The Town of Purvis was incorporated on February 25, 1888 [4] and was founded by and named after Thomas Melville Purves, originally of Marion County, Alabama.

[5] Purves acquired a land grant in 1870 for a parcel of real estate which was located, at that time, in Marion County, Mississippi.

[7] In 1884, the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad gained right-of-way on Purves' property and a depot was erected, along with a marker, reading "Purvis".

Purves eventually changed the spelling of his surname to match the town's depot marker which you can see evidenced on his tombstone located in Fillingame Cemetery in Purvis.

[7] Mrs. Anna Bufkin was a member of one of the first families to live in the section house as her husband was one that helped grade and build that part of the railroad in Purvis.

They found a second source of water from a spring across the railroad track that was originally used by Thomas Purves (Grandpa Purvis) years before the town sprang into existence.

[9] Purvis began as a sawmill town and is noted to be located on the highest point on the Southern Railroad between Meridian and New Orleans by James Bounds, land surveyor, MS REG # L.S.1021.

[7] James Bounds, surveyor, stated: It may be of interest to note the location of the old Pass Christian Road on a map of Stone and Pearl River Counties.

This road followed a natural divide between the water-sheds of Wolf River and Big Black Creek, of which the head waters originate in Lamar County.

It crossed no branches or streams of any kind and was one of the main roads of travel until modern means of transportation came into use after the American Civil War.

[9]When the town was in its infancy, lumber companies bought large tracts of virgin pine forested land and erected sawmills at sites along the newly developing rail line.

[7] The new Lamar County Courthouse was completed in 1905 at a cost of $50,000 only to be damaged by the 1908 Dixie tornado outbreak, then subsequently demolished by fire in 1934.

Because of a well-known system of aquifers and sand mines, this area was selected for "project dribble" to be the site of nuclear tests by the US government during 1961 to 1968 to measure seismic activity.

[13] Purvis is located in the Deep South, in a humid subtropical area of the country with hot summers and mild winters.

The War Memorial located on the grounds of the Old Lamar County Courthouse holds testament of the sacrifices the families of the area have made.

On April 24, 1908, three F4 (207-260 mph) tornadoes left a line of destruction from Livingston Parish, Louisiana northeast to Wayne County.

The large "Town Clock" in the domed tower of the courthouse of the time, sustained damage from flying debris and was stopped at 2:13 in the afternoon.

The depot of the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad, which was responsible for the success of the bustling, growing town, was one of the first public buildings demolished by the twisters and was thrown across the tracks.

Purvis has felt the winds of quite a few tropical systems over the years; especially considering how many miles from the Mississippi Gulf Coast the city is located.

Tropical Storm Allison oddly stayed together long enough to still have an eye like feature over Purvis after traveling from Texas and Louisiana in 2001 and dumped 10–15 inches of rain on Lamar County.

The Project Dribble program involved two nuclear detonations called Salmon and Sterling that were conducted within Tatum Salt Dome southwest of the Hattiesburg/Purvis area in the late 1960s.

These studies are part of a seismic research program called Vela Uniform which is designed to improve the United States' capability to detect, identify, and locate underground nuclear detonations.