire and live better for less. Mississippi and most of the South have a certain charm to them. They are certainly not the jungles many major cities have become.

There you go huh, I'm here in Brazil in awe of your videos, and that makes me more and more fascinated with the rural environment there in the United States, with poverty or without poverty, making me want to know them

Thanks for the additional info on demographics, grocery stores, gas prices, I appreciate the extra work involved with research but it gives us viewers a better understanding to what we're seeing.

Macon looks a lot nicer than the poverty would suggest. Great video as always👍

I’m from the county of the first 3 cities and it’d be great if you interviewed some of the locals. These stats really don’t mean much to the local population. It feels like just growing up in any other place. Could’ve shown the medical facilities, the schools and presented some other extremely interesting facts about the county, the cities, and people within it. Like, the Noxubee high football team is nationally recognized, some of our players went to play in the NFL. Back in the day (according to my grandparents), Macon/Noxubee county was BOOMING. We also have a few historical figures from the area as well. You also could’ve gotten some of THE best food in ya life if you’d asked around of where to go. 🤷🏾‍♀️ If you really want to get to know a place, talk to the people. Law enforcement, educators, librarians, gov officials, and the store clerk. Even the kids.

When my wife and I go on vacations, we always take road trips, we go out of our way, to go out of the way, just to drive through small towns, been doing it for 20 years, it’s very relaxing and enjoyable

So glad I discovered your channel. It’s awesome to be able to come home , relax and take a trip with you after a long day at work. Very educational and as many viewers have said, your voice is calm and I feel like I’m learning as you talk. Great work!

The added information, grocery stores and race is helpful for those looking to move somewhere. The first things I look for was the Walmart to get most everything and the Lowe"s or Home Depot to get stuff to fix up the old house. What else do you need? lol

I’d love too see old photos of these towns before they went into decline.

Another great tour. Lovely old buildings in these places. Downtown Macon is fairly tidy even though it's a very poor town overall.

Shuqualak's name comes from the Choctaw word "shikʋlla", which means "beads"

I like a person who uses their blinkers when turning😊 Kudos!!

Very interesting to see these little townships. Thank you.

I love your channel! My roommate and I watch it and we like to follow step by step on Google Maps and see what you're seeing. It's always a little puzzle locating what street you're on!

I am huge fan of this channel. Às my wife said I taught social science for twenty years. You are more interesting and personable than other resources. You are an excellent resource and students would find your travels relevant to what they deem important. I've contacted several of my former students to watch and they agree that you bring life b to social studies on many levels. I hope you never tire of this calling.

You have a massive amount of views for having just posted a few hours ago. Very impressive!

Very interesting town, I enjoy watching your great video.👍👍👍

The students are pushed through in some of these smaller towns. I graduated with some kids that could not read.

I have noticed you take an interest in churches. I have lived a half dozen years in Europe where fantastic cathedrals have become tourist attractions. I learning about some of those cathedrals I wondered at stone masons who labored their entire life on the cathedral while realizing it would likely be their great grandson who would be one of the masons who completed it.

Used to live near bay springs. The bad part was the lack of work. I had to drive to Jackson or meridian on a daily basis or I would of been forced working at a chicken plant for 10 an hour.

That Community College in Scooba is known as "Last Chance Community College". When NCAA players bust for whatever reason, the last chance they have to make it to the NFL is there. That's why they rank so high in athletics.

You have done a great job coming up with a format that works very well . I appreciate your hard work very informative .

I love driving across the country to do just what you are doing. ❤ Mississippi was fascinating. The nighttime critters in the bushes (frogs) were INTENSE.

I was raised in Sturgis, MS. I went to school in that town before it was closed down. My parents went to school there. I moved away bc sometimes when you're from a small town, you think you need to see more of the world. Sometimes I miss it and that small town feeling. Maybe, if you're going down Hwy 12 from Starkville, you come make your way to Sturgis, and then Ackerman...

When I started to drive in 1959 25 c a gallon LOL Now was $1.71 . 9 a litre in Canada today on the West Coast,, I like when you decide to do this traveling , We all have learn t so much from all the towns you go to Thanks for the great job your doing showing the U S A Hey what guy figured out the garbage cans even at 10 cent a can he is a millionaire

Amazing Love God bless you Brother

Absolutely addicted to your channel 😁 , thank you for showing us your beautiful country , Chris from Tassie

You need to do Dawson, Ga. home of Otis Redding and neighboring Cuthbert, Ga. with Andrew College.

