THE PINEY WOODS 145 also known as the Second Choctaw Cession, purchased from the Choctaw nation by the Treaty of Mount Dexter in November 1805. The region is visibly identifiable by its abundant pine forests. At the time of statehood in 1817, the longleaf pine covered much of the southern part of the Pine Belt, while the shortleaf dominated in the upper portion. While these two pines were often the most prolific, other species such as the loblolly and slash pine also grew in the region. On a broader scale, the longleaf pine, or Pinus palustris, ecosystem covered much of the coastal plain of the Southeast from Virginia southward to the Georgia coast and westward to East Texas. The longleaf dominated the landscape because it thrived in the sandy soils of the region and had a high resistance to fire, which other pines lacked. T he Piney Woods of Mississippi constitute a distinct physiographic region of the southern portion of the state. Other names for the region include the Longleaf Belt, the Pine Barrens, and simply the Pine Belt. The area stretches from the Alabama state line westward to within thirty miles of the Mississippi River and extends almost to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The northern boundary of the area is the Jackson Prairie or Central Black Belt, to the west by the Loess or Bluff Hills, and along the coastline by the pine meadows. This area constitutes all or part of Lincoln, Pike, Lawrence, Walthall, Jefferson Davis, Marion, Covington, Lamar, Jones, Forrest, Perry, Wayne, and Greene counties and extends into Stone, Pearl River, and George counties as well. Historically, this area is DOGTROT Before the era of air conditioning in homes, the dogtrot house was a common style in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, especially for the hot summers of the Southeastern United States. A breezeway was incorporated between the cooking, dining, and sleeping section, which naturally drew cool air into the open area and open windows in the adjoining rooms. In some styles, a porch would stretch across the front and rear of the house, with a rear porch sometimes enclosed to create shed rooms. A fireplace was usually placed on each of the gable ends. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION/OFFICE OF WAR IN- FORMATION BLACK-AND-WHITE NEGATIVES PHOTO COURTESY OF MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY