City of Edna

Edna, Did You Know?

Community events and city meetings used to be held at the Civic Auditorium, built in 1909 by J.C. Traylor, Jr. a few blocks west of the courthouse square.

The large wooden building hosted dances and events for many years, including Teenville for local teens, the Lions Club, and City Council (then called the City Commission). The City Commission approved the auditorium to be used as a U.S.O. facility during World War II. Hurricane Carla badly damaged the auditorium in September 1961 and had to be demolished.

While the building no longer exists, its location is easy to find. In the late 1940s the city built a one-story brick building to house the fire department, police department, and city hall next to it on the southwest corner of Allen Street and Main Street. Now, where the Civic Auditorium used to be, the Edna Fire Department is located (next to the old city building) and the Edna Police Department is next door in the brick building that the Chamber of Commerce once occupied.
- “Edna History, Book No. 1,” page 11, by M.C. Shelby
- “The Cavalcade of Jackson County, Second Edition,” page 118, by I.T. Taylor
- Photos courtesy of Mr. Roy Ortolon, Johnny Dugger, L.K. Miller, and Janet Schade Mitchell