This Old-Fashioned Mississippi General Store Stocks Rows Of Home-Canned Jars And Bakes Its Own Cinnamon Rolls

A small highway sign in southeast Mississippi points down a back road, and following it leads to a working farm where draft horses still pull the equipment through the fields. At the center of it all sits a general store with shelves of home-canned jars, bins of bulk spices, and a bakery that sends warm cinnamon roll smells straight out the front door.

Lunch is served on plates, not trays, and the menu changes with whatever the kitchen cooked that morning. For families hunting a cheap Saturday with something to see, touch, and taste, a place like this is hard to beat.

A Farmstead Store Down A Back Road In Perry County Territory

Head east from Hattiesburg for roughly half an hour, turn off Highway 98, and the pavement gives way to farm country outside Richton. The address reads 510 Wingate Rd, Beaumont, Mississippi, and what waits there is Fulmer’s General Store, the retail heart of a working horse-drawn produce farm run by the Ken Fulmer family.

Calling it a store undersells it. The building anchors a homestead that includes century-old cabins, livestock pens, a garden shop, and fields worked the old way.

Visitors often describe pulling in after spotting a sign on the highway and discovering the detour turned into the best part of their day.

Parking happens in nearby fields, which means a short walk to the entrance across packed ground. That walk is part of the introduction, since chickens, farm dogs, and grazing animals tend to be visible before you ever reach the door.

For Mississippi families based in Hattiesburg, Laurel, Lucedale, or along the Gulf Coast, the drive lands comfortably inside a single morning. It is the kind of stop that works as a destination or as a break on a longer trip.

The Fulmer Family And A Horse-Powered Way Of Farming

Percheron draft horses do much of the heavy work here, pulling implements across the fields the same way farms operated generations ago. Guests have watched horse-drawn equipment leveling ground while they sipped coffee on the porch, which is not a sight most Mississippi day trips offer.

The Ken Fulmer family operates the whole property as a working homestead rather than a staged attraction. Produce grown in the fields ends up on store shelves and in the kitchen, so the loop from soil to plate is short enough to see with your own eyes.

Century-old cabins stand on the grounds, along with vintage farm equipment and nostalgic odds and ends tucked into corners. Wandering the property feels a bit like touring a living museum where nothing is roped off and most of it still works.

Grandparents often recognize the tools immediately. Kids, meanwhile, usually fixate on the horses, which are enormous up close and surprisingly calm around a crowd.

That contrast between generations reacting to the same scene is part of what makes the place stick in memory.

Rows Of Home-Canned Jars Lining The Shelves

Jars, jars, and more jars. Shelf after shelf holds home-canned goods, and shoppers regularly mention the sheer variety as the thing that stops them in the aisle.

Homemade jams and jellies fill much of the space, including Mayhaw jelly, a regional specialty made from a tart little fruit that grows in southern wetlands.

Alongside the preserves sit fresh-ground cornmeal and slow-made cane syrup, two pantry staples that used to be standard in Mississippi kitchens and now take some hunting to find. Picking up a jar of each makes for a practical souvenir that actually gets used.

Spices and bulk herbs occupy their own corner, and the selection runs deeper than most grocery stores manage. One shopper noted her family cannot leave without loading up on bulk herbs, and that reaction comes up often.

Bulk foods, cheese, milk, butter, and bins of candy round out the grocery side. The candy bins, predictably, are where children park themselves while the adults read labels and do math on how much they can carry home.

Cinnamon Rolls And A Bakery That Runs All Morning

Walk in before noon and the smell decides your order for you. The in-house bakery turns out fresh cinnamon rolls daily, and they have become the item people name first when describing the place to friends.

Beyond the rolls, the ovens produce homemade breads, cakes, pies, muffins, turnovers, and cookies, all baked fresh each day. Fresh-baked bread and pound cakes draw steady attention, and the pie case has sent more than one visitor home with a coconut or pecan pie balanced on the passenger seat.

