Shaped by Hand: The heart behind Sumrall’s Coral Depot

• Coral Depot has grown through word of mouth, social media, and the oldest marketing strategy of all: people telling people.

Some places in Mississippi rest on more than land—they rest on layers: memory, people, purpose. When you visit, you feel it. These places quiet you, draw you in, and remind you that this land holds a legacy.

Arriving at Coral Depot, you sense it—a feeling as distinctive as the beautiful longleaf pines that surround Sumrall.

Before it was a pottery shop, this land was already a gathering place. Coral Depot sits on 240 acres that have been in the same family for five generations, dating back to the early 1900s.

Deb Hazel spent her childhood here. She and her siblings grew up on this property, too. Today, all of them still live on the land, though one sibling has since passed away.

In Mississippi, we understand what a gift that is: not just to inherit land, but to keep living on it. To keep loving it.

Deb and Gary’s Hazel’s 40-acre portion holds an even deeper layer of history. Once the heart of the old Coral community, where a post office, two schools, churches, 18 to 20 houses, a commissary, and the depot itself once stood along a railroad line. In other words, long before pottery classes, this land was already built for learning, community, and connection.

Given its past as a hub for gathering and learning, it’s fitting that Coral Depot continues this tradition today.

Coral Depot opened to the public in 2019 and is owned by Deb and her husband, Gary. The name itself is a tribute to the surrounding community, the depot’s history, and the generations of family stewardship that kept this place rooted.

The land was first purchased in 1912 by the Carruth family, where a lumber mill once operated along the railroad line. Even now, generations of family still live on the original homestead.

This connection extends not only to the land but also to the people who inhabit it.

Creative talent runs deep in Deb’s family. She’s one of seven siblings, and she’ll tell you that a love of art has always been shared among them. It’s a gift passed down from their parents, John and Rosamond Carruth, and it shows. Deb’s sisters, Sherree Bond, Johnnie Rose Easton, and Pam Sanders, are artists in their own right, and over the years, each has displayed handcrafted wooden pieces at Coral Depot. The shop doesn’t just showcase Deb’s work — it reflects a whole family’s creativity.

But what makes Deb’s story especially meaningful is how Coral Depot came to be in the first place.

“My Mother was my greatest artistic influence,” Deb told me. “We did anything and everything together.”

When her mother passed away in 2019, Deb found herself in a place many of us recognize. It’s that strange space where grief makes even the things you love feel heavy.

The creative activities she and her mom used to do together suddenly felt impossible. Not because she didn’t want to create, but because she missed her.

At that turning point, Deb found her own path forward by choosing a new artistic venture.

“I needed a creative outlet,” she said. “And I thought, ‘Well, we never did pottery together.’”

So she bought a pottery wheel, clay, and a kiln — and she committed.

“I committed,” she laughed, and you can hear the delight in her voice when she says it.

Deb is retired from Human Resources, and she’s also a veteran, a wife, a mother, and a creative person through and through.

Today, Coral Depot is centered on Deb’s handmade pottery, with Gary playing a key role behind the scenes. He preps slabs, helps run the store, and sets up for classes. Deb will tell you plainly: her husband is her biggest fan and supporter.

“We do everything together,” she said, “And we are partners in everything.” 

Deb prefers hand-building over the wheel, and the storefront is full of beautiful pieces — from trays to dragonflies — each one unique. Many incorporate dragonflies and cardinals, symbols rooted in her own family’s traditions.

And her creative process isn’t overly structured.

“It’s largely organic,” Deb explained. “I let the clay guide each piece.”

The other thing you notice immediately as you walk into Coral Depot is Deb herself. She is friendly, charismatic, and instantly puts you at ease — like the teacher you always wanted but maybe never had. The kind who makes you feel capable before you’ve even started.

That welcoming spirit shapes Coral Depot today—it isn’t just a shop, but a gathering place.

In addition to selling pottery, Deb offers hand-building and glaze classes that bring locals together to foster creativity. They’re set to a rhythm that fits real Mississippi life.

“We offer hand-building pottery classes every other Saturday at 10 a.m., with glaze classes typically held on the Saturday right after each pottery class at the same time.”

Her most popular classes are her Christmas tree classes and free-form tray classes — and her reasoning is exactly what you’d expect from someone who genuinely wants people to succeed.

“I want people to have a good experience,” she told me. “The free-form tray classes are easier, and the trays turn out beautifully, so for people who haven’t tried pottery before, they can walk away with a positive experience.”

Coral Depot has never used traditional advertising. It has grown through word of mouth, social media, and the oldest marketing strategy of all: people telling people. It recently joined Genuine MS, a statewide program through the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce that highlights and supports locally owned businesses that make or grow their products right here in Mississippi.

“A good experience is the best advertisement we could ever have,” Deb shared. A quote that should honestly be printed and hung in every small business everywhere.

Despite its growing reputation, Deb is clear that the goal isn’t expansion.

The goal is community.

“We love our Coral community,” she said. “We have return customers that have eight to ten classes now, so we call them our ‘Coral Depot Clay Club.’”

Coral may be the historic name tied to this land, but Coral Depot today is a beloved part of the Sumrall community—and that small-town sense of connection is exactly what keeps people coming back.

Deb believes creativity doesn’t have an age limit, and neither does growth.

“You have to do things all your life to continue to grow,” she shared. “We all have things to give to the world, no matter how old we are.”

Then she added, with the kind of conviction that makes you want to go sign up for a class immediately: “Everyone has some creativity in them, and I enjoy helping people find theirs.”

You’ll find Coral Depot at 106 Coral Place in Sumrall, open every Saturday year-round from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.During November and December, they also open on Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5 p.m. For class dates and updates, follow Coral Depot on Facebook.

Yet, the real reason to visit reaches beyond just the pottery.

It’s the feeling.

On land where schools, churches, and a bustling depot once stood—where community has always mattered—Coral Depot carries on this Mississippi legacy.

It’s gathering people back together.

Only now, they’re leaving with something beautiful in their hands.