On Old Highway 16 at Short Road, on the left when traveling west on Old Highway 16.
Yazoo County seat, 1829-50. Settled by Win. Y. Gadberry, 1828, first court being held in his log home. Chartered, 1836. Nearby Cedar Grove Plantation was home of Col. John Sharp & of famed Sen. John Sharp Williams. — — Map (db m213933) HM
On State Highway 16, 1.1 miles east of State Highway 433, on the right when traveling south.
In June 1966 a march for voting rights, en route from Yazoo City to Jackson, camped here while passing through Benton. The marchers, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were provided food and water by members of the Oak Grove A.M.E. Church and by . . . — — Map (db m213932) HM
On State Highway 433 at Rosehill Road, on the left when traveling east on State Highway 433.
Front
Jack Owens became one of Mississippi's most venerated blues artists in the 1980s and ‘90s after spending most of his life as a farmer in Yazoo County. Born November 17, 1904, or 1906 according to some sources, Owens did not . . . — — Map (db m77275) HM
On Wilson Street (State Highway 433) at U.S. 49, on the right when traveling east on Wilson Street.
Front
The haunting quality of Nehemiah “Skip” James’s music earned him a reputation as one of the great early Mississippi bluesmen. James (1902-1969) grew up at the Woodbine Plantation and as a youth learned to play both . . . — — Map (db m77272) HM
On East Railroad Avenue at Cannon Avenue (Mississippi Highway 433), on the left when traveling south on East Railroad Avenue.
Front
The Blue Front Café opened in 1948 under the ownership of Carey and Mary Holmes, an African American couple from Bentonia. In its heyday the Blue Front was famed for its buffalo fish, blues, and moonshine whiskey. One of the . . . — — Map (db m77274) HM
On U.S. 49 at Dover Road, on the right when traveling north on U.S. 49.
Discovered 5 miles west of here on Sept. 5, 1939, Tinsley was the first oil field east of the Mississippi River in the Gulf Coast region. During first 50 years, 220,000,000 barrels of oil were produced. — — Map (db m121105) HM
On State Highway 433 at Mechanicsburg Road, on the right when traveling east on State Highway 433.
On May 24, 1863, Confederate Col. Wirt Adams, with his Mississippi Cav. Regiment and the 20th Mississippi Inf. (Mounted), ambushed Union Col. Amory Johnson's cavalry brigade at Mechanicsburg. This action prevented the Federals from burning Way's . . . — — Map (db m213931) HM
On West Broadway Street (State Highway 149) 0.1 miles east of Haley Barbour Parkway (State Highway 3), on the right when traveling east.
Launched on July 14, 1862, from the Navy Yard in Yazoo City, the ironclad ram Arkansas commanded by Lt. Isaac N. Brown successfully engaged the combined Union fleets on the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers helping to end the naval siege of . . . — — Map (db m77226) HM
On North Main Street at East Powell Street, on the left when traveling south on North Main Street.
Built in 1900 and given to the Yazoo Library Association by Mrs. Ricks in memory of her husband, this example of Beaux Arts Classicism and continues to serve Yazoo City and County as a public library. — — Map (db m77225) HM
On East Broadway Street (State Highway 149) at North Main Street, on the right when traveling west on East Broadway Street.
This bank was formed in 1876 by Yazoo County businessmen to aid in the recovery of the area's cotton planters after the Civil War. It is the oldest surviving financial institution in Yazoo County. — — Map (db m77224) HM
On South Monroe Street, 0.1 miles south of East Jefferson Street, on the right when traveling south.
Organized in 1868, Bethel is the oldest African American congregation in Yazoo City. After affiliating with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the congregation moved to this site in 1890. Designed by J.S. King, Bethel A.M.E. is one of the . . . — — Map (db m77232) HM
On South Industrial Parkway (State Highway 3) 0.5 miles north of Levee Road, on the right when traveling north.
Established in 1862, the yard contained five saw and planing mills, machine shop, and carpenter and blacksmith shops. The ironclad ram Arkansas was launched here on July 14, 1862. Burned by direction of Lt. Isaac Brown, C.S.N., the yard . . . — — Map (db m77227) HM
On Debbie Street, 0.1 miles south of East 10th Street, on the right when traveling south.
