The Davis Event Center in Fulton on a Sunny Afternoon

Pictured above is the new Davis Event Center on the Itawamba Community College campus in Fulton. The facility was named in honor of brothers and businessmen Buster and Bud Davis, former coaches at the college and long-time supporters of the institution.

The Davis Event Center serves the college for such activities as men’s and women’s basketball games, graduation ceremonies, and concerts. The Events Center has a fixed seating capacity of 2,800 and can expand that capacity to 3,500 for special events such as concerts by placing additional seating on the court. The adjoining Fitness Center has weight training, aerobics and cardiovascular rooms. In addition, it contains four classrooms for the Health and Physical Education curriculum and an intramural gym that can accommodate basketball, volleyball, and tennis. The Fitness Center opened in mid October of 2006, and the first regular basketball games were played on January 11, 2007, in the Event Center.

The facility is just north of West Main Street in Fulton near the college stadium.

Photograph by Bob Franks

The Pecan: A True Southern All-American Delicacy Comes to Life in Itawamba County

Pecan trees are now leafing out and producing their flowers in the hills and valleys of Itawamba County. This tree is one of the late trees to leaf-out during the Spring season and during the olden days, it was said anything is safe to plant while the pecan is leafing-out.

A species of hickory and a native to the south-central United States, pecans first became known to Europeans during the 16th Century when the Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca was the first to write about this tree. It was the Spaniards who brought the pecan to Europe.

The nuts of the pecan tree have a rich buttery flavor and are especially suited for desserts. There is no better treat than a warm slice of golden home-baked Mississippi pecan pie with a scoop of ice cold vanilla ice cream. And then down New Orleans way we have the rich and tasty culinary treasure called the praline.

Besides the tasty pecan nut, the wood of the tree is used in making furniture, hardwood flooring and as a flavoring fuel for smoking meats.

April is National Pecan Month. Take time to celebrate this All-American treat by visiting the National Pecan Shellers Association website. They have a wonderful history of the pecan, tasty recipes and so much more – all devoted to the great American pecan.

Photograph: Pecan catkins (male flowers) and foliage during late April in Itawamba County by Bob Franks

Society’s Special May Program Meeting - Pottery: An Itawamba County Blessing

The next Itawamba Historical Society program meeting will be held Tuesday evening May 20 at the George Poteet History Center in Mantachie. The program will be Pottery: An Itawamba County Blessing, presented by Dr. Terry Thornton.

Itawamba County was once the center for numerous pottery operations both large and small. From the clays of the region were made items necessary for pioneer life. Jugs, churns, pots, crocks, and even grave markers were fashioned from the local clays and fired into stoneware. For years, the southeastern portion of the county was known as the “Jug Shop District” because of the numerous pottery operations. At one time there were more than a dozen such operations in the area from the 1800’s well into the Twentieth Century.

The multi-media program presented by Thornton will take a brief look at some of the county potters, their techniques and their finished wares.

Dr. Thornton is a graduate of Hatley High School in Monroe County and attended Itawamba Junior College and is a graduate of the University of Mississippi. His teaching experience ranges from high school and middle school science and administrative work to college and university teaching. Some may remember Dr. Thornton from his days of teaching elementary school science on Channel 9 from Tupelo in the early 1960s. He spent the bulk of his teaching career with Troy State University in Alabama where his experience ranged from biology teaching on the Troy campus to Director of the Fort Rucker Campus and Vice President for Student Affairs at the Dothan Campus.

Dr. Thornton and his wife live in Fulton. He is a columnist for the Monroe County Journal and he publishes four internet sites: Hill Country of Monroe County; Lann Cemetery Blog; New Hope Cemetery; and Inside the Magnolia Curtain. Currently Thornton is transcribing all of the names from the grave markers in one of Monroe County's oldest and largest burial grounds, New Hope Cemetery, a project he hopes to complete this summer.

The program meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Gordon McFerrin Assembly Hall of the George Poteet History Center – headquarters of the society located at the corner of Church Street and Museum Drive in Mantachie. The evening will begin with a reception and refreshments following by the multi-media program. As always, the public is invited to attend this special program meeting.

The Pecan Gap Success Mystery Photograph

The other day I was digging through a collection of old photographs from Itawamba County and came across the above interesting photograph. As the scene looks to be the interior of a printing office, the Pecan Gap Success is probably a newspaper. I started researching the name Pecan Gap and came to the conclusion that the scene was probably photographed in Pecan Gap, Delta County, Texas. It is interesting that I could find no reference to a newspaper named the Pecan Gap Success. I searched the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers for the Pecan Gap Success, finding several newspapers from that area, but none by the name of Success. In surveying the census records it seems there are many citizens in Delta County, Texas who were born in Mississippi from the 1880 through the 1910 census records. I came across at least two Itawamba County families – the Rhyne and Sheffield families during the quick census survey. There are probably several more Itawamba County families there as well. It is my opinion that the photograph, mounted on cardboard stock, was mailed to family in Itawamba County and the subjects in the photograph have Itawamba County connections.

I have shared a digital copy of the photograph with the Delta County TXGenWeb Project with the hopes that more information may be gleaned from the photograph.

Crane Pavilion Detail on the ICC Campus

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day in Itawamba County. Although it was quite hot, the sunny skies were beautiful and the day proved to be an ideal photography day. Pictured above is a detail of the Crane Pavilion on the Itawamba Community College campus in Fulton.

Photograph by Bob Franks

Cockrell String Band at a Woodmen of the World Patriotic Celebration during the 1890's

The Cockrell Family String Band of Itawamba County is photographed at a Woodmen of the World patriotic celebration in front of the Lee County Courthouse in nearby Tupelo during the 1890's. Musicians pictured (front row left to right)are William Cockrell, Elijah Cockrell, Jordan Cockrell and __ Cummings (guitarist).

The Cockrell family (Elum and Caroline Devaughn Cockrell extended family) moved to Itawamba County from the Randolph-Coosa counties area of eastern Alabama during 1872 settling first in the New Home Church community and later the Mantachie-Centerville area.
 

School Days in Fulton: The 1940's

Miss Hermine Graham's class at Fulton Grammar School is photographed during the mid 1940's. The photograph was taken not long after the new brick building was constructed.