The precise origins of the blues are lost to time, but one of the primal centers for the music in Mississippi was Dockery Farms. For nearly three decades the plantation was intermittently the home of Charley Patton (c. 1891–1934), the most important . . . — — Map (db m174017) HM
Established by Will Dockery in 1895 and operated 1937-1982 by Joe Rice Dockery. Included a post office, commissary, and cotton gin. The plantation once employed Charley Patton, a legendary blues musician, who inspired such greats as Muddy Waters, . . . — — Map (db m160394) HM
Incorporated on September 23, 1899, at the former site of the Yazoo Delta Railroad and depot. The railroad has been immortalized in the song "The Yellow Dog Blues", composed by W.C. Handy. This park dedicated in May, 1988. — — Map (db m175285) HM
Roebuck "Pops" Staples, who lived on the Dockery plantation near Drew in the 1920s and '30s, was the founder of the Staple Singers, one of America's foremost singing groups. The group included his children Cleotha and Pervis Staples, who were born . . . — — Map (db m174057) HM
The most important figure in the pioneering era of Delta blues, Charley Patton (1891-1934), helped define not only the musical genre but also the image and lifestyle of the rambling Mississippi bluesman. He roamed the Delta using Dockery as his most . . . — — Map (db m170525) HM
Built in 1911, this building served as a
commissary, a post office, a voting precinct,
and a medical office for the Heathman Plantation.
Established in 1871 by J.M. Heathman, the
property was on the site of an earlier plantation
known as . . . — — Map (db m170315) HM
Albert King (1923-1992), who was billed as "King of the Blues Guitar," was famed for his powerful string-bending style as well as for his soulful, smoky vocals. King often said he was born in Indianola and was a half-brother of B. B. King, . . . — — Map (db m77319) HM
Front
Church Street catered to every need of the African American community during the segregation era, when most area residents worked in the cotton fields during the week and came to town on weekends. Church Street (also designated . . . — — Map (db m77308) HM
Front
Club Ebony, one of the South’s most important African American nightclubs, was built just after the end of World War II by Indianola entrepreneur Johnny Jones (1907-1950). Under Jones and successive owners, the club showcased Ray . . . — — Map (db m77307) HM
Craig Claiborne (1920-2000) was born
in Sunflower, Mississippi. In 1924 his
family moved to Indianola, where his
mother, Kathleen, ran a boarding house.
After studying hotel and restaurant
management in Switzerland, he became the
first male . . . — — Map (db m170314) HM
On the steps of the Sunflower County Courthouse, Fannie Lou Hamer, a former cotton picker, sharecropper, and voting and civil rights activist stood in protest of voter suppression in the state of Mississippi throughout the United States.
On . . . — — Map (db m157674) HM
A building at this site serving as a Freedom School and headquarters for Civil Rights workers was firebombed and destroyed on March 5, 1965. The building, originally a Baptist school, had been donated to the Council of Federated Organizations . . . — — Map (db m77314) HM
A store located at this site was owned and operated until 1988 by Oscar and Alice Giles, who were active in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the local Civil Rights movement. The store was firebombed on May 1, 1965, and heavily . . . — — Map (db m77315) HM
At this site was the home of Irene Magruder (1898-1973), who was the first African American in Indianola to open her home to Civil Rights workers during Freedom Summer of 1964. Her efforts greatly influenced the Civil Rights movement in . . . — — Map (db m77317) HM
It was on this corner, when B.B. was just a young man of 17, that locals first heard the musician destined to become the "King of the Blues".
On June 6, 1980, B.B. King placed his handprints and signature in the walk. — — Map (db m77321) HM
On this site was the home of Wayne and Minnie Cox. In 1888, Wayne Cox was elected alderman, the first African American to hold that post in Indianola. Appointed by President Benjamin Harrison in 1891, Minnie Cox is the nation's first known African . . . — — Map (db m77322) HM
Named by Mrs. W. McInnis, 1899. Incorp. a village, March 5, 1904. Proclaimed a town, July 31, 1914. Tornado of February 21, 1971, affected 79 percent of buildings and left 214 casualties. — — Map (db m77159) HM
Front
Little Milton Campbell, one of the world’s leading performers of blues and soul music for several decades, was born on the George Bowles plantation about two miles southwest of this site on September 7, 1933. Acclaimed as both a . . . — — Map (db m77276) HM
W. C. Handy, "The Father of the Blues," immortalized the crossing of the Southern Railway and the Yazoo Delta ("Yellow Dog") Railroad at Moorhead in his 1914 song "Yellow Dog Rag," better known under its later title, "Yellow Dog Blues." Handy wrote . . . — — Map (db m170520) HM
At the start of the twentieth century, the rail crossing once located nearby was an important land transportation point. The junction of the Southern Railroad and the Yazoo Delta Railroad (the “Yellow Dog”) was established in 1897. . . . — — Map (db m77207) HM
John Bright “Johnny” Russell (1940-2001) was born and raised in Moorhead and went on to become a star of the Grand Ole Opry and a popular country recording artist, with such hits as “Catfish John” and “Rednecks, . . . — — Map (db m77168) HM
The Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman has inspired many songs, including “Parchman Farm Blues” by singer-guitarist Booker “Bukka” White, who was once an inmate here, and “Parchman Farm” by jazz singer-pianist Mose Allison. Folklorists from . . . — — Map (db m174051) HM
Front
For many decades this block of Front Street,
known locally as “Greasy Street," was the
center of commercial activity for African
Americans in the Ruleville area. On Saturday
nights Greasy Street was packed with . . . — — Map (db m160403) HM
In 1962 at age 44, Hamer tried to register to
vote; the next day she was fired from her job on
the plantation east of here. She became a civil
rights activist, opening her Ruleville home to
Freedom Summer workers and other activists.
She earned . . . — — Map (db m174198) HM
1962 Joined the Student Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC). And became a field secretary.
1963 Severely beaten while in Winona, Mississippi
when she and other civil rights workers were
returning from a SCLC citizenship . . . — — Map (db m174449) HM
Front
Born James A. Lane at Dougherty Bayou just
west of Ruleville, guitarist and vocalist Jimmy
Rogers (1924-1997) played a pioneering role in
the post-World War II Chicago blues scene. A
member of Muddy Waters first band in . . . — — Map (db m160405) HM
Built ca. 1930, the Ruleville
Depot served as an Illinois Central
Gulf RR depot until 1978. The
railroad, built in 1897 by Major
C. H. Pond and originally called
the Yazoo Delta RR, first ran from
Moorhead to Ruleville. With both
passenger . . . — — Map (db m173995) HM
The historic William Chapel Missionary Baptist
Church, established in 1922, was a longtime
meeting place for civil rights activists before
the organization of the modern civil rights
movement. In 1962 the Reverend J. D. Story was
the pastor . . . — — Map (db m174174) HM