Speaking from the over populated and over crowded UK, i love all the space you have. I could live in Brooksville and be happy. You have amazing small towns that have gone to the dogs. They could all be great places.

Thanks so much for letting us know what stores are in town keep up the good 👍

Thanks for showing food markets, seems a must for any size of town. 😊

The most interesting aspect (besides the obvious poverty) is that, no matter how poor a place is there is a Dollar General. If the company folded it would be a catastrophe for these small towns.

Macon appears to be the commercial and financial center of the region with those earning the highest income living in the northside of town with more developments outside the city limits. All of those other little shabby towns are only a few miles away. Macon was the capital of Mississippi from 1863 to the end of the war.

Fantastic ride today. Love all the stats and numbers you provide. Keep up the excellent exploring. Have a great day and thanks for sharing.

Mississippi once had many Textile jobs. Your Government sent all of this to China, etc. Nicest people I ever met were form the Great State of Mississippi !!! God Bless!

Thank you so much for the videos. I just recently found your page and I absolutely love it. So interesting. Keep up the good work...

I just started watching these videos, it's fascinating the sheer scale of the problem, here in the UK northern coal fields we had a similar problem but never anything like these videos, the distances must be the issue, I now could travel maybe 30 miles and find a couple of buildings reverting to nature around Consett maybe a few hundred overall, but they get bought and renovated by the young people, there was a town cally New Kyo that was exactly what you show but now is improving some 20 years later but the distances are small to the industry, we had category D villages essentially left to die by the local councils but there was such an outcry

Saludos desde Argentina. Me encantan tus videos amigo. Los pueblos americanos tienen su encanto y a la ves su misterio. Son bonitos y en algunos casos, como misteriosos y como que hubiera fantasmas dando vueltas por ahi. Muy bueno. Me gusta. Que Dios bendiga a estados Unidos y su gente.

I enjoy watching your videos while you go threw the small towns. I noticed there is still a lot of room to grow in North America. Take care and be safe. See you on your next video.

Another outstanding video. One of the best video you have done. Thank you.

Safe travels.......

I really respect these low income, low crime towns and communities. They may not be making much, but they are making it honestly. Massive respect! I hope they get some revitalization projects going there.

Love your channel watch you every chance I can, love Nicole too, she’s awesome 🤩 looking forward to traveling more with you two Godspeed

Hello from a small seaside town on the East Coast of UK. I really enjoy your travelogues thanks for sharing

People who are likely to commit crimes quickly become well known in small towns like this, and they develop a bad reputation. Eventually they move away to Jackson or other cities where probably are still committing crimes but they blend in. The close community in these little places is the reason why crime rates aren't high. I drove this route from Meridian to Tupelo last may, and I detoured through Scooba just because it had such an odd name. I was surprised by the huge football stadium. It looks like an excellent historically black college--but it certainly isn't your typical college town.

My family is from Macon 🥰 you even passed my uncles home 🙌🏾. There was a Piggly Wiggly that used to be by the dollar general, that was the main store until Tems took the reigns.

Not only Muddy Waters was from Rolling Fork MS, but former Seattle Super Sonics Basketball Player Slick Watts. He attended Henry Weathers High School. Great videos and history.

I just love your videos. Thank you so much for taking me to places I know I will never get to go

The house with green roof , WOW what a porch.

Unbelievably low incomes and home values , incredible. This was a really good episode LS. Your content is always good, very interesting. 👍👌

As a photographer & graphic designer I'm just fascinated at the unique sceneries, the good & the not so good, buildings & infrastructure. Some could actually make interesting yet remarkable material for stock photos, compositing & other design. Driving through, I feel like I could find myself stopping so many times to take photos and risk rubbing the locals the wrong way. I'm super curious about the schooling situation(s) in the remote & sparsely populated areas/towns.

Hi Lord Spoda Video on rural Mississippi is nice. Enjoyed it. Grocery stores, General stores add life to the down towns. Thanks for showing them in small rural towns. About past 6 to 8 videos I skipped. Now watching them one by one. Best.

If I had known you were coming to Macon, I would have bought you a cup of coffee.

Looking for groceries stores is a good idea, because there are areas that are food deserts, which can impact quality of life, cost of living, etc.

