Sumrall, MS

Sumrall is a Lamar County town in the Hattiesburg metropolitan area, with a 2020 population of 1,765. It is also known as the Pine Town, a name that fits its place in South Mississippi's pine belt. Before the railroad arrived, founder Daniel Sumrall operated a grist mill along Mill Creek. The Mississippi Central Railroad then helped create a line of new towns during the first decade of the twentieth century, and Sumrall's present location grew from that rail connection. The railroad put the town on a route between the timber country and Hattiesburg.

Lamar County School District operates Sumrall Elementary, Sumrall Middle, and Sumrall High School, with the high school's Bobcats giving the town a shared sports identity. Hattiesburg supplies the region's larger employment and service network, while Sumrall keeps its own school campus and town routines. The local picture is a combination of pine-country landscape, Mill Creek history, and a railroad town that has become part of a larger South Mississippi metro without losing its separate name.