Collins, MS

Collins is Covington County's seat, a city that began as Williamsburg and then moved with the railroad. The Gulf and Ship Island Railroad bypassed the original county seat, so Williamsburg Depot took shape near the present town; in 1906 the name changed to Collins for U.S. Marshal Fred W. Collins. Today the courthouse and downtown sit near the Okatoma Creek, and the city's calendar runs from the May Okatoma Festival to Christmas in the Park at Robertson Park. US 49 and US 84 cross here, tying the city to south Mississippi's farm, timber, and highway country. Collins has county-business bones, but the creek and festivals keep it from feeling like just a courthouse address.