Sun Herald: “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.
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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.”