Imagine with us! It's late November in 1912 and you are standing on Front Street in front of the Ross Building (now the America Building) with thousands of your neighbors preparing to see the beautiful, tri-colored electric "Slogan Sign" - what is now affectionately known as the Hub Sign.
The Hattiesburg News reported about the reveal, "after music by the Hattiesburg brass band... the button was then pushed, and one of the prettiest electric signs ever looked upon burst upon the scene, and the throng sent up a shot that lasted for several minutes, while thousands of people gazed in astonishment at the sign which one man said was just 100 times as pretty as he pictured it in his mind to be."
It added, "So far as our observation, knowledge, information and belief goes there is one thing in which Hattiesburg beats the world; and that is its slogan sign. It is the largest one we know about, the prettiest one we ever saw, and it hangs so high in the heaven at night that it seems to keep vigil all alone when others sleep, to give bright welcome to strangers who may come in on any of the night trains or to those who may look from their Pullman windows."
Originally, the Hub Sign was 42 feet in diameter, with 1,142 lights, rising 50 feet above the Ross building and 140 feet from the sidewalk.
It sounds like a magical night in Downtown Hattiesburg before it was all that we know it to be! It's one we try to emulate as much as possible for New Year's Eve. While not the same size in scope, the intention is just as mighty - and during Midnight on Front Street, Hattiesburg's 2022 NYE Celebration, we'll raise the Hub Sign again as we usher in 2023.
To our local artists - if this scene sparks a sense of creativity in you... we want to see it! The deadline to enter our official event poster contest is THIS FRIDAY. To enter, visit http://www.hburgnye.com/call-for-artists.
#hburgnye
Hattiesburg Alliance for Public Art
Visit Hattiesburg
Downtown Hattiesburg
Original source can be found here.
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