When Ray Palmer, Laurel division president of Bancorp South, came to the bank at the first of the year, one of the things that grabbed his attention was the large hole in the ground in front of the bank where a flag pole stood for many decades.

As a way of contributing to the revitalization of downtown Laurel, he and the employees of Bancorp South wanted to fill the hole with another flag pole to restore the building site to they way it was in 1914 when it was built for the downtown post office.

In the mid-1970s the wooden flag pole was thought to be rotten and was cut down. Bancorp South assistant vice president Jonathan Strickler said they found the base of the original flag pole behind the Veterans Museum. Robert Burdette with Laurel Machine and Foundry has restored the base, and an aluminum pole has replaced the old wooden pole.

In the 1950s the post office became Laurel Federal Savings and Loan. In 1971 Louis Griffin, Jr. joined the bank as assistant vice president and in 1985 became president and CEO. In 1995 he entered Laurel Federal S & L into a merger with Bancorp South. Thursday, November 13 members of the business community, family and friends joined Bancorp South as they dedicated the new flag pole in honor of Griffin for his years of service to the bank and the Laurel/Jones County community.