Nicholson, MS

Nicholson is a Pearl River County census-designated place and unincorporated community, with 2,833 residents at the 2020 census. Its story follows the railroad more than municipal lines. When the New Orleans and Northeastern railroad came through in the 1880s, the community then known as Hobolochitto turned to Eliza Jane Poitevent Nicholson, a poet and editor, to name the place. Pearl River County history says sawmills shifted toward Nicholson and other communities along the rail line so timber products could move faster.

Today Nicholson's school map points to the Picayune School District and Picayune Memorial High School, while ZIP code 39463 gives the scattered community one shared address. The wider county story still runs through rail, timber, farms, and the roads connecting Poplarville, Picayune, and the Louisiana line. Nicholson is a small place without a municipal center, but its name and location preserve a very specific Southern Mississippi chapter: a railroad arrived, a local writer supplied the name, and the timber economy followed the tracks.