On Castleman Street west of Church Street, on the right when traveling east.
Front
Soul and blues star Denise LaSalle was born Denise Allen near Sidon in rural Leflore County on July 16, 1939, but spent much of her childhood here in Belzoni. After moving to Chicago in her teens, she began writing songs and . . . — — Map (db m77269) HM
On Mississippi Route 7, 0.5 miles south of Smith Road, on the right when traveling south.
Jaketown is the site of some of the earliest Indian earthworks
in Mississippi. Of eighteen mounds recorded, only Mounds
A, B, and C are still visible. The earliest stages of Mound A
were built in the Late Archaic/Poverty Point Period . . . — — Map (db m235137) HM
On U.S. 49W, 1 mile north of State Route 7, on the right when traveling north.
Front
Blues piano master Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins was born on July 7, 1913, on the Honey Island Plantation, seven miles southeast of Belzoni. Perkins spent much of his career accompanying blues icons such as Sonny Boy Williamson . . . — — Map (db m77268) HM
On U.S. 49W north of Warren Street, on the right when traveling north.
On March 13, 1863, near this site, the NATCHEZ burned and sank in the Yazoo. Converted into a Confederate gunboat and armored with cotton bales, the vessel had been taken into the Yazoo to avoid capture. — — Map (db m121107) HM
On Church Street at First Street (Mississippi Highway 7), on the left when traveling north on Church Street.
Front
The Reverend George Lee (1903-1955), a pioneer in the early Mississippi civil rights movement, was a vice president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, a co-founder of the Belzoni NAACP branch, and a powerful public . . . — — Map (db m77408) HM
On South Hayden Street at East Jackson Street, on the right when traveling north on South Hayden Street.
Front
The names of Turner’s Drug Store (located on this corner) and the Easy Pay Store across the street are etched into blues history as sponsors of some of the first radio programs in Mississippi to feature Delta blues. In 1947-48 . . . — — Map (db m77270) HM
On U.S. 49W at South Belzoni Street, on the right when traveling south on U.S. 49W.
Front
One of country music's most prolific and revered songwriters, Hank Cochran (1935-2010), was born in Isola and spent his early childhood years here. He wrote "Make the World Go Away," "A Little Bitty Tear," "She's Got You," and . . . — — Map (db m77169) HM
On Mississippi Route 7 north of Fishco Road, on the left when traveling north.
A significant archaeological site initially settled by people of the Poverty Point culture ca. 1000 BC and continuously occupied through all subsequent archaeological periods of the Lower Miss. Valley. — — Map (db m121110) HM
On Bakerville Road (County Road 570) 0.1 miles north of Sycamore Landing Road (County Road 1647), on the left when traveling north.
Born 1/2 mile north of here on June 17, 1921, William Robert Anderson was a 1943 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He served during World War II and participated in 11 combat patrols in the Pacific. Anderson was the commanding officer of the first . . . — — Map (db m171327) HM
On Bakerville Road (County Road 570) 0.1 miles north of Sycamore Landing Road (County Road 1647), on the left when traveling north.
Hattie W. Caraway was born February 1, 1878, one-half mile south of here. In 1902, she married Thaddeus H. Caraway and moved to Jonesboro, Arkansas. Following the death of her husband, a United States Senator, in 1931 she entered the Senate from . . . — — Map (db m171328) HM
This re-created “Home Place” of Loretta Lynn, originally located in Butcher Holler, KY has been built in memory of Loretta’s parents Ted & Clara Webb and to portray the rags to riches legacy of “The Coal Miner’s Daughter”. — — Map (db m95595) HM
On Hurricane Mills Road (County Route 1796) east of Old Tennessee Route 13, on the left when traveling east.
This mill and dam were built by
James T. Anderson
in 1896
Though wool was carded here, grain processing predominated. Corn meal and flour were shipped throughout the south. Restored by Loretta and Mooney Lynn, with whose permission this . . . — — Map (db m51735) HM
On Hurricane Mills Road south of Old Highway 13, on the left when traveling south.
George Hillman first operated a gristmill
here in the 1870s, along with a general store
and post office. In 1894 James T. Anderson
bought the property and built the present-day
mill and dam that generated the first
electricity in Humphreys . . . — — Map (db m205505) HM
Near Enochs Road, 0.1 miles south of Little Blue Creek Road (County Route 1802), on the left when traveling south.
