Editing D'Lo, Mississippi (section)

==History==
The town of D'Lo was founded by R. W. May on March 1, 1900, when a town plat was registered with the Simpson County Board of Supervisors, March 1, 1900.<ref name="Weekly Clarion-Ledger 1900, page 1">Weekly Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi) September 6, 1900, page 1</ref>  On August 16, 1901, a village by the name "D'Lo" was incorporated and boundaries identified by Governor of Mississippi.<ref>Mississippi Official and Statistical Register, 2004, page 372</ref> The village of "D'Lo" was raised to the rank of "town" on October 27, 1905, by proclamation and signed by the Governor Mississippi.<ref>Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Government Records, Secretary of State records, State Charters of Incorporation 1857-1991, B_Book_2 page_78</ref>

The name D'Lo is a modification of the name of the local U.S. Post Office, which was named "Dlo" from 1881 to January 1, 1950.<ref>Gallagher, John S. and Patera, Alan H. (1996) Mississippi Post Offices, p. 155. Lake Grove, Oregon: The Depot; {{ISBN|0-943645-35-2}} The change of designation is recorded in the U.S. Official Postal Guide, part I, July 1951, p. 746</ref> The Post Office was established and approved June 17, 1881, under the name "Dlo".<ref>National Archives Catalog: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/68473141 The application is shown in images 59-61.</ref> The first postmaster was May's wife, Mary Frances May, and the post office was run from May's home until it moved with the establishment of the town.<ref name="Weekly Clarion-Ledger 1900, page 1"/> The name "Dlo" was chosen by the contract postal rider on the Brandon-Westville mail route after the initial choice, "Millhaven", was rejected by the [[United States Post Office Department|Post Office Department]]. Just as the Strong River got its name from a translation of a [[Choctaw]] word describing the strong taste of the river water &ndash; which has a large amount of [[tannic acid]] dissolved in it &ndash; "Dlo" derives from a French phrase meaning "Bitter Undrinkable Water", which appears on an early map of the area. The phrase beginning "De l'eau non potable..." was shortened to "Dlo", and then "D'Lo."<ref name="wlbt">{{Cite web |last=Burks |first=Bob |last2=Grayson |first2=Walt |date=February 23, 2017 |title=3 on the Road: Simpson County - How D'Lo got its name |url=https://www.wlbt.com/story/34579164/3-on-the-road-simpson-county-how-dlo-got-its-name |access-date=April 13, 2023 |website=www.wlbt.com |language=en}}</ref>

The town expanded in 1916 when the [[Finkbine-Guild Lumber Company|Finkbine Lumber Company]] chose it as the location for a $1,000,000 [[sawmill]] plant. Finkbine constructed many houses in the community for their workers, as well as a combination dry goods, hardware, grocery store, farm supply, feed and seed, and general store known as Kew Mercantile Company. During the peak of the Finkbine's sawmill plant operation, between 1916 and 1930, Millhaven was recognized as the largest town between [[Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson]] and [[Hattiesburg, Mississippi|Hattiesburg]]. It had two large YMCA buildings, a movie theater, ten grocery stores, a furniture store, three appliance dealers, ten gas stations, seven butcher's markets, a dry cleaner, five cafes, three auto shops, a boat building and cabinet shop, a machine shop, three pharmacies, a bank, lighted basketball courts, professional basketball and baseball teams, and a newspaper called ''The D'Lo Herald''.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

The town also had [[Baptist]] and [[Methodism|Methodist]] churches, and a three-story brick school with 550 students and 17 teachers. Its three-story Pine View Hospital was considered the best hospital between Jackson and the [[Mississippi Gulf Coast]], as far as equipment and doctors were concerned. During this time the population of Millhaven was estimated to be around 5,000, which made it the second largest milling town in the United States. However, by the 1930s the [[Finkbine-Guild Lumber Company|Finkbine Mill]] had consumed almost all the timber in the surrounding counties, and the plant was shut down.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MRC History |url=https://www.hrcllc.com/history_project/stories/finkbine_guild.htm |access-date=June 25, 2022 |website=www.hrcllc.com}}</ref>

With the Finkbine sawmill closed, D'Lo lost jobs and suffered a major decline in population. It took several years for the town's economy to begin to recover. With the construction of [[U.S. Route 49]] through the town, Lumber companies could reach second-growth of timber in the surrounding areas. A new hardwood sawmill reportedly supplied timber to firms that built weapons and equipment for [[World War II]]. Although the mill was effective at keeping the town going for many years, it was never a large enough operation to recoup the huge loss of population. Once with a population of 5,000, during the 1940s, the town had around 400 residents. This is the estimated population in the 21st century.

Of the town's population of about 400, around 150 males served in the [[Armed Forces]] during World War II. About 46 volunteers also served prior to the bombing of [[Pearl Harbor]]. So many citizens served in the war that the town's story was featured in the July 6, 1942, edition of ''Life'' magazine. The story featured a picture of two young boys standing in the deserted streets of D'Lo with the headline, "D'Lo Men Have Gone Off to War", with a caption that stated, "There is a war and a country is in danger. When that happens the men drop what they are doing and go off from the deep southern hamlet of D'Lo, Miss." A monument located at the town's community center lists the D'Lo citizens who served during the war.<ref>Life Magazine July 6, 1942, page 71</ref>

The name was changed to D'Lo effective January 1, 1950.<ref>Gallagher, John S. and Patera, Alan H. (1996) ''Mississippi Post Offices'', p. 155. Lake Grove, Oregon: The Depot; {{ISBN|0-943645-35-2}} The change of designation is recorded in the ''U.S. Official Postal Guide'', part I, July 1951, p. 746.</ref>

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File:This is a photo of D'Lo Town Hall.jpg|D'Lo Town Hall
File:This is a photo of D'Lo,Mississippi.jpg|D'Lo, 2021
File:Simpson County Historical Society.jpg|Simpson County Historical Society building in D'Lo
File:Finkbine Sawmill D'Lo.jpg|Finkbine Lumber Company Sawmill, D'Lo, circa 1920
</gallery>