Sunday, January 25, 2015

From Fort to Last Port

Today was totally planned.

If by "totally planned" you mean we meant to spend the day driving around, we just weren't quite sure where we would end up.

First thing is to check out Fort Adams, MS in Wilkinson County, between Woodville and the Mississippi River.
July 1863 from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

We did not make it all the way to Fort Adams before Heather had me pulling over for a cemetery she spotted clinging to a hillside.  The Ward Cemetery is between what appears to be an old road and the new road.  Spread out and barely hanging in there, it is very neglected.  The stones mostly date to the '60's.  We plan on returning to catalog the memorials there in the future when the ticks are not quite as prevalent.



Arriving in Fort Adams, we quickly passed up "Bubba's One Stop" to grab pictures of St. Patrick's Catholic Church.
                                                
The church was built in 1900 and even with the windows boarded up you can tell the stained glass windows were lovely.  I read somewhere that the flooding of the Homochitto River, which happens pretty often, was the reason for the boards.  The stained glass is being protected.

We found out later that we totally missed a cemetery next to the church.  I  can only blame this on... well...I really have no idea how we missed it!  According to Find A Grave, Henry E. Harris was laid to rest here in 1913.  His is the only stone standing, but it is believed that there are more buried here.  Headstones do not stand up well to constant flooding...

Ok, now for some history on Fort Adams.  This area now known as Fort Adams has changed hands many times.  Each new occupation brought with it a new name.  Originally established in 1698 by Catholic priests who lived among the Natchez and other local Indian tribes, it was known as St.Patrick's Mission. The French called the area Davion's Rock for Father Davion.

This was the American port of entry along the Mississippi River for a long time, due to the fact that New Orleans was not controlled by the United States.

When the British moved into the area in 1764, it became known as Loftus' Heights. The fort was built in 1799 when General James Wilkinson came to the area to keep an eye on the American/Spanish boundary.  (Wilkinson is who the county is named for.)
                                              

Considering the lack of historical markers or information on site, a lot of important things occurred at Fort Adams.  The Treaty of San Lorenzo, which defined new borders between the U.S. and Spain was signed at Fort Adams.  Many treaties with the Choctaw Indians, including The Treaty of Fort Adams that traded Choctaw land for land east of the Mississippi River, were signed here.

Once the Spanish threat was gone, Fort Adams was no longer needed, but the nearby town retained the name.  Like most river towns, it was prosperous until a shift in the ever changing bed of the Mississippi took the river more than a mile away.


Next stop, Pond, MS.  We stopped here because there is a lovely set of restrooms at the Clarks Creek Nature Area! we were curious about the trails and waterfalls in the area.  We, as usual, were not prepared for a hike, so this will be something else we take in at a later date, but there really are some great bathrooms here!.
The Pond Store was built in 1881.  The only thing in this little corner of the world was the store and a home...and lots of animals...
                                                            




Thanks to our good friend Mary, at the Rodney, MS Facebook page, we learned that a stop was needed on the trip from Woodville to the port at Fort Adams, so a pond was dug, thus the name Pond, for the animals making the journey to the river.

We continued on our way and stumbled upon Bethel Farms Plantation. The stand out front promises a vegetable stand during the growing season!

We made our way back to Woodville, took a few pictures and decided to head to Natchez (I am sure food was involved in this decision:).
                                                 

We drove along Lower Woodville Road to get back to Natchez.  This has got to be one of the oldest roads we have ever taken.  Last time I was at this end of Lower Woodville it was dark and rainy.  This time I could see just how deep the road was.  It was almost like driving through a tunnel!

On a spur of the moment decision, we decided to cross the Mighty Mississippi River and take another attempt to find the Mamie S. Barrett.  Several people have posted pictures before of this beached behemoth, but our last attempt to find her left us lost in New Roads, LA and a long way from home.
A co-worker of Heather's gave her some directions, which I am proud to say she relayed to me flawlessly which was unusual. And we found her!
Mamie S. Barrett, built 1921, washed up in 1993
 We hear she is for sale...if anyone wants to work her over, make her seaworthy, and offer us a free tour:).

Here is the view of the river from Deer Park, LA.  No wonder the old towboat decided to make her final rest here...

So that was our journey today.  From the fort that once brought Christianity to the Natives to the final port of call for an aging tugboat, all in all it was a pretty awesome day!

Until next time
~ Rosemary

8 comments:

  1. Just discovered your blog today!!! You girls are just like me & my friends, always on a road trip to find old historical things. Is it hard to find this boat at Deer Park? I'm originally from Vidalia (now living in Monroe) and I would love to see this!

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    1. Welcome! Don't forget to find us on Facebook to keep up with us! And no, it isn't to difficult. If you can find Deer Park, which was our issue, then it is right there on the other side of the levee. I don't think it was more than 15 minutes south of Vidalia.

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  2. Thank you so much!!!! I've been to Deer Park years ago. Maybe we will find it. Waiting for a little warmer weather for a day trip!

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  3. It is well worth the trip! If you want to make a whole day of it..keep going south and check out New Roads, LA. It is really pretty down that way.

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  4. Well just an update...we went to Deer Park this past Saturday and found the Mamie S. Barrett! It was well worth the drive from Monroe! What an awesome sight! We got some great photos and I've posted some of them on my FB photo page called Through My Looking Glass if you want to see them! On a side note, while we were photographing the boat, we saw a whole herd of deer swimming down river and they came up on land right where we were! There were 18 total! Never knew deer could swim that well much less in a pack! Thanks again sharing your finds!

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  5. So glad you found it! It really is a sight to behold. I am headed to check out your page now! That deer thing is crazy! haha

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  6. I just found this. My mother's family lived in Ft. Adams from the 1840's until her parents moved to Baton Rouge in 1969. St. Patrick's Church was built app 1900 by my Great Grandfather Jacob Stutzman and his sons. The Mississippi River is what floods the town. There is no levee to protect the town . The picture just below the Ft. Adams marker is the one room school house. I'm not sure when it was last used but my mother started school there before they were moved to the school in Woodville. I'm guessing around the mid 1940's .

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  7. Just found this! Henry E Harris is my 3rd great uncle. Love having pictures of Fort Adams

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