A Quick 48 Hours: Tallahatchie County, Mississippi
Located right on the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta, Tallahatchie (meaning “rock river” in Choctaw) County was originally inhabited by the Choctaw Nation before they were forcibly removed by the US federal government to Oklahoma. The county is bisected by the Tallahatchie River and has two county seats, Charleston and Sumner.
In October of 2019, I interviewed Benjamin Saulsberry, Public Engagement and Museum Education Director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center (ETIC) in Sumner, Mississippi (pop. 310). If you’re unfamiliar with the Emmett TIll Center, here’s a brief introduction. From the ETIC website:
“Today, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center exists to tell the story of the Emmett Till tragedy and to point a way towards racial healing. Specifically, the center uses arts and storytelling to help process past pain and to imagine new ways of moving forward.”
I wholeheartedly encourage you to visit their website if you can’t make it to Sumner anytime soon, and support this work anyway you can. And when you do make it to Tallahatchie County, here are a few recommendations for your trip.
Places to Visit:
Emmett Till Interpretive Center - a wonderful community space located right on the Sumner square
Tallahatchie County Courthouse - the site where Emmett Till’s murder trial took place in 1955
Graball Landing - Visit the place thought to be where Emmett Till’s body was recovered
Tutweiler Quilters – Head five miles northwest and visit Tutwiler, the home of the nationally recognized Tutwiler Quilters, a program devoted to teaching, preserving, and celebrating African American quilting traditions.
Mississippi Blues Trail site and murals – While you’re in Tutwiler, stop by the railroad stop where, according to legend, W.C. Handy first heard the blues.
Visit the gravesite of Sonny Boy Williamson in Tutwiler.
Visit the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center (E.T.H.I.C. Museum) in Glendora.
Places to Eat:
Sumner Grille - a wonderful restaurant owned and operated by Tallahatchie native, Vanessa Pimpton
Big Sky Lake, limited edition print, 12” x 18”, 2022.
Mississippi has over 130 cypress swamps dotted throughout the landscape. These magical swamps provide refuge to large animal populations, as well as sites of eco-tourism for paddlers and fishermen.
Magical in their own right, many of these ancient Mississippi cypress trees are over 1000 years old. They are super trees: they trap pollutants; suck up floodwaters (up to hundreds of gallons a day per tree); are rot and pest-resistant; house black bears in their hollow cavities; provide good living for alligators, amphibians, waterfowl, and raptors; and they look cool as hell.
Things to Do:
Visit the Sumner Farmer’s Market or the Annual Fall Harvest Festival.
Attend Charleston’s Gateway to the Delta Festival, first weekend in October.
Sign up for an art or yoga class at the Charleston Arts and Revitalization Efforts (CARE).
Attend the annual candlelight vigil for Emmett Till, August 28 in Glendora.
Attend a photography or film exhibition at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner.
Places to Stay:
In Quitman County: Squirrel Lake Cabins, Gumbo Flats Hunting Lodge
In Batesville: Hampton Inn, Comfort Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Quality Inn
In Clarksdale: Traveler’s Hotel, Delta Cotton Company Apartments
Learn more about Sumner, Mississippi, here.
Read snippets of my conversation with Benjamin Saulsberry here.
Borderline Miraculous, limited edition print, 16” x 16”, 2022.
This image was inspired directly from my 2019 conversation with Mr. Benjamin Saulsberry, Public Engagement and Museum Education Director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center (ETIC) in Sumner, Mississippi (pop. 310).
Want the condensed list? Download a free PDF of great ways to spend A Quick 48 Hours in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi.