The MSU Scott County Extension has a lobby that is utilized to host various events and conferences at the site. That room is known as the Magnolia Room as it is home to a small gallery of magnolia paintings and illustrations gathered by County Coordinator, Anita Webb.
The room was once the main lobby of the old Bank of Forest and still houses the two vaults (which do not contain any money and are held open to prevent anyone from ever being shut in on accident). The main vault is over a foot thick and is divided from the Magnolia Room by a wall that was added after the building was acquired by the Scott County Extension.
Cabinets were built over the bank’s drive-thru’s drawers, which could not be removed without tearing out the whole wall. In the center of the floor, a divider was torn out to open up the room.
Explaining the history of the building, Webb said, “The president of the old Bank of Forest was Mr. Bill McCravey. My husband remembers when he would go in the bank and one office has a fireplace and Mr. Bill always had a fire when it was cold. The fireplace is in the office behind Liz Easterling. Bill was married to Mary Katharine Knoblock Loyacono McCravey. She was a well known artist from Forest.”
The Scott County Extension was housed in the courthouse until September 2004 when the old bank was purchased.
Webb said, “The Scott County Mississippi Homemaker Volunteers were very active in pursuing a new building that was large enough to host many of the programs that the Extension Service would offer.”
Before the move, Webb said, “The staff would have to use the Armory, school auditorium, Cat’s Cave, and other places to hold large programs like the Scott County Livestock Pageant, 4-H talent and fashion revues (Head, Heart, Hands, and Help), Mississippi Homemaker Volunteers’ Homemakers Fair, cooking demonstrations, and many other programs.”
When working out of the courthouse, Webb recalled having to taxi materials for events up and down the stairs, and how before the building was ADA Compliant, it could prove a challenge for clients in wheel chairs.
Webb said the Scott County MHV Homemaker Clubs saved money to help with a new building and Ms. Jane Sparks would attend meetings of the Scott County Board of Supervisors regularly to lobby for the acquisition of the new site. The building was dedicated to Ms. Sparks, who is now deceased.
Webb said when they opened at the new location on Davis St., Webb hung one of her mother’s magnolia paintings.
“People would see the magnolias and offered to bring in one,” said Webb.
The collection grew and contains multiple pieces from local artists, Paula McMillan; Frisky Roland; Webb’s mother, Ann Layton; Alice Harris; Mildred Roy; and Shelby Autry.
The Scott County Extension is located at 230 South Davis Street in Forest.
