A Place called Woodville

My husband and I recently traveled to South Louisiana, and stopped a couple of places along the way. Woodville, Mississippi was one of those places. Woodville is the county seat of Wilkinson County, Mississippi, and is one of the oldest towns in the state. It was incorporated in 1811, after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and not long before Mississippi's admission to the United States in 1817.    Woodville lies just to the north of the Mississippi-Louisiana border in the southwest corner of the state, along the historic corridor between Natchez, Mississippi, 34 miles to the north, and St. Francisville, Louisiana, 24 miles to the south.                                 As the sign indicates, Woodville's "claim to fame" is that it was Jefferson Davis' boyhood home. I would have liked to have visited the Davis plantation, Rosemont, but we had other places to go and time was short. Woodville was also home to the first railroad in Mississippi, begun by Edward McGehee in 1831.  I will be posting more about Mr. McGehee soon, whose story I found very interesting. I did a little research about Woodville before we left home, and there were a few landmarks in town that I wanted to see.  Our first stop was downtown where I captured some pictures of the Wilkinson County Courthouse. Surrounded by huge old live oak trees, the picturesque courthouse is the focal point of the downtown historic district.  It is the third courthouse located on the site, and was built in 1903. The magnificent oak shown in the picture below is called "the Jefferson Davis Oak," and was there when the courthouse square was laid out 200 years ago [circa 1775-1780].  Another landmark building in the downtown area is the classic federal-style former Branch Banking House of the State of Mississippi (ca. 1819).  The state's oldest existing bank building, it has been adapted as the African American Museum. The Woodville water tower is a very prominent landmark located in the center of the downtown area. We came across the old tower while wandering around some of the neighborhoods in Woodville ...   (I prefer the old one, don't you!  It has so much "character.") And speaking of "character," Woodville is home to some very pretty churches, which I enjoyed seeing and photographing.  I love the classic beauty of their simple clapboard exteriors.  St. Joseph's Catholic Church    This lovely house was across the street from St. Joseph's ...   I loved the sweet little swing hanging from the limb of the old oak tree.  I enjoyed our brief visit in Woodville, and would like to come back someday to spend more time capturing its "Small Town, America" ambience.  I hope you will join me next time as I take you down this pretty little dirt road on the outskirts of Woodville to visit a beautiful old family cemetery.

A Place Called Mendenhall

My husband has been blessed with an unbelievably fantastic recovery from his hip replacement surgery which was performed two weeks ago today, and I appreciate all the prayers and well wishes sent on his behalf. He had to go to Mendenhall, Mississippi, yesterday on business, and I went along for the ride. Mendenhall is located off of US Highway 49, in Simpson County, about 25 miles south of Jackson, and an hour and a half drive from Vicksburg. I had never really explored Mendenhall, so I took my cameras and while he was in his meeting, I "toured" the town. I love the welcome signs that line Main Street ... Although Mendenhall is the county seat of Simpson County, it is a small town, with a population of approximately 2,500 people, according to the 2009 census. Its business and historic districts center around Main Street, and the most prominent historical landmark in Mendenhall — the magnificent Simpson County Courthouse. Built in 1907, the courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was restored in 1987. The Courthouse was designed after the United States Capital by architect Andrew J. Byron, and has been designated one of the four most beautiful courthouses in the state of Mississippi. The brisk wind unfurled the flags for me, and I could hear them snapping in the wind as I captured these pictures. I love the acorn on top of the courthouse cupola, and upon researching its significance, I found that in the late 18th century, acorns were popular architectural decorations symbolizing the strength and potential of an oak tree. [I also uncovered some interesting stories about acorns which I may pursue for a future post.] A less prominent landmark in Mendenhall is what is left of the old movie theater called the Star Theatre ... Located on Main Street, the building boasted a one-screen auditorium, complete with balcony. It also featured a pool hall and three offices upstairs, one of which housed the city's Chamber of Commerce. The Star Theatre opened for business on November 9th, 1938, with the western, Born to the West, starring none other than John Wayne. The price of admission was 11 cents and a box of popcorn was a dime. During the late 1960s, the theater had problems with vandalism and closed, but in 1979, a newly remodeled Star Theater reopened and once more enjoyed great popularity. Unfortunately, competition from video arcades and cable TV forced its owner to close it some three years later. In 2000, the Star was repainted once more to be used as a location for the movie My Dog Skip. Heavy rains caused the roof to collapse in April of 2008, and, sadly, it is no longer in usable condition. Down the street from the theater is this flower shop, whose clever name caught my attention ... And speaking of shops — I hope you will join me for my next post when I take you inside this charming shop, which is located in an old grocery and grain store. The shop is graced with the original wood floors and several of the old wooden bins and cabinets remain, taking you back in time to the heydays of the grain store as it was in 1928. You won't want to miss this one!