Smithville in Monroe County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)

Town of Smithville

Photographed by Mark Hilton, May 24, 2021

1. Town of Smithville Marker

Inscription. Smithville had its beginning on December 3, 1836, when Co Chubby, a Chickasaw Indian Co-signatory of the Treaty of Pontotoc, sold Section 6, Township 12S, Range 9E to James D. Couch.

About 1840, William Smith purchased land at this site and built a log house and store. The village of Smithville was later surveyed around his home. Other early settlers included brothers William and Cornelius Dowd, Zachariah Wall, Henry Stegall, James Elliott, M.D., Daniel McCrummen, M.D., James Dalrymple, and the Cheek and Cowley families. The Smithville landing on the nearby Tombigbee River served the village---and later the town ---as the chief means of trade and communication prior to the coming of the railroads.

The town of Smithville was chartered in 1846, and a post office was opened on June 8 of that year.

During the Civil War, men from Smithville and other areas of Monroe County joined Company A (Red Rovers), 5th Mississippi Infantry, which was mustered into Confederate service at Athens on April 27, 1861.

The economy of Smithville received a boost with the establishment of the short-line Mississippian Railroad in 1921. Initially used primarily as a logging line, the railroad ran from Amory to Fulton via Smithville.

Today Smithville and Aberdeen are the only surviving antebellum municipalities in Monroe County.

Erected 2009

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by Dalrymple Family Foundation.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Settlements & Settlers • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical date for this entry is April 27, 1861.

Location. 34° 4.144′ N, 88° 23.85′ W. Marker is in Smithville, Mississippi, in Monroe County. It is on Mississippi Route 25 south of Elm Street, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 63439 MS-25, Smithville MS 38870, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in East Mississippi, specifically in the Black Prairie,

in the Golden Triangle,

and in the North Mississippi Hills. It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and in the Black Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow

Smithville Police Department, Town Hall and marker. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, May 24, 2021

2. Smithville Police Department, Town Hall and marker.

flies: Rod Brasfield (approx. 0.4 miles away); Gaines Trace (approx. 0.4 miles away); New Hope Church (approx. 6½ miles away); Chickasaw Cession (approx. 7.1 miles away); Amory, Mississippi: Blues from a Railroad Town (approx. 7.8 miles away); Amory's Tribute to the Heroes of 1861—1865 (approx. 7.8 miles away); Gilmore Sanitarium (approx. 7.9 miles away); Becker Post Office (approx. 8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Smithville.

Also see . . . History of Smithville from its website. (Submitted on May 25, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 25, 2021. It was originally submitted on May 25, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 1,219 times since then and 92 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 25, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.