On Bobo-New Africa Road west of West Bobo Road, on the right when traveling west.
Little Junior Parker, one of the most outstanding blues singers of the 1950s and ‘60s, was born on a plantation near Bobo on March 27, 1932. As a youngster Parker moved with his mother to West Memphis, and he recorded his first hit, “Feelin’ Good,” . . . — — Map (db m174029) HM
On Martin Luther King Boulevard at Ashton Alley, on the right when traveling west on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Front
Aaron Henry (1922-1997), Clarksdale pharmacist, was a major early grassroots activist in the civil rights movement. As local NAACP president, he led the early 1960s Clarksdale boycott campaign, during which he was arrested and . . . — — Map (db m170477) HM
On Sunflower Avenue at Martin Luther King Boulevard, on the left when traveling north on Sunflower Avenue.
Front
The Clarksdale area is famed for its many legendary blues artists who achieved their greatest success after moving away, such as Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, and John Lee Hooker. But there were world-renowned musicians who . . . — — Map (db m90061) HM
On Delta Avenue at 1st Street, on the right when traveling north on Delta Avenue.
In 1909 steel magnate Andrew Carnegie was contacted by local women's club member Liliian Waddell about sponsoring a public library. In 1911 the Carnegie Foundation gave $10,000 to the city of Clarksdale to build and equip a public library, with the . . . — — Map (db m89927) HM
On Desoto Avenue (U.S. 49E) at North State Street (U.S. 61), on the right when traveling north on Desoto Avenue.
County seat of Coahoma County, was founded
in 1869 by John Clark, for whom the town was
named. Situated in one of the most fertile
regions of the world, it has grown into one
of the leading cities of the Yazoo Mississippi
Delta. It . . . — — Map (db m89749) HM
On Sunflower Avenue at 1st Street, on the right when traveling south on Sunflower Avenue.
Founded 1868 at crossing of Indian trails and on possible route of De Soto's expedition. Chartered 1882. Coahoma co-county seat, 1892; sole seat since 1936. Home of Gov. Earl Leroy Brewer. — — Map (db m89925) HM
Front
The Delta Blues Museum, the world's first museum devoted to blues, was founded on January 31, 1979, by Sid Graves, director of Clarksdale's Carnegie Public Library. Originally housed in a room of the Myrtle Hall Elementary . . . — — Map (db m90046) HM
On Martin Luther King Boulevard at Ashton Alley, on the right when traveling west on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Born near Clarksdale, Aaron Henry was an
American civil rights leader, politician, and
head of the Mississippi branch of the NAACP.
He was one of the founders of the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party, which tried to
seat their . . . — — Map (db m170480) HM
On Martin Luther King Boulevard, 0.1 miles west of Yahoo Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
In the late 1880s a group of African Americans established the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church near the Sunflower River, under the leadership of their first pastor Minister A. O. Gaston. The church would be moved to this location in 1918, . . . — — Map (db m90063) HM
On West 2nd Street at Riverside Avenue, on the right when traveling east on West 2nd Street.
Harvey Brown Heidelberg was born in Shubuta, Mississippi, on March 7, 1883. Educated in the Shubuta school system and at Southern University in Greensboro, Alabama, Millsaps College in Jackson, and the University of Michigan, he began his career in . . . — — Map (db m89928) HM
On Yazoo Avenue at Martin Luther King Boulevard, on the right when traveling north on Yazoo Avenue.
Established in 1880 as Haven Memorial and
renamed Haven UMC in 1968, the church was
completed in 1923. Clarksdale's first low-income daycare was opened here in 1965
by Lilian Johnson. In 1958, Rev. Theodore
Trammel and Dr. Aaron Henry hosted . . . — — Map (db m174126) HM
On Delta Avenue north of Sunflower Avenue, on the right when traveling north.
The Hicks-Tarzi Memorial Grotto was built in the
early 1950s out of natural stone from Alabama
and recreates the Grotto of Lourdes, France.
The statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and
Bernadette Soubirous were given in memory
of Johnny Tarzi and . . . — — Map (db m235164) HM
On 3rd Street at Yahoo Avenue, on the left when traveling east on 3rd Street.
Front
Rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm & blues pioneer Ike Turner began his career playing blues and boogie woogie piano in Clarksdale. Turner was born less than a mile south-west of this site, at 304 Washington Avenue in the Riverton . . . — — Map (db m90041) HM
Built in 1916, this Italian style villa was designed by Memphis
architect Bayard Cairnes and was the home of local attorney J.W.
