Editing Seminary, Mississippi (section)

==History==

===1846–1890===
The area was sparsely populated prior to the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. In the same location as where the town sits today, Covington County resident and [[Presbyterian]] pastor A. R. Graves opened Zion Seminary, a boarding school for men and women, in 1845. The seminary offered courses in law, medicine, and religious studies. At its largest, the seminary had more than 500 students. Dormitories and cottages housed them. During the Civil War, all but one building of Zion Seminary burned. Local legend has it that the buildings were burned by [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] sympathizers, but it is not clear if this is true. The seminary was in operation until it burned again in 1890. The site of the Zion Seminary was then used to build Seminary Attendance Center; the school still sits today upon this location in the center of town.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.covingtonchamber.com/in/index.php/tutorials/2011-09-07-21-17-00 |title=Seminary |publisher=Covington County Chamber of Commerce |accessdate=January 5, 2013}}</ref>

===1899: The town is born===
In the late 1800s, across the Piney Woods region of South Mississippi, lumber companies cut the virgin timber from these areas. Towns began springing up along railroads, then the main means of transportation. The population of Seminary began to boom in the late 1800s, but when the timber had been cut, the boom continued on to the next community. In the late 1800s, the residents petitioned the state of Mississippi to incorporate into a municipality, and the charter was granted in 1899. The newborn town's citizens chose the name "Seminary" to keep alive the memory of the Zion Seminary.

===Modern-day Seminary===
Seminary is still a very small town, with only a handful of businesses, including stores, two banks, two doctor's offices, a pharmacy, an art studio, a hardware store, a barber shop, and one restaurant. The rural area around Seminary, however, is growing significantly. The population of the area, including the town of Seminary and the rural, unincorporated communities of Okahay, Eminence, Sanford, Lux, Foxtrot, Ora, Lone Star, and Richmond, grew by more than 10% between the 2000 and 2010 censuses<ref name="GR2" />

This significant growth is likely a result of a good school system and the area's proximity to [[Hattiesburg, Mississippi|Hattiesburg]], which lies 10–20 minutes south of the Seminary area. New businesses are springing up on [[U.S. Route 49|Highway 49]] just outside the town's corporate limits.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}