Category: Stories of the Delta
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Coming of the Railroad to Tunica
The WPA records about Tunica County contain a great deal of information. One of the stories I found in the three boxes of papers and interviews deals with the coming of the railroad to Tunica County. Here is the story typed word for word: The first railroad to actually operate in Tunica County was the…
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John Booth (Dean family of Claiborne County, MS)
Claiborne County is located in Southwestern Mississippi below Vicksburg and is included in an area referred to as the Natchez District. The Natchez District was one of the first settled regions of Mississippi and there are a number of old cemeteries located there. My Grand father’s family moved from Claiborne County around 1915 to the…
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Thompson-Moore-Hornor House
The saga of the Thompson-Moore-Hornor House is not just about a house or family, it is the story of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas. Three names can be associated with this house. Those names are Thompson, Moore, and Hornor. From the time it was constructed, the house witnessed the growth, destruction, expansion, and change that has…
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Dark Day in Lula: 1908
“Not all history is positive. Not all history is negative. We cannot just focus on the history we like, but must focus on all history to truly learn about the past.” Cliff Dean, 2019 Through the years, I’ve repeated that comment or sentences like it a great deal. We must sometimes focus on the dark parts…
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Legend of Johnnie Keyhole
As a child, I grew up listening to my Grandparents tell me the story of Johnnie Keyhole. Remember a legend is just a story that is passed down from one generation to the next so this story became the Legend of Johnnie Keyhole. Johnnie Keyhole and his wife lived out from Sledge in the late…
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Merci Train Car
The Merci Train was a train of 49 French railroad box cars filled with thousands of gifts to show appreciation to the people of the United States. In 1948, American citizens had donated more than 700 box cars of relief goods for France after World War II. The Merci Train arrived in New York Harbor…
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Mask v. LNO & Texas Railroad
On March 2, 1885, Hamilton T. Mask purchased a ticket at Memphis from the Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railroad Company to Lula which was a regular station on the line. He took passage on the first train to Lula with J.G. Haynes. Both Mask and Haynes were farmers in Coahoma County. Mask had…
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Dr. Johnson’s Home
Dr. and Miss Hal Glenn Johnson of Dundee built their home in the Old English rambling type architecture. It was built of Klinker brick and is copied form an Old English home in England. It had hand hewn timbers in the sun parlor and entrance that led to the living room. The home was beautiful…
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Uncle Henrys
In 1926, the Clarksdale Elks Club built a large two story lodge on Moon Lake. There were rooms for people to stay on the second floor and a kitchen and eating place on the first floor. The club was built on the Yazoo Pass and faced Moon Lake. Members would come up on the weekend…
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Lula Rich School Annual 1941
Lula Rich School had a long and rich history. Children from Lula, Rich, northern Coahoma county, and southern Tunica County attended it. This annual is special in that it was on the verge of World War II. Many of the young men who are pictured in the school annual would serve in that conflict.
My Delta World 