Children tend to gravitate toward the cookies, which parents have mentioned as a reliable reason their kids ask to come back. It is a low-cost treat that keeps everyone happy through the rest of the shopping.

During the Mississippi Pecan Festival each fall, the store makes a point of keeping cinnamon rolls in steady supply, which tells you how much demand builds on a busy weekend. Arriving earlier in the day generally improves your odds of finding the full spread still stocked.

Hot Plate Lunches Served From The Farm Kitchen

Between 11 AM and 2 PM the kitchen switches on and hot plate lunches come out. The menu changes daily, so regulars have learned to ask what is being served that morning rather than expecting a fixed list.

Dishes that have appeared include meatloaf, country fried steak, poppy seed chicken, potato soup, turnip greens, okra and tomatoes, potato salad, broccoli cheddar rice, rice and gravy, and cornbread muffins. Diners frequently note that meals may come with dessert, which lands as a pleasant surprise.

Vegetables grown on the farm feed into the kitchen, and much of what reaches the table is made in house. One guest summed up the flavor as tasting like a grandmother’s cooking, which in Mississippi ranks near the top of possible compliments.

Timing matters. Lunch service wraps at 2 PM, and visitors who wandered the grounds too long have arrived to find the dining room closed.

Build the meal into the middle of your visit rather than saving it for last.

Farm Animals Kids Can Actually Watch

Chickens wander, pigeons flutter around the outbuildings, and sheep, cows, and pigs occupy pens within easy walking distance of the store. Farm dogs and cats roam loose, which means a friendly animal encounter usually finds you rather than the other way around.

Parents have described their children lighting up over the goats out back and the general freedom to look at animals without a ticket booth or a scheduled show. For a six-year-old, the draft horses alone can carry a whole afternoon.

Leashed dogs have joined visitors on walks around the grounds, and guests mention how peaceful the mix of horses, cows, and loose chickens feels. The pace is slow on purpose.

A word of practical caution: this is a working farm, not a petting zoo with paved paths. Closed-toe shoes make the walk easier, and the ground can be uneven in spots.

Strollers manage the main areas but may struggle across the parking fields after rain.

The Garden Shop, Produce Bins, And Farm Eggs

Seasonal produce comes straight from the fields outside, which shortens the journey from harvest to basket to about as far as you can throw a rock. Whatever is ripe shows up in the bins, so the selection shifts through the year.

Farm eggs sit near the coolers, and a vibrant garden shop occupies its own space for anyone shopping plants rather than groceries. Spring visitors tend to leave with both.

Shoppers have found poultry, fresh fruit and vegetables, handmade wooden rockers, toys, a knife case, and a small flea market area scattered through the buildings. One family mentioned their son heads for the knife display every single trip just to see what is new, which says something about how the inventory keeps changing.

Prices have been described as reasonable, though specifics vary by season and item. The practical upside for Mississippi families is that a trip here can double as a grocery run, so the gas money buys both an outing and a stocked pantry.

The Mississippi Pecan Festival Every Last Weekend In September

Late September brings the biggest weekend of the year. The Mississippi Pecan Festival takes over the farm every last weekend of the month, filling the grounds with vendors, live music, and food that goes well beyond standard fair fare.

Attendees have described strolling past craft booths while real live music played, eating homemade meals instead of fried midway snacks, and finding a simple kiddie area that kept younger children delighted. The store itself stays busy, and cinnamon rolls are stocked heavily for the crowd.

Pecan pie makes frequent appearances, as you would expect from a festival named for the nut. The general store’s regular stock of canned goods and spices stays available throughout, so festival day doubles as a shopping day.

Fall in south Mississippi generally means friendlier temperatures than the brutal summer stretch, which makes a September weekend on open grounds far more comfortable for grandparents and small kids alike. Expect heavier traffic on the county roads and plan a little extra time for parking.

Homesteaders Gathering, Trade Days, And Christmas In The Orchard

Two other events bookend the calendar. Late April brings the Homesteaders Gathering and Trade Days, a natural fit for a farm that never stopped doing things by hand, and a good window for anyone curious about old-fashioned skills and trade goods.

