The History of Crossgates

Bill Underwood was born in 1921 in Sebastopol, Miss. He graduated from Sebastopol Vocational High School and attended Draughn’s Business College in Memphis, Tenn.
Before serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Bill worked for Capital National Bank (now Trustmark) in Jackson. After leaving the Navy, he became manager of the Capital National Bank’s Veteran Administration Branch.
In 1946, Bill entered the real estate business and, two years later, formed J. W. Underwood & Company with George Cain, Jr. Three years after that, the two founded Homestead Savings and Loan Association to assist the real estate company.
Bill’s company is credited with building over 7,000 homes and designing and developing over 25 different communities. One such community – Crossgates – was the first large master-planned community in Mississippi.

In 1966, Bill and his partner, William King Self of Marks, Miss., bought G. R. Worthington’s 1,000-acre dairy farm west of Brandon along Highway 80.
Initially, he had no specific purpose for the property. So, he installed 1½ miles of white fencing along the Highway 80, intending to put horses there and sell it to someone as a “horse spread.”
In 1968, after seeing planned communities in places near Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Bill decided to develop Crossgates as a pre-planned residential community.
The initial development included the lake, entrances, an information/marketing building, several gazebos, and 102 lots, as well as a sewer and water system.
Bill decided his company, Underwood Homes, and six other builders, would each build two houses for a total of 14 homes. When word circulated about the 14 families living in Crossgates, it attracted the attention of more homebuyers.
Bill continued purchasing property and Crossgates grew to 1,700 acres. Today, the Crossgates area has a mixture of uses, from residential to commercial to medical.

In September of 1977, the City of Pearl passed an annexation ordinance, prompting Brandon, Richland, Jackson, and the Citizens Against Pearl Annexation to oppose portions of the proposed annexation.
In October of 1977, Brandon voters approved a special referendum to annex Crossgates and other communities. On October 25, 1977, the City of Brandon’s Board of Aldermen approved an ordinance for annexing Crossgates and other communities.
On January 17, 1978, the Board of Aldermen approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Baker to sign a contract with the City of Pearl to remove over half of the proposed annexation area and place a limit on westward annexation. The resolution asked the courts to modify the proposed annexation hearing for the city.
On March 24, 1978, Chancellor Billy Bridges approved the annexation of Crossgates and areas immediately surrounding the city to take effect at midnight on April 3, 1978. The annexation would nearly triple the city’s population, from 3,500 to more than 10,000, and double its land area.

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