MISSISSIPPI

Prior to the first state automobile registration law of 1912, various cities around the state licensed automobiles, and in some cases, issued plates.  The earliest known city ordinances date from 1911, with Biloxi and Gulfport both issuing plates that year.  There is also a mysterious series of white-on-black porcelain plates, numbers #113 and 172 known, with "MISS" vertically at left and "1911" vertically at right.  These are believed to be issued by a city somewhere in the state, rather than by the state itself, despite their close resemblance to 1912 state issues.  The only state law prior to 1912 that addresses automobiles at all is 1910 Chapter 96, passed on April 9, 1910, and effective immediately.  But this act merely requires that a privilege tax be paid by all automobile dealers, garages, and autos for rent or hire.  Being an occupational tax, it's almost certain no identifying plate would have been issued.

1912 Chapter 108, passed on March 16, 1912, and effective June 1, 1912, required all 4-wheeled motor vehicles to register with the State Auditor of Public Accounts, pay an annual fee of $5, $15, $20 or $25 depending on horsepower, and display an annual pair of state-issued plates in black on white.  Motorcycles were not included and there was no mention of dealers.  Non-residents were exempted for 30 days as long as their home state had a registration and plate requirement and both were met.  Section 9 states that "no county, levee board or municipality in this State shall be permitted to impose any registration fee or require any additional number tag from any automobile owner, nor impose any privilege tax on any one owning or operating an automobile, except where such automobile is operated for hire..."  This clearly ended the era of city pre-states, but more on this later.

Registration began on June 1, 1912, with numbers starting at #1.  According to the original ledger books still in the State Archives in Jackson, the highest 1912 plate issued was #2896 on December 31, 1912; the highest known 1912 plate is #2567.  New 1913-dated plates of the same color and design were issued starting on January 2, 1913, starting over again at #1.  The highest 1913 plate issued was #262 on May 26, 1913, and the highest known regular 1913 plate is #71.  Another series of 1913 plates is known from #5019 to #5064, but the purpose of this #5000 block is unknown.

The law states clearly that license plates were to bear the year of issue, which explains why new plates issued after January 1, 1913, have the "1913" date.  The law didn't specify what the exact registration year was, only that owners were to pay the fee annually.  Therefore, we assume that those registrations issued during 1912 were either valid until June 1, 1913, or were valid one year from the date of issue, with a vehicle first registered on September 8, 1912, expiring on September 8, 1913, for example (a system used in Kentucky at that time).  It's a moot point, since issuance of all plates was halted just five days prior to the earliest possible expiration of the 1912 issue.  Our theory is that all 1913 dated plates were issued only to new registrations, and that 1912 plates continued to be legally used through the first five months of 1913.  Had renewals occurred, the bulk of them probably would have taken place in late July of 1913, because most 1912 registrants had waited until just before the August 1, 1912, enforcement deadline.

The existence of a Mississippi 1913 issue was completely unknown until 1985, when a Pennsylvania license plate collector (who later became ALPCA Archivist) ran a classified ad in a Jackson newspaper looking for old plates before 1920.  A man called him stating that he had a 1913 tag as well as some newer ones.  Thinking there must be some mistake, and that the seller had misread a 1912 or 1919 plate, Roy Klotz bought the old tags anyway, only to discover upon receiving the package of plates in the mail, to his utter shock, that the 1913 plate was real!  The reason why it took so long for any example of this rare issue to turn up will become more clear below.  But this was undoubtedly the find of the century!

A Laurel Daily Argus news article on June 28, 1912, mentions that Attorney General Frank Collins rendered an opinion the day before to Auditor Thompson which construes the automobile law to close the loophole regarding 40 H.P. machines.  A literal reading of the law defines fees for automobiles of "less than forty" horsepower and those of "more than forty" but not for exactly 40 horsepower, leading those owners to believe they were exempted from paying the tax.  But the Attorney General's opinion states that the legislative intent was to tax 40-horsepower machines at the lower $15 rate.  As of June 28, only 207 owners had purchased their tags, out of an estimated 2,000 automobiles in the state.  The mandatory enforcement date by which everyone was to display the 1912 plates was August 1, 1912.

The next day, on August 2, 1912, a Mr. Lawrence was arrested for driving his automobile on the streets of Jackson without the state license plates or registration, although his vehicle was "duly registered and numbered by the...city of Jackson and the uniform registration fee of $2 paid said city."  In State vs. Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence fought his case against double taxation all the way to the state Supreme Court, and the state law was declared unconstitutional by that court on May 26, 1913.  Therefore, issuance of new plates had to stop immediately, which they did that very day.

With the state no longer registering motor vehicles, cities were free to license them once again, and they did!  For example, Biloxi changed its ordinance in early 1914 to require automobile registration, ordered new tags, and starting issuing them.  We are no longer in the pre-state era, but the "tween" period!

The state of Mississippi had to start from scratch.  1914 Chapter 42, passed on February 19, 1914, and effective immediately, allowed refunds of all fees collected under the 1912 act.  This law makes no mention of plates nor any requirement that they be turned in to get the refund, although this has been theorized to explain why 1912 and 1913 plates are so rare.