Front
Arnold Dwight “Gatemouth” Moore was one of America’s most popular blues singers in the 1940s before becoming a renowned religious leader, radio announcer, and gospel singer. He served as pastor of several churches in . . . — — Map (db m77260) HM
On Jerry Clower Boulevard (U.S. 49E) 0.1 miles north of Haley Barbour Parkway, on the right when traveling north.
Organized in 1948, the Mississippi Chemical Corporation was the nation's first farmer-owned nitrogen fertilizer plant. Under the leadership of Owen Cooper, director of the Farm Bureau Federation and a well-known humanitarian, the company quickly . . . — — Map (db m213944) HM
On Lincoln Street at East Broadway Street (Mississippi Highway 149), on the left when traveling south on Lincoln Street.
On March 5, 1864, Union Maj. George McKee and the 11th Illinois Infantry Regiment, occupying this defensive position, were attacked by Confederate cavalry forces commanded by Gen. Lawrence "Sul" Ross and Gen. Robert V. Richardson. During the battle, . . . — — Map (db m77237) HM
On Concord Church Road, 0.4 miles north of Addison Road, on the right when traveling north.
On December 1, 1864, Confederate forces under Col. John Griffith, including the 11th and 17th Arkansas Mounted Infantry and Wood's Cavalry Regiment, skirmished with a detachment of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry, commanded by Maj. Nicholas H. Dale, . . . — — Map (db m77142) HM
On East Powell Street at Barksdale Street, on the right when traveling west on East Powell Street.
Established by the School Sisters of St. Francis of Milwaukee and Father Peter DeBoer, SVD, to minister to the African American children of Yazoo City, the school opened in September 1940 with 80 children enrolled. The high school held its first and . . . — — Map (db m77256) HM
On South Monroe Street at Perry Street, on the right when traveling south on South Monroe Street.
This home was built in stages 1866-1910 by John and Mary Oakes, free blacks who had moved to Yazoo City by the 1850s, and by their first son, Augustus J. Oakes, an educator and builder, who had established the Oakes Lumber Yard by 1900. The Oakes . . . — — Map (db m77230) HM
On West Broadway Street (State Highway 149) at North Water Street, on the right when traveling west on West Broadway Street.
Front
Tommy McClennan (c. 1905-1961) was one of America's most successful down-home blues recording artists during the period when he recorded 20 singles for the Bluebird label (1939-1942). Among McClennan's most notable numbers were . . . — — Map (db m77258) HM
On East Broadway Street (State Highway 149) at Custer Street, on the right when traveling west on East Broadway Street.
Town Creek, one of Yazoo City's earliest residential areas, is located within the Town Center National Register Historic District, noted for the uniformly constructed buildings in the business district. — — Map (db m77242) HM
On North Main Street, 0.1 miles East Powell Street, on the left when traveling south.
Born in Jackson in 1934, Willie Morris spent a magical Yazoo boyhood playing pranks and baseball with his dog and his friends or playing "Taps" on his trumpet for military funerals. His writing talent was evident early on in pieces he wrote for the . . . — — Map (db m213946) HM
On North Main Street at North Washington Street, on the left when traveling south on North Main Street.
1861 — 1865
As at Thermopylae, the greater
glory was to the vanquished
———
This monument is erected to
perpetuate the memory of the
noble courage, constancy and
self sacrificing devotion of the
women of . . . — — Map (db m77476) WM
On East Broadway Street (State Highway 16) at North Washington Street, on the left when traveling east on East Broadway Street.
Dedicated to Yazoo County Members of the Armed Forces Who Gave Their Lives While Serving During Times of War These Shall Never Be Forgotten.
Left Panel
World War I
April 6, 1917 - November 11, 1918
Henry O. Harris • Roy Lammons . . . — — Map (db m239542) WM
On Mike Espy Drive at North Monroe Street, on the right when traveling west on Mike Espy Drive.
Early in 1864, a Union task force under the command of Col. James H. Coates occupied Yazoo City. The garrison included African Americans troops of the 1st Mississippi Cav. and 8th Louisiana Inf. (African Descent.) Attacked by Confederates on . . . — — Map (db m77235) HM