History in Mississippi

Mississippi Blues Trail – Nelson Street Trail Marker Location: Greenville Marker Front: Nelson Street was once the epicenter of African American business and entertainment in the Delta. Nightclubs, cafes, churches, groceries, fish markets, barbershops, laundries, record shops, and other enterprises did […]

A major source of income for blues artists in the first half of the 20th century was tips. This corner, formerly the intersection of Highways 10 and 61, was a profitable spot. […]

Jimmie Rodgers is widely known as the “father of country music,” but blues was a prominent element of his music. […]

Many black musicians stayed at the Summers Hotel, established by W.J. Summers. In 1966, Summers opened a club in the hotel basement that he called the Subway Lounge. […]

Willie Dixon, often called “the poet laureate of the blues,” was born in Vicksburg on July 1, 1915. […]

Hickory Street, known locally as “The Hollow,” was a hub of social life, commerce, and entertainment for the African American community of central Mississippi for several decades. […]

The Blue Front Café opened in 1948 under the ownership of Carey and Mary Holmes. In its heyday, the Blue Front was famed for its buffalo fish, blues, and moonshine whiskey. […]

Trumpet Records was the first record company in Mississippi to achieve national stature through its distribution, sales, radio airplay, and promotion. […]

The blues form reached both artistic and emotional peaks in the works of Otis Rush, who was born south of Philadelphia in Neshoba County in 1935. […]