The Tunica RiverPark is a perfect place to explore and understand the rich history of the Mississippi Delta and America's greatest river. Perfect for family outings or a romantic sunset walk, the RiverPark allows you to interact up close with the awe-inspiring beauty of the Mississippi River. Learn about the impact of the Great Flood of 1927, as well as see the river's natural inhabitants inside three large aquariums. This 2007 Mississippi Travel Attraction of the Year's grounds are rich with native wildlife and flora, and the stunning architectural features of the RiverPark Overlook provides breathtaking views of America's river.
Farmer's Grocery /
Farmers Grocery Restaurant – Located on Highway 1 in Grace, Mississippi, Farmers Grocery serves up delicious Delta cuisine in a casual atmosphere. Daily lunch buffet, Monday – Friday. Open for breakfast,lunch and dinner Monday – Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
According to Mississippi Delta-based writer Boyce Upholt, in addition to steaks, burgers, sandwiches, and catfish, Farmer’s Grocery Store in Grace has “perfected a recipe that is pure Delta: the deep-fried tamale. . . . They’re crisp at first, and then the batter gives way to a soft, fragrant interior of corn and beef and spice."
http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2013/the-hot-tamales-of-issaquena-county/
Gateway to the Blues /
http://www.tunicatravel.com/things-to-do/the_blues/gateway
See the story of the blues come to life in all its tormented and anguished glory. Located on Blues Highway 61, the museum is the perfect place to begin your journey through the Mississippi Delta. Experience interactive exhibits, artwork and more - including a recording studio where you'll learn the basics of blues music with a chance to record your very own blues song. The Gateway is not only a museum, but also a visitor center and gift shop with official Tunica merchandise. So, before you trek through blues country, get into a blues-state-of-mind at the 2015 Mississippi Travel Attraction of the Year - the gateway to the Blues!
Mont Helena /
Built atop a ceremonial Indian Mound this 1896 home overlooks the surrounding Delta fields like a queen. Helen Johnstone Harris and the Reverend George Carroll Harris were the first owners of the house. Each Spring the Friends of Mont Helena present a drama that tells the tragic story of Helen and her first love Henry Vick of Nitta Yuma. During the rest of the year, the home is open for tours by appointment.
Carroll County Courthouse /
http://carrollcountyms.org/carrollton/
600 Lexington St.
Built in 1876 after the first courthouse on this site burned, this historic structure houses a complete set of County records. It's open air design is unique to courthouses built during this era.
Indianola Pecan House /
Tel 800-541-6252
For 36 years Indianola Pecan House has been a destination for both locals and visitors. Our gourmet pecan products are made here in the Delta, and we offer many other food and gift items with a regional flavor.
We’re home of the Original Praline Pecan™, and we take great pride in our quality and selection.
DeSoto County Courthouse /
The anchor of Hernando square, the historic DeSoto County Courthouse was built in 1942 after the previous French Castle courthouse burned in 1940. The courthouse features an impressive series of murals that circle the interior rotunda depicting explorer Hernando DeSoto's travels along the Mississippi River. The murals were painted in 1903 for Memphis' historic Gayoso Hotel and given to DeSoto County in the 1950s. They have since been restored three separate times and have been a consistent point of interest for cultural heritage travelers to the Mississippi Delta region.
Dockery Farms /
Dockery Farms- Bolivar/Sunflower County Line- As B.B. King famously said.. “You can say it all started right here.” Dockery Farms- often referred to as the “Birthplace of the Blues” was a working farm known as a gathering place for famous bluesmen after a long week’s work. Such famous names as Charley Patton, Pop Staples, Henry Sloan and more were known to play at Dockery, and went on to influence some of music’s biggest performers.
Homes of James Earl Jones, Otha Turner, and Dumas Malone /
The Mississippi Delta is known as the birthplace of the Blues, the Civil Rights Movement, and a plethora of famous people. Located 40 miles south of Memphis, Tate County features the birth homes of a Broadway-Hollywood actor, a Bluesman, and an American historian. Born in Arkabutla, award-winning African American actor James Earl Jones is perhaps most widely known as the voices of Star Wars film series' Darth Vader and Mufasa in Disney's The Lion King. Otha Turner was a living link to rural Blues and fife-and-drum pre-Blues that extended well into the 19th century. Turner's friends and family continue to host a festival in his honor each August at his Gravel Springs Road home located southeast of Senatobia in rural Tate County. Finally, Yale-educated Dumas Malone was born in Coldwater and is considered by many to have been the greatest expert ever on the life and work of Thomas Jefferson.
World Famous Mississippi Delta Pottery /
World-Famous Pottery-Bolivar County is home to not one, but two world-famous pottery locations. McCartys Pottery and Gardens in Merigold, and also Peter’s Pottery in Mound Bayou, have been drawing both domestic and international visitors for many years. The unique styling of the Delta clay, along with the beautiful gardens of McCartys, welcome visitors all year long.
Historic Downtown Como /
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Southern Literary Trail for native son Stark Young, downtown Como is known for its unique charm, downtown eateries (including the world famous Como Steakhouse), bed & breakfasts, MS Blues Trail markers, historic churches, stately homes, locally owned shops and the nationally recognized Emily J. Pointer Public Library. About 45 miles south of Memphis just off I-55, Como offers a chance to get away from it all and relish the feeling of a small town friendly atmosphere.
