Stories of the South: WPA Community house - American Legion Hut

Macon, Mississippi has three Works Progress Administration (WPA) buildings.  The post office (which I've already covered HERE and has some additional information about the WPA) is one and the one I'm covering today is the Community House also known as the American Legion Hut or the Legion Hut around town.

The WPA built several of these community houses in Mississippi and Suzassippi covered several of them for Preservation in Mississippi HERE, HERE, and HERE.

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History's website lists the date of construction as 1935, and a copy of the American Legion Monthly March 1937 states that personnel from the American Legion came through Macon on a car trip to see the recently completed building along with the pool. The description from the newsletter is as follows:

One of the most recently completed clubhouses and community 
centers is that erected to serve Doyle Kerwin Post and the town 
of SoSo, Mississippi, a splendid stone structure which cost the 
post $3,000. This building is the result of long planning and 
effort by the twenty-four members of the post, which is located 
in a town having a population of just a few more than two hun
dred — a most commendable service to the community of SoSo. 

Then, to mention another, there is the fine community center 
planned and installed by Noxubee Post at Macon, Mississippi — 
a center that includes a roomy 
Legion hut, a swimming pool fifty 
by one hundred feet with a depth 
ranging from three to ten feet, and 
a separate splash pool for small chil- 
dren, set in an inviting grove. All 
this was accomplished by a post of 
eighty members in a town of 2,100 
population at a cash outlay of $15,- 
000, not including the contributions 
of labor and material. 

Prince Watkins, Finance Officer of 
Noxubee Post, writes that most of 
the credit for this achievement is due 
to the untiring efforts and promo- 
tional ability of Commander Rupert 
Hoadley, seconded by the Adjutant, 
W. B. Lucas. Together they con- 
vinced the other seventy-eight mem- 
bers of the post of the possibility 
of giving their town something that 
had been long needed and at the same time of providing a post 
home designed to fit their needs. 

The hut is planned on the country-club style with a large 
assembly hall, a modern kitchen fully equipped, and a comfort- 
able lounge. Special attention was paid to the design of the 
great fireplace in the assembly hall, built of native stone, and 
over the seven-foot fireplace has been fixed a large bronze plate 
dedicated to the men of Noxubee County who served in the 
World War. Noxubee well has reason to be proud of its sons 

The building is still in use today by the American Legion Post 63, the Macon Lions Club, and the Noxubee County Historical Society.

Resources:

The American Legion Monthly March 1937

Mississippi Department of Archives and History

The Living New Deal