The Great River Road, an asphalt artery winding through Americas heartland in the shadow of the river its named for, is getting special attention from Mississippi State University historians, archaeologists, and social scientists.

by Bob Ratliff
photos by Fred Faulk

In 1938, the Mississippi River Parkway Commission was created and designated a patchwork of federal, state, and local roads as the Great River Road. The roadway parallels the Mississippi River-sometimes at a distance of 20 miles-from the river's headwaters near the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico.

Since the 1930s, the federal government has studied proposals for a river-road highway similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway or the Natchez Trace Parkway, according to Mississippi State University professor of history Charles Lowery.

"Unfortunately, Congress never appropriated any funds for that purpose, so the Great River Road today is a series of different roads rather than one continuous highway," he said.

In fact, there are areas where sections of highway both east and west of the Mississippi are designated as stretches of the Great River Road. That's the case with sections of Highway 165 in Arkansas and Highway 61 and 1 in Mississippi.

The patchwork nature of the route-and the fact that for the most part it avoids the high-speed interstates as it snakes through forests, swamps, and small towns-is part of its charm for many travelers.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation is sponsoring a project with Mississippi State that will help visitors better understand the river road areas they are traveling through.

"The purpose of the work is for us to go in and do an archaeological and historical survey of sites of interest," Lowery explained. "The result will be recommendations for a new series of tourist centers, historical markers, and other improvements to provide more cohesiveness and a better understanding of the history and archaeology of the route."

The Friars Point Museum contains an eclectic collection of objects ranging from farm implements to military hardware.

The Mississippi State team includes Lowery, research scientist Jay Ritchie with the Social Science Research Center, and John O'Hear, an archaeologist at MSU's Cobb Institute. Their work is funded by a $210,000 research grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

They began work in January, photographing historical markers and using some high-tech resources to catalog the route's resources and plan for the future.

"There's an extensive geographical information system (GIS) element in the study," noted Ritchie, who serves as the project manager. "Part of the GIS element will be to use global positioning system (GPS) satellites to locate and map historical and archaeological sites, recreational areas, and other points of interest."

The maps will be used by the MDOT planning division for future improvements along the Mississippi section of the Great River Road.

Ritchie also sees an economic development aspect of the project.

"The route in Mississippi runs through many communities-including Clarksdale, Greenville, Vicksburg, and Natchez-that can use the information to better promote tourism," he said.

While tourists may bring in more dollars, the Mississippi section of the Great River Road is already rich in archaeological sites, according to O'Hear.

An unusual double mound at the Carson Mound site near Clarksdale. The mounds date from about A.D. 1100 to 1300.

"While there are only three publicly owned developed archaeological sites along the Mississippi route, there are scores in private ownership that are in some ways more spectacular," he said. "Our biggest problem with archaeological sites is one of selection. We are trying to find some that are representative of the whole 10,000 years of Native American settlement along the river and are well preserved."

O'Hear noted that one site with great potential lies less than a mile from the route of the river road and contains about eight mounds. It was mapped by the Smithsonian Institution in 1880, but remains undeveloped and in private hands.

"Both the tenant and the landowner have an interest in preservation and we are working with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to develop its potential," O'Hear said.

The Great River Road is not a route to be taken by anyone interested in speed. The road, like the river, meanders too much for anyone in a hurry. It is, however, a destination in itself and the current project will make the destination even more enjoyable.

Grace Episcopal Church in Rosedale (right) and Greenville's Hebrew Union Temple (below) represent the architectural and cultural diversity found along the Great River Road.
	The work of local artists decorates many River Road businesses.
This airliner fuselage has been turned into a home on an oxbow lake near Beulah.	Walnut Street Bait Shop in Greenville