Black Ocean Springs residents fight to save ancestral homes in area city declares ‘blighted’
The Thurmons built their house brick by brick in the 1940s on what is now prized real estate in downtown Ocean Springs.
Like most Black residents back then, Herbert and Merlissis Thurmon earned meager wages. Merlissis Thurmon rode her bicycle roughly 16 miles a day to and from what is now Keesler Air Force Base, where she worked doing laundry. Every payday, she used some of her money to buy bricks for the house that she and her husband, who worked at a turpentine still in Ocean Springs, built on Cash Alley.
They raised 12 children and had 59 grandchildren. A family member has lived in the house since it was built. Granddaughter Esther “Faye” Payton was raised in the house and is an owner. Today, the Thurmons have passed on and she is fighting to keep the house in her family.
Payton, two other downtown residents, a business owner in a commercial area near Bienville Boulevard and Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church downtown are suing the city to make sure they can keep their properties.
Mayor Kenny Holloway said Thursday evening in a written statement, “It is unfortunate that our residents have chosen to file a lawsuit instead of having a constructive discussion with the city. I have personally invited residents to my office to explain and answer questions. I have addressed the concerns regarding eminent domain. “
Ocean Springs has declared six areas of the city, including these properties, to be “slum” or “blighted.” The designation means the city could one day file eminent domain lawsuits to acquire the properties for redevelopment, although Holloway insists residents can opt out. The city’s action was not advertised and took residents by surprise.
“We are not selling, we are not moving and we are not giving in,” Payton said at a news conference held Thursday at the church to announce the lawsuit.
MS law limits options for ‘blighted’ properties
The residents, Macedonia church and business owner, Robert Zellner, have allies in the Institute for Justice and Ocean Springs attorney Elizabeth Feder-Hosey, who are representing them in the lawsuit. The nonprofit institute is the nation’s leading advocate against eminent domain abuse, said its litigation director, Dana Berliner.
Ocean Springs Mayor Kenny Holloway has offered residents what she said is a hollow promise allowing them to opt out of urban renewal areas. “Opting out is not a thing,” Berliner said.
State law would allow eminent domain lawsuits based on blight without giving residents the opportunity to contest the designation. The Board of Aldermen declared the areas blighted April 4 and residents had only 10 days to appeal the decision, even though they were unaware of the vote. Mississippi is one of only a handful of states with such a restrictive law, which the lawsuit also challenges.
Berliner said eminent domain lawsuits are becoming more common for cities. Older homes and residents, she said, are often targets of eminent domain, where government is allowed to take property, with compensation, for public use.
Ocean Springs faces development pressures
Development pressures, she said, can lead cities to target areas for redevelopment. The downtown area in Ocean Springs has become a draw for tourists and residents across the Coast, who enjoy the picturesque area with popular dining, shopping and nightlife.
“The community downtown in Ocean Springs, we are surrounded by bars, restaurants, loud music, sometimes fights, sometimes accidents, drunkenness within that community, and it’s not from the citizens who reside in that community,” Payton said.
While the city labeled a few individual properties in the urban renewal areas as “blighted,” most are not and an expert report prepared for the Institute for Justice says little evidence exists for the designation.
Payton’s large family still loves the home on Cash Alley where one of her cousins now lives. They plan on holding their family reunion there in July 2024. They’ll gather for three days to enjoy seafood and barbecue, play games and attend church at Macedonia.
“That is my heritage . . . that is my history and that is my legacy as a Thurmon-Brown family member,” Payton said, “and we shall not be moved.”
We Shall Not Be Moved is also the name of a group of residents, both Black and white, who are fighting the urban renewal designations.
This story was originally published October 12, 2023 at 3:14 PM.