Cutrer and his wife Blanche Clark Cutrer, daughter of Clarksdale
founder John Clark. Named Belvoir by the Cutrer . . . — — Map (db m89922) HM
On Delta Avenue north of East 2nd Street, on the right when traveling north.
Born in Jackson in 1944, Richard Ford won critical acclaim with his
first two novels, A Piece of My Heart (1976), and The Ultimate Good Luck
(1981). While he and his wife, Kristina Ford, lived in rural
Coahoma County, Ford wrote The . . . — — Map (db m235140) HM
On Sunflower Avenue, 0.2 miles south of Martin Luther King Boulevard, on the right when traveling south.
Front
Since 1944 the Riverside Hotel has provided lodging for traveling musicians. It was home to some, including Sonny Boy Williamson II, Ike Turner, and Robert Nighthawk. Before that, the building served African Americans of the . . . — — Map (db m90062) HM
On Issaquena Avenue, 0.1 miles north of Martin Luther King Boulevard, on the right when traveling south.
Front
The golden voice of Sam Cooke thrilled and enchanted millions of listeners on the hit recordings “You Send Me,” “Shake,” “A Change is Gonna Come,” “Chain Gang,” and many more. . . . — — Map (db m90050) HM
Front
The Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival, a preeminent showcase for homegrown Mississippi talent, began in 1988 as a promotion to draw area shoppers to downtown Clarksdale. The festival's dedication to presenting authentic . . . — — Map (db m90047) HM
On Delta Avenue, 0.1 miles north of 1st Street, on the right when traveling south.
Originally named Kehilath Jacob, Clarksdale’s first synagogue was
built here in 1910. In celebration of the new temple, a Torah was
shipped from New York City and carried to the temple by members of
the congregation. In 1929, a larger temple was . . . — — Map (db m89923) HM
On Clark Street at Yazoo Avenue, on the left when traveling east on Clark Street.
Williams famously remarked that "home is where you hang your childhood", and for the world renowned playwright, that place was the Mississippi Delta, specifically Clarksdale, where he set some of his greatest dramas, including Summer and . . . — — Map (db m154862) HM
On Martin Luther King Boulevard at Harrison Avenue, on the right when traveling east on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Front
This neighborhood, known since the turn of the twentieth century as the New World, was a breeding ground for ragtime, blues, and jazz music in Clarksdale's early days as a prosperous and adventurous new cotton town, when . . . — — Map (db m90060) HM
On Issaquena Avenue at Blues Alley, on the right when traveling south on Issaquena Avenue.
"Father of the Blues" composer and family lived at this site 1903-05. In
Clarksdale Handy was influenced by Delta blues which he collected
and later published as well as his own famous and influential music. — — Map (db m89929) HM
On Issaquena Avenue at Blues Alley, on the right when traveling south on Issaquena Avenue.
Front
One of Clarksdale's most talented and renowned blues musicians, Wade Walton (1923-2000) chose to pursue a career as a barber rather than as a professional entertainer. Walton never lost his love for blues, however, and often . . . — — Map (db m90049) HM
On Delta Avenue, 0.1 miles south of East 2nd Street, on the right when traveling south.
Front
WROX, Clarksdale’s first radio station, went on the air on June 5, 1944, from studios at 321 Delta Avenue. From 1945 until 1955 the station was headquartered here at 257 Delta. Legendary disc jockey Early “Soul Man” . . . — — Map (db m90033) HM
On Blues Highway (U.S. 49/61) at Farrell-Eagles Nest East, on the right when traveling north on Blues Highway.
General, US Senator and
State Governor Founder
of state levee system,
which opened Delta for
cultivation. His plantation home
"Eagle's Nest" is 3 ml. E. — — Map (db m235162) HM
On Coahoma-Rich Road, 0.9 miles south of U.S. 61, on the right when traveling south.
When first recorded, Salomon Mounds had three (possibly four) large platform mounds and as many as eight smaller mounds arranged around a central plaza. The smaller mounds have been plowed away, while one of the large mounds was destroyed in 1958 . . . — — Map (db m107621) HM
On U.S. 61, 0.3 miles south of Old Pumping Station Road, on the right when traveling north.
On February 3, 1863, Union forces blasted the Mississippi River levee to enable flotilla to use Moon Lake and the Yazoo Pass in a futile effort to reach Vicksburg by way of the Coldwater, Tallahatchie, and Yazoo rivers. Federal forces were stopped . . . — — Map (db m170401) HM
On U.S. 49 at State Route 1, on the right when traveling south on U.S. 49.