Emily J. Pointer Public Library
104 Main St.
Como, MS 38619
(662) 526-5283
Scenic Drive from Sardis to Batesville /
Take MS-315 S from Sardis where a two lane black-top snakes through the gripping landscapes of rural Panola county. Camp at a campground, picnic, swim or find a spot to boat, hunt, fish, go birding or walk a trail on some of the 98,000 acres at Sardis Lake. Continue on MS-35 S to Batesville where the charming Batesville Square is brimming with shopping, festivals and local excitement from a weekly farmer's market in the summer to the Polar Express train during the holiday season.
Panola Partnership
150A Public Square
Batesville, MS 38606
(662) 563-3126
Mississippi Freedom Trail /
This collection of markers commemorates people, places and events of the Civil Rights movement. While marker locations span the entire state of Mississippi, several key markers are located in the Mississippi Delta region, where the Civil Rights Movement was sparked with the murder of Emmett Till. Markers in the Mississippi Delta include the Fannie Lou Hamer Gravesite in Ruleville, the Amzie Moore Home in Cleveland, the home of Dr. T.R.M. Howard in Mound Bayou, and the Bryant's Store/Emmett Till marker in Money. Plans are underway for the unveiling of a new marker honoring civil rights activist Unita Blackwell, former mayor of Mayersville and the first African American female mayor in the state of Mississippi. For a full list of marker locations, visithttp://www.visitmississippi.org/sitepages/history-and-heritage#civil-rights.
Tate County Heritage Museum /
662.562.5661
http://visitmississippi.org/bookmarkables/show/26716
The Tate County Heritage Museum tells various aspects of the county's history, including the story of how the town of Coldwater had to be moved - churches, houses, and water tank - to make way for the creation of Arkabutla Lake. The museum is located in the Tate County Courthouse, a Mississippi Historic Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The courthouse is constructed of locally produced brick and is the oldest continuously used courthouse in the state of Mississippi, circa 1875.
Town of Friar's Point /
Founded in 1836 along the Mississippi River, Friar's Point was once the largest cotton shipping center south of Memphis. The historic port town remains the only place in Coahoma County with public access to the banks of the Mississippi River and is one of a few public access points to the river in the entire Mississippi Delta region. Friar's Point continues to be a point of interest for music and literary enthusiasts who travel the Delta. Blues legend Robert Johnson is said to have played in front of Hirsberg's Drugstore and made reference to Friar's Point in the song "Traveling Riverside Blues." The town has been written about by famous Mississippi writers Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner. It also is the birthplace of country music legend Conway Twitty.
Delta Blues Museum /
http://www.deltabluesmuseum.org/
(662) 627-6820
The award-winning Delta Blues Museum is the state of Mississippi's oldest music museum. Established in 1979 by the Carnegie Public Library Board of Trustees in Clarksdale and re-organized as a stand-alone museum in 1999, the Delta Blues Museum is located in the historic Clarksdale freight depot, a Mississippi Historic Landmark built in 1918 for the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad. The former freight area is devoted to permanent and traveling exhibits. The museum includes the Delta Blues Museum Stage which hosts a year-round music education program as well as lectures and symposia and serves as the main venue for local festivals such as the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival in August and the Juke Joint Festival in April.
DeSoto County Museum /
111 E Commerce Street
Hernando, MS 38632
Located in Hernando, Mississippi, the DeSoto County Museum showcases artifacts and exhibits featuring the history of DeSoto County. The DeSoto County Museum features the history and development of the county from 1541 to the present. Highlights include artifacts and exhibits interpreting Hernando DeSoto's arrival in Mississippi and interaction with Native Americans, a working model of a paddlewheel boat, the parlor of an antebellum mansion, African American historical events, and other key events in the agricultural, recreational, and social development of DeSoto County. The museum also features current developments including exhibits featuring the DeSoto Civic Center, local artwork and entertainment, and stories of the growing communities of Horn Lake, Olive Branch, Southaven, and Hernando.
Mule Train /
In the spring of 1968, Dr. martin Luther King, Jr., visited Marks to rally support for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's "Poor People's Campaign", a nationwide march to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness of economic disparity and persistent poverty. Dr. King was so moved by the desperate conditions in marks that he promoted it as the starting point for the campaign's network of traveling groups. His assassination a few weeks later delayed the implementation of the campaign until May, when nine caravans of poverty-stricken protestors began their slow way toward the East Coast from Several locations.
One hundred and fifteen Quitman County residents, ranging in age from eight months to 70 years old, left Marks on May 13, traveling in more than a dozen mule-drawn wagons. On June 19, 1968, Quitman County's famous "Mule Train" rolled into the nation's capitol and joined the large protest on the National Mall.
Tutwiler Murals /
Front Street and Hancock Avenue
Tutwiler, MS
Located along Railroad Blues Park, the Tutwiler Murals depict scenes that have made the town known as the legendary home of the Blues. Father of the Blues, W.C. Handy, wrote in his autobiography that he first heard the Blues played in 1895 at Tutwiler's railroad station. A memorial tribute to Bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson is included in the murals, along with a map to his grave site. Scenes of Mississippi Delta landscapes also are included, making the murals a certain point of interest among music, Southern culture, and photography enthusiasts alike.
Emmett Till Trail /
The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 has been described as the “spark that lit the fuse of the modern Civil Rights Movement.” The Emmett Till Trail includes key sites where the Till tragedy unfolded. Visit Bryant’s Grocery Store in Money, Mississippi, where events leading up to the Till's murder began. Experience the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center, a community-based museum located in a former cotton gin that provides a moving local interpretation of the tragedy. See the site of the Emmett Till murder trial at the Sumner Courthouse in Tallahatchie County, which has been restored to its 1955 appearance.
This project was made possible by support from the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, a partnership with the National Park Service