[Top plaque]
Built in Pennsylvania
1868
Presented by J. W. Shawl
[Bottom plaque]
The National Register
Tennessee
Historical Commission
Wilbert and Annie
Enochs' grist mill
of . . . — — Map (db m192693) HM
On Enochs Road, 0.1 miles south of Little Blue Creek Road (County Road 1802), on the left when traveling east.
In 1934, Wilbert Enochs built a dam across Little Blue Creek to produce his own electricity. It took three years to complete the dam, which was 360 feet long and 30 feet wide. He cut and hewed logs to construct a mill that was used for grinding corn . . . — — Map (db m176899) HM
On Broadway of America HIghway (US 70 at Bold Springs Road (SR 933) on Broadway of America HIghway (US 70.
Located 1/2 mile east is the site of a wooden railroad trestle built for the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad during the Civil War. The 12th and 13th U.S. Colored Infantry constructed the trestle and 1305 feet of earthworks. They built another . . . — — Map (db m74379) HM
Near Old Johnsonville Road west of Museum Road, on the right when traveling west.
The Union army used a variety of field artillery to protect the supply depot at Johnsonville. Gunboats docked at the wharf were also equipped with heavy naval guns that were effective against Confederate field artillery. Ten field guns were . . . — — Map (db m177401) HM
On Nell Beard Road at Broadway Street (U.S. 70) on Nell Beard Road.
Johnsonville was a major Federal supply depot on the Tennessee River at the western terminus of the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad, completed in May 1864. Col. Charles R. Thompson commanded the 2,000-man garrison here. The 12th, 13th, and 100th . . . — — Map (db m74390) HM
Near Old Johnsonville Road near Museum Road, on the left when traveling west.
The construction of Johnsonville's Upper Redoubt - called Fort Johnson during the Civil War - is shrouded in mystery. A redoubt is an earthwork enclosed on all sides. The overall configuration may be square, polygonal, or circular. There is . . . — — Map (db m177359) HM
Near Old Johnsonville Road near Museum Road, on the left when traveling west.
Crockett Cemetery sits in the shadow of the Upper Redoubt. This silent Civil War fortification now watches over the people who once lived and worked in Johnsonville.
Crockett Cemetery was founded here about 1880. In 1987, the families of Old . . . — — Map (db m177285) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road west of Museum Road, on the right when traveling west.
Capt. John W. Morton, Forrest's chief of artillery, discovered a serious flaw in Johnsonville's defenses. The guns in the fortification could not be depressed enough to hit cannon placed behind the levee on the opposite side of the river. The . . . — — Map (db m176883) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road, 0.5 miles west of Nell Beard Road, on the right when traveling west.
Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s army held Atlanta and was poised to strike deeper into the Confederacy. Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford B. Forrest was determined to cut off Sherman’s supplies and cripple the Union campaign. In November 1864, Forrest . . . — — Map (db m176875) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road, 0.3 miles east of Museum Road, on the right when traveling west.
A garrison is a contingent of military personnel stationed at a strategic location for defensive purposes. Federal troops at Johnsonville were responsible for protecting the supply depot and guarding the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad. Between . . . — — Map (db m177278) HM
On Old State Route 1 (County Highway 927) 0.2 miles south of Crockett Road, on the left when traveling south.
In August 1877, Jesse James, the notorious outlaw, moved to this site from Missouri and rented a farm from N.B. Link. Using the assumed name of J.D. Howard, he engaged in farming and horse racing. He entered one of his horses, Red Fox, in local . . . — — Map (db m52583) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road, 0.4 miles west of Nell Beard Road, on the right when traveling west.
As the Union military occupation spread over Middle Tennessee, Federal commanders needed a supply depot on the Tennessee River. By 1863, they agree that such a depot, navigable year around, would provide Union armies in the west with a stream of . . . — — Map (db m176873) HM
Near Museum Road, 0.1 miles south of Old Johnsonville Road, on the right when traveling south.
This strong earthen fortification protected the Johnsonville depot. From this position, the Lower Redoubt overlooked the wharves, warehouses and the Tennessee River. Unfortunately, its designers did not anticipate an artillery attack made from the . . . — — Map (db m177289) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road, 0.6 miles west of Nell Beard Road, on the right when traveling west.
