“The Pocket Museum in Hattiesburg was born out of the pandemic. We had to close the Saenger Theater and couldn’t have anyone inside. We realized it was time to do something fun with the alley in the back of the theater. My whole career has been working with tourism development, and my wife Vicky and I like to travel and explore downtowns in other cities. We saw graffiti alleys and creative ideas in other cities, so we knew what was possible.

One of those ideas was the Hoosaag Museum in Basil, Switzerland, recommended in Atlas Obscura. The museum was a 2′ x 2′ window of a 600-year-old house. Walking tours frequently stopped at the house, and tourists stared in the windows, scaring the children of the family who lived in the home. The mother built a cupboard in the window to sell things to the tourists. That didn’t work, so she started putting collections of Christmas or everyday objects on display. We saw a display of mice celebrating Christmas and loved this idea.

In the back of the Saenger is a storeroom with a window that’s been boarded up for about 40 years. We opened it up and installed security glass, shelves, and LED lights. We opened in August 2020 as the Pocket Museum because it’s just a pocket in the wall. The first exhibit was a collection of pocket knives. It was something that just entertained us. We didn’t advertise or tell anyone where it was. The mystery and trying to find it is part of the fun. We lit the sign so that people could stumble on it at night. We want to create the feeling of discovering it yourself.

About 3,000 people came through on Labor Day weekend in 2020. A few weeks later, we opened and word got out. People called and asked for the location. We couldn’t tell them, but there aren’t that many alleys in Hattiesburg. As people took pictures and tagged the location, the dot on Google maps moved closer and closer until it is now pretty accurate. A reporter for the Washington Post listed us as one of the six best museums that opened during the pandemic year. Lonely Planet, Frommer’s, Time Out, and Roadside America picked it up. About 130,000 people have come through the alley. That has stunned us.

The city added string lighting and tables. A street artist living in Natchez did the fox with spray paint. He works from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM. Lissa Ortego painted 3-D murals and other details. Vicky added the little vignettes with the tiny railroad model characters. People want to share their collections in the Pocket Museum, but we have to love it. We don’t want grandma’s Christmas village collection, but we may take a collection of old dentures. We change the exhibit monthly and are scheduled through September of next year.

One of our biggest exhibits was with a retired teacher who makes fairy vignettes in gourds. We did an exhibit on Ramen and bought Japanese packages of Ramen from an Asian food store in New Orleans.

‘Ink in the Alley’ was a street festival featuring only tattoo artists selling their art. We want people to come downtown and do things that are off the wall that make people feel and think— even if you hate it or love it.

Our challenge is to keep it fresh and to keep people discovering things. We added a Little Pocket Art Gallery that you can take something out or put something in. We also have a Little Pocket Theater. The goal is to outgrow the alley and keep going.

We’ve struggled in downtown Hattiesburg, so it’s exciting to see people here. Before Hurricane Katrina, downtown was popping. We recovered quickly from Katrina and many of the first responders and folks working the hurricane stayed here. After that passed, I don’t know why some of downtown dried up, but things are finally coming back.

I grew up in Hattiesburg. I graduated from high school and went to college in Los Angeles. I never intended to come back to Mississippi. I met my wife, and we lived in interesting places during my tourism career. We realized how interesting the world is outside of Mississippi and the U.S. People eat and think differently, and there is so much to learn from that. I eventually came back home, and through my job working with the convention center, I get to bring the world to Hattiesburg. We run the Hattiesburg Zoo, and when people go to the Africa exhibit, we want them to actually experience a little part of Africa, not just African animals, but architecture and food.

There is so much hitting us right now, I am always thinking of ways to surprise and delight. I want people to come around the corner and find something better than they imagined.”

(Rick Taylor is the executing director of the Hattiesburg Convention Commission that oversees the Saenger Theater and the Hattiesburg Zoo)