A new law, 1914 Chapter 120, finally passed on March 27, 1914, effective April 30, 1914, requiring all owners of motor vehicles including motorcycles to register with their County Tax Collector, pay a permanent registration fee of $2, and display a state-issued pair of permanent undated plates.  The $2 fee was turned over to the State Auditor.  In addition, owners were required to pay an annual privilege tax to the County Tax Collector of 36c per horsepower, except electric vehicles which were a flat rate of $4.80, commercial vehicles which were $8.40 or $16.80 depending on weight capacity, and motorcycles which were $2.40.  Half rates were in effect for all vehicles starting with the 4th year of continual registration, which would be 1917 at the earliest.  The tax year was January 1 to December 31, and for 1914 only, a 2/3 fee was charged since registration began in May.  New registrations were prorated monthly in 1914 and beyond.  The mandatory enforcement date was May 30, 1914, by which time everyone had to display the new state plate.

License plates were to be black on white, with the size specified as 6" x 12" for motor vehicles and 3" x 6" for motorcycles.  Motorcycles were issued pairs of plates, with the front plate being a double-sided plate to be displayed sideways so as to be visible from each side of the vehicle.  None are known, so we are not certain exactly how the double-sided plates were constructed.  (In Ontario, Canada, double-sided motorcycle front plates were used from 1917 to 1966 except the World War II years.  The 1917-20 issues were literally painted on both sides, while the 1921-66 plates were merely a pair of plates riveted or bolted together back-to-back.)  The earliest known motorcycle plate is 1919.

Dealers were issued regular passenger plates, but were allowed "four duplicate pairs" of plates at cost.  Actual Dealer plates were not issued until 1920.  Non-residents were allowed 60 days before having to register.  Cities, levee district boards and drainage districts were prohibited from collecting a registration fee or privilege tax altogether.  The 1914 law was amended by 1916 Chapter 93, passed on April 3, 1916, and effective in May 1916, to make the privilege tax on all motor vehicles transferable within that calendar year.  Until then, when a vehicle was bought or sold, the new owner had to pay the tax again even though the vehicle was licensed for the whole year.

Mississippi had only 79 counties in 1912.  Walthall County was formed in 1912 from sections of Lawrence, Marion and Pike counties, but an administrative government was not set up until May 1914.  Stone County was formed on May 10, 1916, from Harrison County.  Humphreys County was formed on March 28, 1918, from parts of Holmes, Sharkey, Sunflower, Washington and Yazoo counties, bringing the state's total to the 82 counties we have today.

An article in the (Biloxi) Daily Herald on April 29, 1914, mentions that "Auditor Thompson has placed an order for 5000 metal automobile tags and 500 motorcycle tags, same to be delivered as soon as possible.  May being the month in which all licenses are supposed to date, and run until next January."  The new plates were assigned in numerical blocks to each of the counties in alphabetical order.  For example, passenger plates #1 - 120 were issued in Adams County, #121 - 200 for Alcorn, etc.  Subsequent orders of plates were sometimes allocated to counties alphabetically, and other times just randomly as needed.  The highest known 1914-18 plate is #44318.  No motorcycle plates are known, but #998 and 999 were listed as having been assigned in 1917 in Benton County.  With 1918 still to go, we expect numbers to have reached the low 1,000s. 

1918 Chapters 161 and 162, passed on March 26, 1918, amended the 1914 and 1916 laws in significant ways.  Chapter 161 was apparently supposed to take effect in May 1918, and lowered the privilege taxes to the following rates:  Motor vehicles 24c per horsepower with a minimum fee of $5, electric vehicles $4.80 (unchanged), commercial vehicles $6.40 or $12.80 depending on weight and capacity, and motorcycles $2.00.  Half rates after 3 years of registration were discontinued...it didn't take the state long to feel the effects of the reduced fees, which were only in effect in 1917!  The new rates were probably in effect starting in May 1918, and prorated for the remaining months of the year for new registrations only.  The law gives the dates as being in May 1919, but Section 3 states that "this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage."  Refunds were probably not issued for those owners who had already paid their fees for 1918.

Chapter 162, effective January 1, 1919, made the $2 registration fee annual and provided for a half-rate fee after July 1 of each year.  License plates were now to be issued annually in different colors on a calendar year basis, and were to be 6" x 15" instead of 6" x 12", while motorcycle plates remained at 3" x 6".  The motorcycle plates continued to be issued in pairs, with the front plate being double-sided as before so as to be legible from both sides of the vehicle.  We don't know how many years motorcycle plates were issued this way, but we believe front plates were discontinued at least by 1939.

For the initial 1919 assignment, plate numbers were allocated in blocks to the counties in alphabetical order starting with #1 - 525 in Adams County. and ending with #42901 - 43750 in Yazoo County.  Newly-formed Humphreys County was tacked on at the end, receiving #43751 - 44000.  Numbers beyond that were assigned in random order as needed.  Motorcycle plates were assigned in a more haphazard order, with Jackson County receiving #1 - 40.  The highest motorcycle plate allocated was #549.  The highest known 1919 plates are as follows:  Passenger #59530, Motorcycle #196.