The mayor of Raymond Isla Tullos loves leading this little town

Published 12:00 am Sunday, June 20, 2010

She was strolling along, walking her dog, when two of the aldermen in the town of Raymond asked Isla Tullos to run for mayor.

That was in 1997. The streets of the town in the geographical center of Hinds County weren’t as pretty then as they are now, but that’s because Isla (pronounced Eyela) wasn’t in charge.

“I thought about it a little bit and I thought, well, I might do that,” she reflected. She had moved to Raymond in 1992, had lived in her house on the square for four years. There wasn’t a lot going on, “and I thought we could do something here.”

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She won that race — and three others since — and is now in her fourth term. In many respects, Raymond has undergone a transformation. The street where she was walking her dog, for example, is festooned with flowers and trees.

Those are just some of the aesthetics, for Isla is quick to tell you that improvements to the infrastructure, things like water line extensions and sewer line upgrades — things that don’t show — were her first priorities.

“One of the complaints I heard about when I ran was about our water,” she said. “It was about the color of peach tea,” so one of the items she and the board of aldermen soon tackled was to drill a new well, one that was deeper than usual, and they came up with better water.

“Such things are expensive, but they’re necessary, and if they quit working we hear about it immediately,” she said.

She’s also taken the time to focus on things that aren’t underground, things that show, such as the Raymond water tank.

The water tank? What’s so special about that tall-legged structure that stands in the center of town? Made in 1905 by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company, it’s typical of the tanks that dotted the skyline throughout Mississippi at one time.

Attention focused on the water tank began at a seminar Isla attended, “one of those economic development types for small towns. The director, Bob Barber, asked, ‘Who all is here from a town with a courthouse in the middle of the square?’ I didn’t raise my hand, and after the meeting I introduced myself and told him we had a water tank in the middle of our square.”

They talked for about a minute, and two years later when she met him again he remembered that she was the mayor of the town with the water tank in the middle.

“Not many places have that claim to fame, or whatever you want to call it,” she said. “That made me aware that we have something very unusual.”

Over the years designs changed along with needs, and most of the old tanks were sold for scrap, but the one in Raymond is surrounded by plants and is in a garden-like setting. It’s a Mississippi Landmark, “and one of these days may be the only one left,” Isla said.

Under Isla’s leadership, and with the help of the board, Raymond has an updated zoning ordinance and a comprehensive plan and a historic zoning district with a planning commission as an architectural review board. It’s a thoroughly modern town, but the mayor recognizes the value of older structures and says, “If you lose your sense of identity, or what makes a place special by taking down all the old buildings, then you’ve lost whatever it is that’s special.”

Raymond is a very historic town, playing an important role in early state history as the court attracted attorneys of legendary fame. It was also the home of the famous spa, Cooper’s Well, and boasts Mississippi’s second oldest newspaper, the Hinds County Gazette.

But it has another role in history, one that is almost overlooked. That is the important battle fought there during the War Between the States, yet there was nothing to commemorate it, not even an interpretive sign other than one on the nearby Natchez Trace.

Then came forth a new organization, the Friends of Raymond Inc., organized by seven individuals, including Isla, who realized that the core of the battlefield, a 40-acre tract, was for sale for $4,000 an acre.

“We had a friendly bank that agreed to float us the note,” she said. “We didn’t have a penny, but by a leap of faith we bought that 40 acres.”

They paid for it, bought an additional 20-plus acres adjoining it, and recently acquired 66 acres. This most recent purchase was made with the help of the Civil War Preservation Trust and the American Battlefield Protection Program. Gaddis Farms has given the Friends an easement so a walking tour can be extended.

The current project is to mark the Confederate and Union lines with cannons, three for the South and 22 for the North. The Vicksburg National Military Park has provided some carriages, and the Friends is at work having the barrels made.

“If you’re driving down Highway 18 and see 22 cannons pointed toward Raymond, you’re bound to want to know what’s going on,” Isla said, hoping the scene will draw people into town.

