Itawamba County's Highest Elevation Along the Tennessee Valley Divide

Terry Thornton, editor of the blog Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi recently blogged about the highest elevations in neighboring Monroe County to the south of Itawamba. Itawamba County shares not only many characteristics with Monroe, but Itawamba and Monroe have been connected for generations by close family connections, especially between southern Itawamba and northern Monroe.

As Terry published his blog about the highest hills of Monroe, I decided to write about the highest elevation in Itawamba. The eastern portion of Itawamba County, like neighboring Monroe, has many rugged hills and hollows, especially along the Alabama state line. There are many scenic ridges in the eastern portion of the county that stretch from Tishomingo County down to Monroe County and one would suspect Itawamba County’s highest elevation would be in this chain of rugged hills.

However, Itawamba County’s highest elevation is in the extreme northeast portion of the county along Ridge Road. Ridge Road, aptly named, connects State Highway 25 with Red Bay, Alabama. Ridge Road also follows a natural boundary called the Tennessee Valley Divide. North of this divide, the land is a part of the Tennessee River Valley and south of this divide, the land is part of the Tombigbee River Valley. Water the in the Tennessee River Watershed of Itawamba County north of the divide flows north into the Tennessee River and water south of this divide flows south into the Tomgibee River. The lowest point along this divide in Itawamba County is around 600 feet with the elevation rising to around 660 feet in places. At the intersection of Ridge Road and Antioch Church Road, the elevation is 660 plus feet, making this the highest elevation in Itawamba County.

At one time, during the 1800s this area was known as Oak Farm and later in the 1800’s there was a Pleasant Ridge post office in this area. The photographs show the Tennessee River Valley area of Itawamba County north of Ridge Road (top photo) and the Tombigbee River Valley area of Itawamba County south of Ridge Road (bottom photo). The Tennessee Valley Divide is an interesting geographical spot in Itawamba County.