December belongs to Christmas in the Orchard, held the first three weekends of the month. Guests have said the Christmas events warm the heart, which matches the general mood of a farm lit up in winter.

Holiday weekends like these solve a specific Mississippi problem: finding something festive that does not cost a fortune or require a long drive to a big city. The grounds, the animals, and the bakery all stay part of the experience.

Spring trade days suit families who like browsing and talking to makers. Winter weekends suit the ones who want lights, warm food, and a slower walk.

Either way, checking the current schedule before loading the car is smart, since event dates and details can shift from year to year.

Cabins, Overnight Stays, And The Slow-Down Factor

Guests who wanted more than an afternoon have stayed overnight on the property. One visitor spent the night in the Sheepherder’s Cabin and described it as a genuine break from the daily grind, with horse-drawn implements working the ground outside the window.

Cabins on the farm have been rented through short-term lodging listings, and those who stayed mention how relaxing the setting feels once the day visitors head home. Farm animals, unsurprisingly, rank as the favorite feature.

Century-old cabins are part of the property’s historic character, adding to the homesteading atmosphere the family has built up over the years. Waking on a working farm is a different experience than parking beside one for two hours.

For a multi-generational group, an overnight can ease the logistics considerably. Nobody has to rush the drive home after a big plate lunch, and kids get a second morning with the chickens.

Availability varies, so anyone interested should sort out lodging well before a festival weekend fills the calendar.

Who Fits Right In Here

Multi-generational groups do well here, and that is not an accident. A grandmother can browse spices and preserves while a first-grader chases chickens, and both leave satisfied without anyone paying separately for entertainment.

Travelers passing along Highway 98 have turned a five-mile detour into the highlight of a road trip. Church groups and school groups visit too, and the store operates year-round with that mix in mind.

People who love nostalgia will find plenty to study, from vintage farm equipment to old-fashioned merchandise you rarely see stocked anymore. Shoppers have compared the atmosphere to a country store from an earlier era, with the added bonus that most of what is sold gets made on site.

Anyone expecting a polished, climate-controlled attraction should adjust expectations. It is a farm, with dirt, animals, and weather.

Summer in south Mississippi runs hot and humid, so morning visits make the walking far more pleasant, and the air-conditioned store gives everyone a place to cool off between laps around the grounds.

Hours, Timing, And Getting There Without Fuss

Monday through Saturday, 8 AM to 5 PM, year-round. Hot plate lunches run from 11 AM to 2 PM only, which is the single most important detail to note before you leave the house.

Getting there means driving to 510 Wingate Rd in Beaumont, roughly 30 minutes east of Hattiesburg and just off Highway 98 near Richton. Parking happens in fields adjacent to the property, leaving a short walk across open ground to the entrance.

Arriving between 9 and 10 AM gives you the bakery at its fullest and the grounds at their coolest, then puts you in line for lunch when the kitchen opens. That sequence works especially well in summer.

Costs vary by what you buy. Grocery items, baked goods, and plate lunches are individually priced, and organized group programs such as school field trips carry their own fees that differ from a walk-in visit.

Families planning a group outing may want to confirm those details in advance so the budget holds no surprises.

Why The Detour Tends To Stick With People

Plenty of places sell jam and call it heritage. Fewer grow the produce, grind the cornmeal, bake the bread, cook the lunch, and work the fields with horses on the same patch of land.

That is the difference visitors keep circling back to. The staff has a reputation for being welcoming, with regulars noting how much effort goes into making guests feel at home rather than processed through a checkout line.

As a Saturday plan for a Mississippi family, the math works out well. One tank of gas, a home-cooked meal, a bag of pantry goods, and a couple of hours of animals and open air, with no admission gate standing between you and the experience.

Not everything will suit everyone. It is rustic, the menu changes without warning, and the kitchen closes early.

But for anyone who likes the smell of cinnamon rolls drifting across a farmyard and jars of mayhaw jelly lined up on a wooden shelf, the drive tends to earn itself back in one visit.