While you're in MS. Can you check out towns like Braxton, Mississippi. I have a friend who lives there I was always wondered what area is like. She lives right off the HWY. THX Love your videos. I get to see some places I didn't know existed.

Thank you for your channel! Love exploring and seeing these small towns most people would never be able to know or even visit! I find it fascinating! Would love it if maybe at some or these places you could stop at the local Cafe or coffee shop or post office and talk to a local of their experience. Would be cool to listen too. Or maybe even highlight a local eatery that's known in those parts. Mahalo from Hawaii!

Would love to see inside some of those big old abandoned homes, I know not the scope of this channel.

Thank you bro for beautiful video from fiji island

It's all very interesting - thanks for the vid. I live in Washington state and I don't think we have any towns like these.

I commented early in this thread saying that I would have bought you a cup of coffee in Macon. I’ve lived here all of my life. Statistics are important but don’t tell the entire story. Living here has challenges but also advantages. Some of those challenges are apparent in your video and are the same challenges that affect many small, rural, traditionally agricultural towns across the country. Let me give you one quick and recent example of an advantage. We have a well run and well staffed county-owned hospital. I went to my local practitioner with a medical issue. I arrived without an appointment at 8:15AM, and I was in an examining room by 8:30AM. I saw her nurse for a preliminary exam, was then seen by my practitioner who wanted me to have an X-ray. She wrote up orders for the X-ray. I went to the outpatient area of the hospital (recently remodeled) had an X-ray, and was on my way back to work before 9:15AM. That’s unheard of in most cities. Tem’s grocery is a well-stocked grocery with competitive prices and is 5 minutes from anywhere in town. My commute to work takes about three minutes. Housing is reasonable. For these reasons we have had people choose to live here from out of state just because they found affordable housing in an online search. I’ll be glad to answer any non-controversial questions about living here; I’m not one who has patience for controversy. I know you can’t show all areas in your videos, but, as in all communities, there are nicer neighborhoods and some that need work. In a small town, those areas are not insulated from each other like they may be in larger towns and cities. They are more apparent to each other. Also, remember that most everyone is trying hard and doing the best they can. Statistically, it can appear a challenging place to live. In reality, it has advantages that are not immediately apparent in a video.

Enjoyed your video very much. Live in Meridian so was familar with the town names but had been a long time since i had driven through any of them.. Very interesting.

Such interesting vide0s. I enjoy following along on your adventures. Community colleges are usually just commuter schools so no student housing like in state or private colleges.

We are enjoying this right now. Thanks.

McComb Mississippi here. Enjoy learning the reason so many profound and creative people hail from here. Ain't nothing else to do.

Best channel on KZfaq. Pass it on...

I'm glad you're including the stores/grocery store as I have also wondered where do they shop for groceries. Thank you for sharing!

Seems like a lot of nice new big cars, trucks, and SUVs in Macon - these folks may be poor but they're riding in style.

I do appreciate your channel. I do find your demeanor and narrative quite calming. Had no idea Macon wasn’t larger. I would like to visit the Macon library, as you mentioned it’s on historical registry. It is a beautiful structure. I live in Oklahoma. And yes, some small towns survive because of DG. Thanks

I'm from West Point, about 30 minutes north of Macon but I've spent most of my adult life as close to Noxubee county as possible! It is full of history, beauty, & mystery! It's truly a representation of Southern Gothic & it holds my heart!

I like the old trees

Thank you for adding Noxubee county. My home towns

Saturday morning...time to slurp some coffee and cruise with Lord Spoda! I've only spent a little time in Mississippi--driving the Natchez Trace, which was really nice. Shuqualak...isn't that the name of a dance in the song "She Hangs Out" by The Monkees? (just kidding🙂) That retro Philco sign at 16:49 looks like it could be a candidate for your man cave. Happy trails!

"The cure for the whole misery of poverty is the development of the appreciation of those things that are really worth while; having attended to necessities such as the production of corn and wine, devote the surplus energies not to the production of that kind of luxury which can only be enjoyed by few, but to the creation of beauty." - Aleister Crowley

Thank you! This was interesting. 👍👍

Love the video Lord Spoda! A month ago, I asked about the demographics of race & thank you for that. I wouldve never thought a small town in MS would be majorly Black. Good stuff Lord Spoda!

You're right those roads were horrible. Very interesting tour of the rural life. Thanks!