“We organized the Friends because that 40 acres was for sale,” she said. “Our mission statement is for education and preservation. We’ve spent some money on projects in the courthouse, and during pilgrimage each year we have a lecture series free and open to the public, as well as concerts.”

Raymond also is host to the annual Country Fair, held the first Saturday in May for almost 30 years.

Born and raised in Starkville, Isla and her husband, Max, lived in Jackson, then Madison County, but it was history that brought her to Raymond.

“It was this building,” she said.

Few would probably have envisioned the two-story brick structure with no yard and on the square in Raymond as a home. The oldest part was built in 1830 and was an annex to the courthouse which probably stood where the water tank is now. The building housed the offices of probate and the chancery clerk, probably until the present courthouse was built in the 1850s. At some time, the structure was doubled in the 1880s. It was a mercantile store until 1926, when the Keiths bought it and operated a print shop and ran the Gazette until 1976.

Isla and Max had been looking for an antebellum home they could move to their farm in Madison County and restore, but even after having driven all the back roads for two years hadn’t found anything. Then, Isla went to Raymond with a friend, and the next week Max went and met Martha Ferguson, a Realtor who told him about the old building on the square. He went home and told Isla.

“I said, ‘Let’s just buy it and move to Raymond,’” she said, “and I got one of those looks that only men can give women, like, ‘you’ve lost your mind.’”

A week or so later, they went to Raymond, got a key to the building “and in 15 minutes we decided to buy it. So we moved to Raymond and saved this building.”

It was in deplorable condition. Holes in the wall had been filled with concrete blocks, part of the floor in the back was missing and “you had to step off into an abyss.” The stairs were missing, so to reach the second floor you had to climb some rickety steps on the outside.

Chuck Barlow, a Jackson architect “who had been our friend since he was a little boy and used to tease our dog when he walked to school,” designed the renovation. The result is a home one would expect to see in Architectural Digest. Though there’s no front yard, there’s a small courtyard out back, and on the side next to the Clinton Road, Isla has a garden only 4 feet wide and the length of the house. Potted plants sit on the walk near her front doors.

“This shows that old buildings can be saved, can have a new life,” Isla said. Though it is her home, she often opens it for public functions.

Isla said she has never thought of holding political office or running for anything, but she thinks having been the co-owner of a Jackson business that planned weddings, receptions and parties, and having been a freelance floral designer, she acquired the value of organizational skills and organization, “though you may not believe it if you look at my desk. Hopefully, every day that you live, you learn something. Maybe all of your experiences make you what you are.”

Raymond has remained the same in size for many years, and Clinton keeps getting closer, but she doesn’t see the town as a bedroom community — just the opposite — for many people who live in Jackson or nearby come to Raymond to work, most at Hinds Community College.

There have been many accomplishments during the past 13 years — and some things she’ll laugh about one day — but there also have been frustrations, such as the unfunded mandates by the DEQ and the EPA, “who have guidelines we cannot meet.” Rulings by such entities are what makes utility bills go sky high, she said.

“When I took office I kept hearing, ‘Everybody wants things to stay just like they are. Nobody wants a change. Don’t change anything,’” Isla said, “but you can’t have a static situation. You have to keep treading water, or keep those bicycle pedals turning, or you’ll either sink or fall off the bike, so you have to do something to keep from going backward.”

She doubts she’ll ever tire of the mayor’s job because “it’s always challenging, as long as there are projects that I can do, I really enjoy that,” but she’s not one to sit in the office.

She has no plans or illusions for any other political office, and said, “This is my entry and departure in politics. I hope what we’ve done has been sensitive and kept the sense of small-town community that Raymond has, which makes it a really special place to come and visit and live.”

In the early evening at the end of a pretty day, you’ll often find Isla Tullos sitting outside, near the front door of her home on the square, chatting with friends and neighbors and tourists who might wander by.

She admits having a passion for Raymond.

The evidence is everywhere.

Gordon Cotton is an author and historian who lives in Vicksburg.