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The river city town
of Greenville is our featured town this week.
The river has been both friend and foe to this
city. The town has used the Mississippi River
for transportation and economic development
but the river has not always been kind to the
city.
In 1927
a great flood covered the entire town of Greenville
for seventy days. The result of this flood created
the Mississippi River Levee System designed
by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. In 1935
the river was directed to a new course several
miles west of the city thus creating Lake Ferguson.
We
take to the air, land and water with Jim Rushing
of Greenville and Leo Murphree, Jr. of Greenwood
aboard their hovercrafts. This machine uses
air to propel it over water or land just a few
inches above the surface. These men show how
much fun they have with these flying machines
and explain how they operate.
Our first site on Mississippi's Ten
Most Endangered Historic Places is The Griffin-Spragins
House in Greenville. This home sits on Refuge
Plantation, which at one time was one of the
largest cotton plantations in the world. The
Griffin-Spragins House is one of the best examples
of mid-nineteenth century plantation homes in
Washington County. With a new river bridge about
to begin construction less than one hundred
yards away from the house, there is concern
for the home's stability.
In
our Classic ROADS segment, we revisit one of
Greenville's most famous eateries. Doe's Eat
Place is known for big juicy steaks and some
of the best hot tamales in the area. Doe's is
a family run restaurant that holds plenty of
character and mouth watering food for people
all around Greenville.
Walt
takes us to one of his favorite playgrounds
as a child growing up in Greenville. That playground
is Winterville Indian Mounds. Walt used to slide
down the side of the mounds as a youngster "it
was ok to do that back then". He now holds a
special place in his heart for the mounds and
explains what they mean to him, as only Walt
can do, in the weeks Walt's Way.
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