The first settlers in the area were Arthur Mangum and Phil Magee, who came into the area around 1820. Pioneers from Virginia and the Carolinas followed. The town of Magee was originally named Mangum, after Arthur Mangum; it kept this name until 1859.[3]
In 1840, Willis Magee built a grist mill on Little Goodwater Creek, inside the present city limits. He started the first and only postal service in the area in 1855.[4]
Robert Solomon Magee was the first post master in Magee and the city of Magee was named after him.
Richard Farthing came to Magee in 1859 when he was in the leather tanning business. He bought 80 acres of land and also built a tanyard and used water from the mill pond to tan his leather.[5] The population of Magee in 1919 was 786. There were approximately 23 businesses in the area at the time.[5]
Magee is approximately 42 miles south of Jackson, 45 miles north of Hattiesburg,[5] and 12 miles south of Mendenhall, the county seat of Simpson County.[6]
Magee's first mayor was R.P. Vinson, who served from 1900 to 1907.[5]
In 2013, First Baptist Church in downtown Magee was seriously damaged by a fire but has been restored.[7]
Windham's Restaurant is located in Magee, and was established in 1963, locally known as "Zip's". In 2015, the Zip Burger was voted the best hamburger in Mississippi.[8][9]
In 2017, the Magee Sportsplex was renamed the Jimmy Clyde Sportsplex in honor of former Magee mayor Jimmy Clyde.[10]
Magee has a humid subtropical climate, with an annual mean temperature 65.8 degrees and average annual rainfall of 56.9 inches (1,450 mm).
March 2009 tornado
On March 26, 2009, around 1:30 a.m., an EF3 tornado struck the north part of the city. The tornado destroyed 60 homes and caused 25 injuries, with no fatalities. The tornado significantly damaged the town's water treatment plant, interrupting service to the entire town. Circuit Riders and other technicians from the Mississippi Rural Water Association worked with the city staff, local contractors and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to restore water service.[15] Using four MEMA generators, the rural water staff was able to restore service to Magee by 2:20 p.m. the next day.
The Chamber of Commerce sponsors the annual Homecoming, the Christmas Parade, tree lighting and caroling.
Crazy Day is an annual event on Main Street, traditionally held the third Saturday of the month of September. Locals set up booths to sell products or homemade goods.
Magee is also the home of the former Broadcountry Cinema 3 Theater, opened in 1985 and owned by Butch McCall. The theater was closed in 2010. The theater now serves as the location of Shining Starz ABA Autism Therapy.[18][19]
A new civic center provides space for meetings for civic clubs and other organizations and houses the Magee Chamber of Commerce office.
Magee Public Library, the first public library in Magee, was established in 1935. Maude Turner was librarian. In 1937, the library was named Mims Williams Memorial Library. It is now a member of the Central Mississippi Regional Library System. The new library was built in 1975.
Airport: The Magee Municipal Airport (FAA identifier 17M) is located three miles west of Magee. It maintains a lighted 3,104 ft (946 m) × 50 ft (15 m) runway and is attended 24 hours a day. There is a hangar, lobby and office building complex (no control tower). The complex is equipped with automatic dusk to dawn lights, a beacon, and a wind directional device.
A new city hall, police station and city jail have been completed. There are 16 full-time police personnel, including the Chief of Police and 12 auxiliary officers.
Magee has 36 trained volunteer firemen and one full-time Fire Marshall, four class A pumpers, 1 class A pumper/tanker, 1 ladder truck, one rescue unit and two utility trucks. Emergency medical services are provided by ASAP EMS, CORP.
In the Magee, Mississippi National Guard Unit, there are 149 members with five full-time personnel.
