A HERITAGE AREA IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI?
Potential Boundaries
Nationally-Significant History
Abundant Resources
Our Rural Character--A Major Asset
Major Obstacles

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Northeast Mississippi can be defined as a cohesive region in a number of significant respects--in terms of its history, geology, economy, ecology, and, perhaps most significantly, in terms of its shared culture. Further, the region possesses a tremendously rich collective historical, cultural, and natural heritage. But does it constitute a heritage area? We would argue, Absolutely Yes.

Potential Boundaries
In North Mississippi lie the southernmost foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. This area, generally referred to as the Hills region, is still largely rural in character, with broad expanses of pine forest and gently rolling hills. As defined by the Mississippi Division of Tourism, the Hills region includes the following major communities: Batesville, Corinth, Grenada, Hernando, Holly Springs, New Albany, Olive Branch, Oxford, Sardis, Southhaven, and Tupelo--an area with significant overlap with what people generally think of as "Northeast Mississippi".

For our purposes, however, we will use Highways 55 and 82, and the MS-TN and MS-AL state lines, to define the initial area of focus for the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area. Counties and communities included in the initial area of focus:

Counties: Alcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Clay, Desoto, Grenada, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Lowndes, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union, Webster and Yalobusha.

Communities: (not an exhaustive listing) Aberdeen, Amory, Ashland, Batesville, Blue Mountain, Booneville, Bruce, Coffeeville, Columbus, Corinth, Eupora, Fulton, Grenada, Hernando, Holly Springs, Iuka, New Albany, Okolona, Oxford, Pontotoc, Ripley, Senatobia, Starkville, Tishomingo, Tupelo, Water Valley, West Point, Winona, and others.

The official boundaries of the heritage area will be determined over time, and in large measure by objective criteria that will be developed during the course of the heritage-area planning process. Other factors that will determine which counties and communities are ultimately a part of the heritage area include the level of community support and citizen engagement in a given town, as well as the level of financial commitment.


Nationally-Significant History
The Mississippi Hills have produced a wide range of historical memories that are etched into the national consciousness. The struggle against slavery and for Civil Rights produced here events of significance to the entire country, with the establishment in Corinth of the Contraband Camp (for former slaves) and the scenes surrounding the enrollment of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi.

The region has produced literary and musical icons whose contributions remain as vital components of the American cultural landscape. It is home to historic educational institutions for women and African Americans (Blue Mountain College, Mississippi University for Women, and Rust College) whose continued existence speaks to the critical role they have played--and still play--in educating the region's citizens. Its lands are graced by one of the most historic and travelled scenic roadways in America, the Natchez Trace Parkway, and the Chickasaw Nation once encompassed its territory.

Further, the Mississippi Hills have been home to such nationally-significant historical figures and cultural icons as: King of Rock'n'Roll Elvis Presley, nobel-laureate William Faulkner, railroader Casey Jones, barnstormer Roscoe Turner, First Lady of Country Music Tammy Wynette, Civil War cavalryman Nathan Bedford Forrest, legendary bluesman Howlin' Wolf, playwright Tennessee Williams, and civil-rights advocate Ida B. Wells--and to other individuals of historical interest, such as Confederate Brigadier General M.P. Lowrey, founder of historic Blue Mountain College and called "the bravest man in the Confederate Army" by General Patrick Clebourne; opera singer Ruby Elzy, who starred in the original Broadway production of "Porgy and Bess"; L.Q.C. Lamar, a U.S. Congressman, U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Secretary of the Interior; Colonel W.C. Falkner, William Faulkner's great grandfather; and Paul J. Rainey, eccentric millionaire playboy big-game hunter and the first person to make "moving pictures" of wildlife in Africa.


Abundant Resources
The Mississippi Hills also possess an abundance of natural resources and a wealth of historic small towns. The region's natural/environmental heritage includes: Holly Springs National Forest, Tishomingo State Park, J.P. Coleman State Park, Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, Upper Sardis Wildlife Management Area, Hell Creek W.M.A., John W. Kyle State Park, Sardis Lake, Enid Lake, Grenada Lake, and others.

Similarly, the region is dotted with a series of intruiging small towns which have retained much of their historic character, containing historic town centers, neighborhoods, and architecture: Columbus (home of Tennessee Williams), Corinth (home of Roscoe Turner), Holly Springs (home of Ida B. Wells), New Albany (birthplace of William Faulkner), Oxford (home to William Faulkner and Rowan Oak, and to L.Q.C. Lamar), Pontotoc (home of Ruby Elzy), Tupelo (birthplace of Elvis Presley), and others.


Our Rural Character--A Major Asset
Compared to numerous areas of the nation that have been overwhelmed by generic development, the region is in an advantageous position. Many of its heritage resources are intact and its communities and countryside are relatively free of sprawl. Although a legacy of poverty has for decades retarded aggressive growth within the region, it is now this lack of development that has become one of the region's greatest assets.

Particularly when considered in context of such limited development, the Mississippi Hill's rich heritage provides the communities of the region with a solid foundation upon which to base an aggressive program of tourism-focused infrastructural investment and resource enhancement.


Major Obstacles
Unfortunately, many of the region's resources are threatened in some respect by either a lack of funding, uncontrolled development, neglect, or a combination thereof. The region's communities, in general, have lacked the financial and technical means to provide adequate protection for this range of resources. The collective cultural, historic and natural heritage of the region possesses incredible potential for economic diversification purposes, but there exist considerable obstacles to its effective conservation and development. There is so much heritage that needs to be protected, enhanced, and promoted, and these are all expensive tasks. How do we conserve our heritage on a regional scale? How do we develop it in an appropriate fashion to facilitate broad economic growth?

Through the creation of the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area.