Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum, Inc.

Story

Soulé Steam Feed Works is a historic business founded in Meridian, Mississippi in 1891 by George Soulé. The complex was listed as a contributing property to Union Station Historic District, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 under the Meridian Multiple Resource Area (MRA). It was listed as a Mississippi Landmark in 2003. The business, known for its many patented innovations in steam engine technology, reached its height around the turn of the century, producing products that were sold around the world.In 2003, the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum obtained the lease to the complex and has operated there since. The city holds an annual Soulé Live Steam Festival at the complex attracting thousands of people from around the nation.George SouléGeorge Wilberforce Soulé, founder of Soulé Steam Feed Works, was born in Buffalo, New York in 1849. He was a descendant of another George Soule who came to America on the Mayflower. At the age of one, he and his father, Isaac, moved to Wisconsin. When young George was 20 years old, his father died, and he decided to leave the family farm and pursue his own livelihood. Despite having obtained less than one year of formal education, he served as a school teacher for one three-month term before heading south to end up in Morton, Mississippi, in 1875. He had originally missed a ship to Cuba, but stayed at several businesses in Morton and Shubuta, Mississippi, before moving his operations to Meridian in 1879. Businesses operated by Soulé upon entering Meridian included a turpentine company, a lumber company, a cotton gin, and a manufacturer's representative. Before he moved to Meridian, he was involved in a railroad accident in March 1876 in which he lost his left leg and four toes of his right foot.