The Hernando de Soto expedition to explore and claim the Southeast for Spain crossed the Mississippi River on June 18, 1541, at a point in northwestern Mississippi between Sunflower Landing in Coahoma County to the south and Bass Landing in DeSoto . . . — — Map (db m107620) HM
On Moon Lake Road north of Moon Road, on the right when traveling north.
First built in 1926 by the Elks Club of
Clarksdale, this property was sold in
1933 to William Mhoon Wilkerson,
who developed it into a popular
tourist destination. At its height, the
Moon Lake Club property included a
restaurant, hotel-style . . . — — Map (db m235158) HM
On 2nd Street at Church Street, on the left when traveling north on 2nd Street.
Originally facing the river, the Robinson/Marinelli house bears the mark of shelling from the Union Navy. Built ca. 1850 by Mr. and Mrs. James Dardis Robinson, it is the oldest structure in Friars Point. According to local historians, the house . . . — — Map (db m170392) HM
On 2nd Street at Washington Street, on the left when traveling north on 2nd Street.
Side 1
Born in Friar’s Point as Harold Lloyd Jenkins, son of a ferryboat captain, Conway Twitty (1933-1993) first achieved stardom as a bluesy rockabilly singer. Beginning in the 1970s, he became one of country’s bestselling balladeers ever, with . . . — — Map (db m170382) HM
On 2nd Street at Webb Street, on the left when traveling north on 2nd Street.
Known originally as Farrar's Point, this town was incorporated in 1852. Its name was later changed to Friars Point to honor an early settler and legislator, Robert Friar. Coahoma county seat 1850-1930. — — Map (db m170390) HM
On 2nd Street at Church Street, on the left when traveling north on 2nd Street.
The Friars Point Methodist Church congregation was organized in 1836 under a nearby brush arbor. The original log church, on this site, was burned by Union troops during the Civil War. A second structure was destroyed by a tornado. The present . . . — — Map (db m170394) HM
On Rozell Street east of Sheriff Ridge Avenue, on the right when traveling east.
According to local tradition,
New Prospect M. B. Church was
established in the mid 1860s by
a former slave named Katherine
Armistead. New Prospect began as
Independence Church, in which
Methodists and Baptists shared
the sanctuary, each . . . — — Map (db m160395) HM
On 2nd Street north of Webb Street, on the right when traveling north.
Robert Nighthawk (1909-1967) was one of the foremost blues guitarists of his era. Although he rarely stayed long in one town, he called Friars Point home at various times from the 1920s to the 1960s. In a 1940 recording, he sang of “going back to . . . — — Map (db m160406) HM
On Commissary Circle at Hopson Road, on the left when traveling north on Commissary Circle.
Front
One of the major factors behind the “great migration” of African Americans from the South to northern cities was the mechanization of agriculture, which diminished the need for manual laborers. In 1944 the Hopson . . . — — Map (db m90029) HM
On State Highway 322 at U.S. 49, on the right when traveling west on State Highway 322.
On this site in 1944, the Hopson Planting Co. and International Harvester, revolutionized modern cotton farming by introducing the first commercially produced mechanical cotton picker. — — Map (db m89921) HM
On South Front Avenue at 2nd Street, on the left when traveling north on South Front Avenue.
Front
The Lula area has been home to legendary Mississippi blues performers Charley Patton, Son House, Frank Frost, and Sam Carr. Patton immortalized Lula in the lyrics of his recordings “Dry Well Blues” (1930) and . . . — — Map (db m107619) HM
On State Highway 6, 0.5 miles east of Crum Road, on the right when traveling east.
The Dunn site consists of three earthen mounds. Mound A is oval in shape and just over sixteen feet in height. Mounds B and C have ben diminished by erosion and are less than three feeet in height. Archaeological excavations in 2013 indicate that . . . — — Map (db m154827) HM
On Park Street south of Hopson Street, on the right when traveling south.
The 1951 classic Rocket “88” by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats has often been cited as the first rock ’n’ roll record. Waxed at Sam Phillips’ Memphis Recording Service, it was also the first No. 1 rhythm & blues hit for Chicago-based Chess . . . — — Map (db m174032) HM
On Oakhurst Stovall Road at Farrell-Eagles Nest West, on the right when traveling south on Oakhurst Stovall Road.
Front
Muddy Waters lived most of his first thirty years in a house on this site, part of the Stovall Plantation. In 1996 the restored house was put on display at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale. Muddy Waters was first recorded here . . . — — Map (db m160400) HM
