Grenada Mississippi…and some history

Well, MacGyver and I are on our last 2 weeks of this Winter’s adventure…We have had to change our plans a couple times due to flooding in Louisiana..and our stay near Natchez didn’t pan out either. We ended up here in Grenada Mississippi, at North Abutment campground, and Army Corps Park..This has been a stopping off point for us a couple times, either on the way South or on our way home, and we like it here.

Here was our spot 11-17- 2011..Site #5 in the wooded area..

Since then, we have moved our spot out onto the water….

Yep, Site#68..Left was 11-27 last Fall…and right was this Spring in the same spot..Hard to teach an old dog/MacGyver new tricks.. Some of these spots are non-reservable, so if you happen to find one you like and pull in, you got it for up to 2 weeks..We were here at this spot for a week, and then moved up to the site we had reserved in January for the 2nd week…Here is our NEW spot..and me likey LOTS!

We are now fully set up in Site#70…just up the hill from our other site..I like this one because it is up higher, closer to the wooded area, and less likely to flood… In the meantime, we have been exploring Historical Greneda MS. 

“ The earliest settlement of white settlers within present-day Grenada County is believed to have been in 1818. By 1830 and the completion of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, a land boom occurred in the county. Two rival towns, Pittsburg and Tullahoma, were located where the county seat, Grenada, is now. To end the rivalry, the two towns were merged in a marriage ceremony that took place on July 4, 1836.In the early 1800's goods were transported to Grenada primarily via the Yalobusha River. By July, 1860, rail transportation reached Grenada County, operated by the Mississippi Central Railroad.During the Civil War the area was strategic because of its geographical location and its rail facilities. No major battles were fought in the area, however, but Federal troops were assigned to occupy the town of Grenada and control the railroad.”

Dennis and I spent a few hours driving around the “downtown” area..We need to go back and do more, but I did manage to get a few photos of some neat  homes and a little history on them..

This brick mansion and grounds was the Evergreen Plantation, built by an Irish born merchant named Robert Mullin. " He purchased large tracts of land to which he added from time to time. About 1850 he purchased the place that he afterward named Evergreen plantation, consisting of twenty-two hundred acres of the choicest land in the county, and on this erected a large, two-story brick house, a very handsome and imposing structure. " OK, many are now bored to tears...but I am a total American History GEEK!!

Above, is the Golladay House.   Mr. Golladay's wife died the night before their daughter's wedding in this house. The wedding was changed to a funeral where the casket lay in the room decorated for the wedding. In 1861, Mr. Golladay opened his home to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, who used it as his headquarters. A 12 year old Golladay daughter "accidentally" shot and killed a Union officer on the front steps of this house. Golladay's granddaughter was strangled and left on the upstairs bathroom floor in May of 1932 as an elderly woman. This house is said to be haunted.  I absolutely LOVE this sort of stuff…There are more homes I need to photograph, a town square and a Confederate Cemetery I want to roam through…so….if you don’t love history you might want to wear a bib while reading my next blog to keep the drool off yourself when you nod off!.

The trees here are in full blossom and there are Bluebirds everywhere setting up housekeeping..I haven’t heard or seen any owls yet, dadgum it!..

Our expected arrival date in Sandwich, IL is March 30th..just in time to celebrate SOMEONE’s 73rd April Fool’s Day birthday!..and have a mini Cave-A-Palooza for Easter Sunday..Meanwhile, stay tuned for yet another history lesson on Grenada, MS!!