Before you is the old railbed of the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad. In 1863, the Union army extended the railroad to the Tennessee River, creating a reliable and secure supply line between the Ohio River and Nashville.
Building the . . . — — Map (db m176871) HM
On Redoubt Lane west of Museum Road, on the right when traveling west.
This town was named for Andrew Johnson, military governor of Tennessee (1862 - 65). Although the community had been a steamboat landing prior to the Civil War, it was not until the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad was completed by the Union Army . . . — — Map (db m176880) HM
Near Old Johnsonville Road near Museum Road, on the left when traveling west.
Since the early 1800s, several hundred families have lived in the Johnsonville—Reynoldsburg area. The same body of water that gave birth to Johnsonville also wrote
the final chapter in it's history. In 1945 the Tennessee river became Kentucky Lake . . . — — Map (db m177286) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road west of Museum Road, on the right when traveling west.
Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's raid destroyed thirty-three vessels and millions of dollars worth of supplies. He took 150 prisoners. Yet, in the end, the raid had little effect on Gen. Sherman's plans to move deeper into Georgia or on the final . . . — — Map (db m176891) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road near Museum Road, on the right when traveling west.
Johnsonville's Union supply depot included a six-acre horse corral. The corral was located directly to your front and left on what was at the time the bank of the Tennessee River.
The photograph on the right, taken in November 1864, clearly shows . . . — — Map (db m177281) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road, 0.1 miles west of Museum Road, on the left when traveling west.
The Tennessee River flows from the mountains of east Tennessee to the Ohio River at Paducah, Kentucky. In the 19th century it was navigable from the Ohio to Great Bend at Muscle Shoals in northern Alabama. Steamboats and gunboats could move freely . . . — — Map (db m176879) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road, 0.7 miles west of Nell Beard Road, on the right when traveling west.
A civilian community grew up beside the army supply depot, providing goods and services to soldiers and civilian workers. After the Civil War, Johnsonville's economy revolved around the river and the railroad. Johnsonville ceased to exist in the . . . — — Map (db m74425) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road, 0.3 miles west of Nell Beard Road, on the right when traveling west.
During the Civil War, the railroad that terminated at Johnsonville included a turntable for rotating locomotive engines. The turntable was a large circular pit with a stone outer base. Located in the middle of the pit was a central pivot (made of . . . — — Map (db m177265) HM
On Old Johnsonville Road at Museum Road, on the left when traveling west on Old Johnsonville Road.
Johnsonville was a vital cog in the Union war machine. At this busy, noisy, sprawling complex of wharves, docks, warehouses and corrals the work of war continued unabated. Steamboats crowded the wharf. Day in and day out, laborers moved . . . — — Map (db m176878) HM
Near Old Johnsonville Road, 0.5 miles west of Nell Beard Road, on the right when traveling west.
United States Colored Troops formed the majority of Johnsonville's garrison. They played a crucial role in the construction of the depot and its defensive works. They garrisoned the blockhouse defending the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad and . . . — — Map (db m177290) HM
Near Museum Road, 0.1 miles south of Old Johnsonville Road.
The Lower Redoubt, the fortification built to protect the Civil War depot, now watches over Winfrey Cemetery and people who once lived and worked in Johnsonville.
Winfrey Cemetery was originally located on a hill overlooking the town of . . . — — Map (db m177288) HM
On East Main Street east of Wall Street, on the right when traveling east.
Passing along East Main Street, under the line of maple trees adorning the highway, one comes to a street known as Fairground Drive. In the early twentieth century it was a part of the northern loop of a race track extending to the hills on the . . . — — Map (db m205500) HM
On Thompson Street at Mill Street (W. Court Square Street), on the right when traveling west on Thompson Street.
On November 4, 1864, Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest's Confederate cavalry attacked and destroyed the river port of Johnsonville located ten miles west of here on the Tennessee River. Union losses included four gunboats, fourteen steamboats, . . . — — Map (db m52611) HM
Preserved here for future generations is the original bell installed in the County Court House erected on this public square in 1899. This bell may have existed in the earlier court houses erected here in 1836 and 1878 both of which were destroyed . . . — — Map (db m74382) HM
On South Church Street (SR 13) at Fort Hill Road on South Church Street (SR 13).
