Plans for Soul Day steam ahead

By By Georgia E. Frye / staff writer
November 7, 2004
The Soul Steam Museum will host the second annual Soul Live Steam Festival on Saturday that will include events and an open house for the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum.
Event organizers say they are continuing efforts to create a museum from the historic Soul Steam Feed Works site in downtown Meridian at 402 19th Ave.
The event will be held from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and will feature a mold-making workshop for children and adults, a tour of the Soul Steam Feed Works factory and a nighttime iron pour called "Sparks in the Dark" that begins at 5 p.m. Admission is free; donations will be accepted.
Jim McRae, president, and Greg Hatcher, project manager, organized the event. They said this year's event will be bigger than last year's.
Included at this year's event will be fried catfish lunches from Back Forty Restaurant. Tickets may be purchased in advance at MUNA Federal Credit Union on Highway 39 North or at Action Finance at Cloverleaf Shopping Center. Blacksmithing, broom-making and metalworking demonstrations will be held again this year in addition to a tour of the factory's offices and an early 20th Century print shop.
Also on display will be a collection of steam engines and an antique tool collection.
The Soul Steam Feed Works site was designated the Official State of Mississippi Historical Industrial Museum by House Bill 1442 in July.