Local 480 was first chartered in Charleston, WV on February 1, 1906,
where it subsequently lasted 2 years and became non-operational in May,
1908. From Charleston, WV, Local 480 was
chartered in Portland, OR on June 11, 1912, and was there until they were merged
with Local 317 to form Local 48 on May 21, 1913. The
charter was reissued to Marshall, TX on May 3, 1921 where it became
non-operational in September, 1922.
On March 29, 1927, Local
Union 480, Jackson, MS was officially established with the signing of the
Charter by then IBEW President James P. Noonan and IBEW Secretary Gustave M.
Bugniazet. The original Local 480
Officers on the Charter are as follows:
C.E. Bardwell B.L. Haves
Pat Biggs C.L. Horton
O.T. "Claude" Blackmon J.T."Red" Martin
T.J. Bullion, Jr. W.A. Moses
Roy Frizell A.U. Tompkins
The first home for Local
480, Jackson, Mississippi was in a motor rewinding shop on State Street. The second home was an office space on the
second floor above the Walgreen’s Drug Store located then at Capitol Street and
Lamar Street, across the street from South Central Bell. The third home was in the Carpenter’s Labor
Temple on State Street. The fourth home
was in an old house on Rankin Street.
The fifth home for Local Union 480 was 230 W. Rankin Street, the first
owned building. The sixth home and our
present location is 4767 I-55 South, Jackson, Mississippi.
The Charter is proudly displayed in our Meeting Hall. Local Union 480 has been a growing and
thriving force in the Central Mississippi Labor movement for over 85 years. With the
history of our organization and our Local Union 480, we have a
responsibility to those that left it to us and those that follow behind us of
passing it on better and stronger than we found it.