We come to you this week from the county seat of Itawamba county, we are in the town of Fulton.

Originally established on the banks of the Tombigbee River but later moved one mile east; the town of Fulton began around 1839 from land that was donated by a firm of land owners. Fulton was a pioneer settlement and the courthouse was built there before it actually received its name.

Indirectly the town was named for Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat, but according to early inhabitants it was called Fulton because some of the early settlers had come from a southwestern Kentucky town of the same name.

The town grew rapidly because of the fine timberland and plentiful soil available for farming.

Opened in 1985, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway system connected the two rivers thus creating an important new component of the Nation's transportation system. It has helped reduce transportation costs for manufacturers and producers in as many as 14 states.

In our first story, we take a scenic canoe trip down the original Tombigbee River.

In our next story we travel way up north to New York City to the annual Mississippi picnic held in Central Park. Here native Mississippians can get together in the big apple and celebrate their Mississippi roots and heritage.

Maude Schuyler Clay lives in the tiny Delta town of Sumner but she has worked worldwide as a photographer for major publications but she has been capturing scenes of this area before they fade into oblivion in her book "Delta Landscapes."

Keith Carpenter lost his job and was at a loss as to what he should do next. He had a dream one night that convinced him to become a potter and from that dream Beans Ferry Pottery in Fulton was created. That is the subject of this weeks edition of Walt's Way.

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