WESSON — Annual tradition returns to Copiah County this summer. Wesson, which was founded in 1864, will celebrate its 159th birthday. Downtown will be teeming with people celebrating the history of a town started by James Madison Wesson.

He brought a cotton mill to the town and sold it in 1871 to William Oliver and John T. Hardy. Oliver and Hardy renamed the mill Mississippi Mills and used Thomas Edison’s new lightbulb a year after he perfected them. Wesson continues to live on 159 years later.

Wesson’s Chamber of Commerce announced the weekend of May 6-7, 2023 as the date for Founders Day. In years past they have hosted events, music and a flea market in downtown Wesson.

A schedule and more information for the weekend will be released at a later date.

Wesson is located about 10 minutes north of Brookhaven on US 51 or I-55. It is home to Copiah-Lincoln Community College. Another travel destination in Wesson is Lake Lincoln State Park just east of town.