A family’s memories: Ratliff building has Clinton history and memories A 2027 celebration of the building’s 100 years is being planned
By Carole Kelly
Ed Ratliff (right) and his son Greg (left) are shown with signs of past times on the 1927 building that has housed many businesses over the years, beginning with Ratliff Motor Company.
The dated car dealership sign hangs high on the east wall of the building at the corner of College Street and Clinton-Aultman Parkway. Built in 1927, the building first offered customers the opportunity to buy cars from Ratliff Motor Company and over the years has been home to different shops and stores, including a service station, real estate office, wedding boutique, an antique shop, a decorating service and a gift shop.
Edward (Ed) Ratliff III has many memories associated with the building and the neighborhood where he lived with his parents, Nell and Edward Ratliff, Jr.
He and his wife, the late Barbara Miller Ratliff, reared their sons Cavett and Greg in Clinton, long after a bicycle and buggy shop operated on Jefferson Street by brothers Edward and Fred Ratliff, his father and uncle, had become a car company on College Street.
Among his memories, Ratliff recalls his father being offered the opportunity to merge with another company in 1965. He wanted to retire and enjoy more of a favorite hobby, fishing. He suggested that his son, having graduated from Ole Miss and served in the Air Force, seek a job.
Her great-grandfather would be proud as Mills Morgan Ratliff returned to Mississippi and took a challenge to go hunting.
“He was happy to assist me in the effort,” Ratliff smiles at the memory. Employment with the State in Jackson brought him a great benefit when he met his future wife, as she worked in the same area in downtown Jackson.
Ledgers and accounting records are among Ratliff memorabilia.
Greg Ratliff, on a recent visit from Nashville, enjoyed time spent in his hometown, where in a local store he renewed acquaintances with former classmates. He and his wife Benning have made their home in Nashville with their children, daughter Mills Morgan Ratliff and sons Phillip and Porter. His brother Cavett and wife Lynda, along with their children Sarah Anne and Charlie, lived in Oxford before moving to Madison.
The brothers want the younger family members to know about Clinton, to be aware of the history surrounding the family’s earlier years in Clinton and Hinds County. Their father has plenty of memories and memorabilia to share.
Mills Morgan Ratliff chose to leave Tennessee to attend the university that many members of her family have attended, Ole Miss. Her father, her grandfather and her uncle Cavett are among the family members who are graduates of Ole Miss, where Cavett serves as bursar.
Ed Ratliff with long-ago Ratliff company papers, showing phone number 59. He remembers his mother Nell once lining a chest with ledger paper.
When she made the decision, family members voiced concern as to how she would adapt from the larger area of Nashville to Oxford and Ole Miss. She reacted to the change quite well, and, when a friend from the Delta invited her to go deer hunting last year, she was not only receptive to the thought, she had the pleasure of reporting that she bagged a deer on her first hunt, first shot. This past summer saw her move from Tennessee-Mississippi scenes to Washington, D. C., where she served as a page in the office of Senator Roger Wicker and enjoyed the sites and history of the nation’s capital.
Edward Ratliff ’s keepsake collection for his sons and grandchildren reflects a number of memorable days from the past. As automobiles became a part of the Clinton scene, the brothers’ bike shop on Jefferson Street evolved into the car business at 300 East College Street.
The bike shop site, which had once been known as the Livery Stable, underwent many changes with the location, today the home of the restaurant 303 Jefferson. Family albums include photographs capturing past scenes and events, and records indicate earlier days, when gasoline prices were eighteen and nineteen cents a gallon.
Town and Gown, Dr. Walter Howell’s history of Mississippi College and Clinton, relates the story of a young pilot needing fuel, a memory that Ratliff recalls hearing about from his father and uncle. Flying from Monroe, Louisiana, to Jackson’s Davis Field, the barnstorming pilot was offering $5 plane rides along the way. The brothers helped him out with the needed gas and enjoyed a flight over Clinton. It was 1925, and the pilot was Charles Lindbergh, who two years later made his historic nonstop flight of 3,600 miles from New York to Paris.
Edward Ratliff Jr. (right) and fellow hunter and fisherman Pettigrew Warren (left) display their catches at Ratliff Motor Company, which opened for business in 1927. The company clock is shown in the upper left corner of the photo. The clock disappeared as time passed but has been located, with plans for its return for the 100th anniversary observation in 2027.
Escapees from a Texas prison targeting the motor company as an easy way to obtain traveling funds were stopped by the Ratliff brothers. Traveling through Texas and Louisiana on a five-day crime spree, the two men first stopped in Vicksburg before driving to Clinton, where they made the unfortunate decision to rob the Ratliff garage. Earlier burglary attempts had called for an alarm system to be installed, and the brothers were ready with shotgun and buckshot when the alarm sounded. The early morning attempt resulted in one man being shot and the other captured. The lead story in the February 14, 1938, issue of The Clarion-Ledger shared details, including the statement of the surviving escapee. The clippings from The Clarion-Ledger and the evening edition, The Jackson Daily News, are preserved in a framed display.
Fred Ratliff and his son Freddie are shown in front of a fleet of school buses awaiting transfer from Ratliff Motor Company.
The building has endured with the changing times, with many residents remembering the stores, offices, shops and wares it has offered over the years. In 2027, the 100th anniversary of the opening of Ratliff Motor Company will be observed, with plans for the original building clock to be restored and returned to the site.
Ed Ratliff shows a newspaper clipping detailing a foiled burglary attempt in 1938 at Ratliff Motor Company.
Ratliff says, “Having a duplicate clock made for the outside display may be our best way to preserve the original in an indoor setting.”
Ratliff is now researching archives in an effort to learn the architect of the building.
Escapees from a Texas prison targeting Ratliff Motor Company as an easy way to obtain traveling funds were stopped by the Ratliff brothers. Traveling through Texas and Louisiana on a five-day crime spree, the two men first stopped in Vicksburg before driving to Clinton, where they made the unfortunate decision to rob the Ratliff garage. Earlier burglary attempts had called for an alarm system to be installed, and the brothers were ready with shotgun and buckshot when the alarm sounded. The early morning attempt resulted in one man being shot and the other captured. The lead story in the February 14, 1938, issue of The Clarion-Ledger shared details, including the statement of the surviving escapee. The clippings from The Clarion-Ledger and the evening edition, The Jackson Daily News, are now preserved in a framed display.
