This report analyzes the shortrun economic impact of a tissue paper mill on Pickens, Miss., a town of under 1,000 in a depressed rural area with a predominance of poor Negroes. The tissue mill began in a building formerly occupied by a North Carolina furniture manufacturer. Initial financing came from the Area Redevelopment Administration, local and State organizations, and private industry. Failure of the operation was attributed to lack of skilled employees, frequent breakdowns of secondhand machinery, variability in the quality of wet pulp, and an inadequately developed market. After foreclosure by the Small Business Administration, the plant was leased to another company to produce carbonizing paper used by that company. The case raises many questions about the development of such a depressed rural area.