An Afternoon in Downtown Ruleville Mississippi

A couple of weeks ago, I got to meander around downtown Ruleville, Mississippi, while waiting on my mama to finish up at a doctor’s appointment. Ruleville is a very small town located in the next county over from where I live.  I passed through there daily when I worked at my last school, and I also see my cardiologist there, that comes twice a month to their local hospital.  For such a small town, their hospital is really top-notch, believe it or not.

Welcome to Ruleville

The trip there served two purposes.  My mom needed to go to her doctor’s appointment, and two of my aunts also came along to have lunch at a little spot downtown to celebrate one of my aunt’s birthdays.  While my mom went to her appointment, my aunts and I set off to have a look at their tiny little downtown area.

This mural is beautiful, and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of it!  The two water towers depicted in this mural are located a little way across the square from the mural, and they say HOT and COLD on them.

Magnolia677/Wikimedia

This is a picture of them I found that I could share on my blog.  They don’t really separate the hot and cold water in Ruleville.  Only one water tower works and supplies water for the fire department and sprinklers.  It’s just a little fun oddity in town.

Shopping Downtown

Directly across the street from the mural is the cutest gift shop called Simply Sunflower.  This is actually the hospital’s gift and flower shop.  They have a little of everything, including candles, bath and body products, snacks, clothing, and more!

 

I couldn’t help but take a picture of this tea towel.  Isn’t it hilarious?

I ended up buying a small candle by Tyler Candle Company called Entitled.

It smells so heavenly!  If you’ve never treated yourself to one of these candles, I highly recommend them! There are so many scents, and they even come in wax melts, car air fresheners, and laundry wash.

Lunch In Ruleville

Once my mom finished her appointment, we headed across the other street.  Ruleville’s downtown is tiny, with only two main streets with stores and other businesses. However, it certainly is cute!

Our next stop was for lunch!  Ruleville is also home to a couple of great restaurants, and on this day, we went to a place called Not Your Mama’s Tea.  It’s such a laid-back little restaurant that also has sort of a consignment shop going on in the back.  We were seated and placed our order, and while we waited, we looked around the store.  Lots of vintage items, artwork, pottery, and more!  It was so much fun looking at all the neat stuff; the restaurant’s owner is just the sweetest woman!

I forgot to take a picture of my “lunch,” but I actually ordered breakfast for lunch there!  The food was great, and I enjoyed visiting with my aunts and mama.

Small Town Famous

According to Wikipedia, Ruleville’s population in 2020 was 2,642.  It is probably less by now.  I remember my dad telling me that Ruleville was a booming, busy city when he was young.  I always found that so hard to believe growing up.  One business I was sad to see gone from the downtown area was Luster Bayless’ Holywood Movie Costume Museum.  Luster Bayless was born in Ruleville, MS, and was the costume designer to John Wayne and many other Hollywood actors.  He passed away last year, but the museum actually closed in 2019, and the costumes were sent back to California.  My dad and I always said we would go over and check it out one day, and we never got around to it.

Although a small town, Ruleville certainly has some points of interest.  It’s one of those little places I mostly passed through, but I’m glad I got to spend a little more time there to check out the downtown area.