Five hundred yards north is a Federal Civil War earthen fort constructed by the 12th and 13th U.S. Colored Infantry to protect the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad. The 1st Kansas Artillery was stationed there. The railroad from Johnsonville to . . . — — Map (db m74384) HM
Near Fort Hill Road, 0.2 miles South Church Street (Tennessee Route 13), on the right when traveling east.
The earthen fort in front of you, known as Fort Hill, was the headquarters of the 13th U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), led by Col. John A. Hottenstein, from the fall of 1863 to the end of the war. The fort defended the army-operated railroad that ran . . . — — Map (db m82963) HM
On Fort Hill Road north of Hillood Drive, on the left.
Building a Fort
Specialized units, called pioneers, were used to construct the fort. They first cleared the land to prepare for construction. Following instructions of engineer officers, these soldiers used a variety of construction . . . — — Map (db m183611) HM
On North Church Street (Tennessee Route 13) at West Duffle Street, on the right when traveling south on North Church Street.
From its opening in 1939, the Dixteland was Waverly's most famous hostelry and dining establishment. Duncan Hines, a noted travel-guide author, recommended Hotel Dixieland in his books, quoting its slogan, “Where hospitality is religion and chicken . . . — — Map (db m192697) HM
Established October 19, 1809; Named in honor of Parry W. Humphreys, Judge, Superior Court of Law and Equity, 1807-09; Circuit Judge, Fifth District, Law and Equity, 1809-12 and 1818-36. Member of Congress, 1813-1815. — — Map (db m74380) HM
On East Court Square (Tennessee Route 13) at West Main Street, on the right when traveling south on East Court Square.
[Center]
Dedicated in grateful tribute
to the honor and sacrifice
of those citizens of
Humphreys County who
gave their lives
in service to their country
December 7, 1976
[Left wing]
World War I
Allison, Joseph P. . . . — — Map (db m192700) WM
On Richland Avenue (Tennessee Route 13) at Porch Reed Road, on the right when traveling south on Richland Avenue.
In 1915, the Humphreys County Board of Education acquired five acres of land, including this site, from the City of Waverly to construct a grammar school for African Americans. Waverly Colored Elementary School was re-named Porch-Reed School in . . . — — Map (db m176892) HM
On South Church Street (Tennessee Route 13) at West Main Street, on the right when traveling south on South Church Street.
Six miles northwest, where Dry Creek enters the Tennessee River, this town was first settled from 1800 to 1805. In 1812, it became the county seat of Humphreys County, with the first court meeting in the home of Samuel Parker on Trace Creek. The . . . — — Map (db m52587) HM
Near Fort Hill Road, 0.2 miles east of South Church Street (Tennessee Route 13).
In 1922 Archibald D. Butterfield bought this
hilltop land and built an eighteen-room Colonial
Revival mansion, and transformed the adjacent
Civil War fort into a rustic garden. Butterfield
died in 1926, and a series of occupants have
owned the . . . — — Map (db m205487) HM
On North Church Street (Tennessee Route 13) at East Wyly Street, on the right when traveling north on North Church Street.
Waverly attorney Hugh McAdoo built the
McAdoo House built circa 1878. At the time
he served as Speaker of the Tennessee State
Senate, having first been elected in 1877,
immediately after having served four years in
the House of Representatives. . . . — — Map (db m205485) HM
On East Railroad Avenue, 0.1 miles west of Richland Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
February 24, 1978 at 2:55 p.m., two days after the derailment of twenty-four cars of the L&N railroad, a tanker containing 20,000 gallons of propane gas exploded. The resulting destruction of homes and businesses seems insignificant when measured . . . — — Map (db m156579) HM
On East Railroad Street just west of Richland Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
On February 24, 1978, two days after a Louisville and Nashville train wrecked on this site, workmen were cleaning up when 22,000 pounds of liquid propane fuel from a derailed tanker car ignited and caused a massive explosion. The blast and resulting . . . — — Map (db m156578) HM
Near Fort Hill Road, 0.2 miles east of South Church Street (Tennessee Route 13), on the right when traveling east.
Fort Waverly was built by Union troops between 1863 and 1864. It protected a newly completed railroad line that connected the important Union supply depot on the Tennessee River in Johnsonville with Federally held Nashville. Confederate guerillas . . . — — Map (db m68920) HM