Mississippi is a state of small towns, which means there are dozens of enchanting enclaves waiting to be discovered from the Gulf Coast to the Tennessee border. Ben and Erin Napier made Laurel famous, and everyone knows about the historic charm of Natchez, but there’s another Mississippi community that it’s long past time we paid attention to. As Mississippi’s fifth largest town, Hattiesburg is home to around 48,000 people and almost 100,000 more in the surrounding area.