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Mississippi Roads - (#2402) Belzoni
Walt in Front of Courthouse
Young Blues Perfomer
Catfish Dinner
Chunky River Raft Race
Interior of Peaches Restuarant
Belzoni Water Tower
 
Thu, Oct 10, 2002

We come to you this week from the heart of the Mississippi Delta, we are in the Humphreys county town of Belzoni.

The town was named after Italian archeologist Giovanni Battista Belzoni and was originally known as "Greasy Row" because of the row of saloons that lined the bank of the Yazoo River.

Belzoni was originally in Washington county and was completely isolated from Greenville and the rest of the county with no roads, no law and no organization. The area was known as the dark corner of Washington county, for it was too far away for the county law enforcement to bother about.

In 1918 areas of surrounding counties were split up to form the final county in the state of Mississippi. The county was named Humphreys and the county seat was Belzoni.

Today, Belzoni is a small Delta town with a thriving business district. Thanks to a redevelopment effort started over twenty years ago that replaced concrete sidewalks with bricks, planted trees and improved parking. They actually did this before there was a Main Street program like there is today.

King Cotton's dominance has given way to catfish is this part of the Delta. The Catfish Capitol Visitors Center in Belzoni traces the industry from pond to plate. The Catfish center can even arrange a tour of a working catfish farm if you give them some advance notice. In our first story we show you why Belzoni and Humphreys county is considered The Worlds Catfish Capitol.

Peaches Restaurant in Jackson has been satisfying the appetite of the Farish Street community for many years and we dive into a plate of good ole soul food.

Our Classic Roads segment takes us back ten years to the great Chunky River Raft Race that is held outside of Meridian.

Johnnie Billington has developed the "Delta Blues Education Program" to help keep the traditional music alive in our younger generation. He would rather put a guitar in the hand of a youngster rather than a gun.

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