Southern Turnings spearheads community growth in Wiggins

ROY HOWARD COMMUNITY JOURNALISM CENTER- When Southern Turnings opened in Downtown Wiggins, few businesses were operating along Pine Avenue.

Nearly a decade later, the shop has expanded and the area now includes additional storefronts and monthly community events.

Ashlyn Joyner with the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center shows us how they got to where they are today.

At the back of a downtown Wiggins coffee shop, a window looks into Scott Maddox’s workshop.

Inside — he guides a lathe along the bottom of a piece of wood, shaping it into a bowl.

A retired teacher, he says woodworking is something he wanted to share with others. “There’s something about making something.”

From that dream came Southern Turnings.

What started as a studio grew to include a coffee shop, retail store and a mission to revive what was once a thriving part of Wiggins. “When I moved here, this was a vibrant community. All the buildings were open, there were shops, there was things to do. It was wonderful. Over time, that kind of dissipated, and basically there was nothing here.”

The road wasn’t easy. “I just thought we’d lost our minds. I mean, there was just no business. I remember — it was November I think — of 2017, and I looked at her and I said, ‘Go buy a Coke. We need a transaction.”

He says they stuck with it through the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually, the tide turned. “Pretty soon we were sitting here going, ‘This is crazy!’ I give credit to our community for making that happen, because obviously, if they wouldn’t come through that door, we wouldn’t be growing.”

Today, the shop offers weekly woodturning classes, community events and a place to connect.

Maddox says retirement is on the horizon, but for now, they say they’re focused on staying connected to the community.