Goodman, MS

Goodman sits in southeastern Holmes County at the meeting of U.S. 51 and Mississippi 14, west of the Big Black River and three miles east of I-55’s Exit 146. The route map gives the town a working shape: U.S. 51 runs through its center toward Durant and Pickens, while Highway 14 carries east-west traffic across the county. Goodman was settled in 1860, chartered in 1865, and rechartered in 1878; the name honors Walter Goodman, the first president of the Mississippi Central Railroad.

Holmes Community College’s Goodman Campus is the town’s biggest institutional presence. Established in 1925 as the college’s original campus, it now covers 190 acres with 33 principal buildings, residential halls, academic programs, technical and career programs, workforce training, sports, and performing arts. The campus brings students, faculty, and college services into the same town center as the local schools and town government. Holmes County lists Goodman as a town with a mayor, and describes the surrounding area through cattle, cotton, and timber. Goodman’s story includes two major downtown fires, in 1891 and 1908, followed by local business rebuilding. Today, the local map runs from campus buildings to U.S. 51 storefronts, school routes, and the county roads toward Pickens, Durant, and the Big Black River. Goodman’s story is railroad-born, college-centered, and tied to the agricultural work around Holmes County.