Places To Visit in Wilkinson County:
Rosemont Plantation
Jefferson Davis is still recognized by almost all historians as one of the most remarkable and accomplished figures of 19th century American life.
Rosemont was built by his mother and father when they settled here in 1810 brought by the lure of rich soils and a better life from Kentucky and Georgia where they had farmed for many years. They brought with them the younger children...the youngest of whom was Jefferson. He says of Rosemont, "It was here that my memories began."
Rosemont has been open as an historic house museum since 1971.
Call 601.888.6809 for hours. www.rosemontplantation1810.com
The Camp Van Dorn WW II Museum in Centreville
Camp Van Dorn, south of Centreville, was a hastily constructed war camp located in both Wilkinson and Amite Counties. It had a wartime population of 41,000 and the effect on this area was amazing.
The World War II museum was initially a project of the Woodville Civic Club when the current downtown museum building was donated to us. After we had obtained a restoration grant, to stabilize the structure, through the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, because we are a certified 501(c)(3) organization, the bank building was donated to a newly formed local WWII Museum organization, a local Centreville group of volunteers. They have done a splendid job of restoring the structure and have successively created an award winning museum that opened in 2005.
Located at 138 Main Street in Centreville, MS. 601.645.9000 www.vandorn.org
They are open Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm, and on the 1st & 3rd Saturdays from 10am to 4pm.
The Main Street Market at 613 Main Street
In 2004, The Main Street Market was opened as an antiques mall in the old Treppendahl Dry Goods store right on the court house square at the corner of Main Street and Royal Oak Street as a joint project of the Woodville Civic Club and the Main Street Association.
It has been a great success and today houses over two dozen dealers with a very popular cafe that serves great soups, salads, and sandwiches all prepared to order.
Besides antiques and collectibles the various dealers have many hand made items, local art objects, gift items, and specialty food items. We have almost all of our Civic Club publications available for sale there as well.
It is open Monday through Saturday from to 10 to 5. The cafe is open from 11 to 2. They can be reached by telephone at 601.888.7830
The Pond Store...
West of Woodville
One of the county's favorite spots is the old country store at Pond...about 19 miles down the road to Pinckneyville, where the road to Fort Adams branches off at the pond, which was once vital to the oxen who hauled wagons up and down mile high hill with cotton and provisions from the surrounding plantations to the steamboats.
It has stood in rural Wilkinson County since just after the Civil War. It's part museum, part retail store--but with an attitude. The Pond Store was owned by a succession of Jewish families until Elizabeth Chaffin's dad bought it from Julius Lemkowitz in 1933...she is the current owner. Ask Elizabeth about the store, and an encyclopedia of old days and old ways comes pouring out.
From the creaky door on Julius Lemkowitz's old safe to the "KAH-CHING" of the bell on a cash register that came down the Mississippi River in 1898--the Pond Store offers sights and sounds of bygone rural Mississippi.
The Pond Store is open Friday, Saturday and for a half day on Sunday. Stop by and get a cold drink or an ice cream.
Clark Creek Natural Area
...the entrance is just across the road from the Pond Store.
Clark Creek Natural Area and its famous waterfalls is one of the Magnolia State's most beautiful outdoor treasures. Take the day for a visit, aside from the absolute crush of the weekend crowds, you won't be sorry you went.
Comprising more than 2,000 acres, this Natural Area's officially highlighted by some 40 waterfalls (though you'll find only 6 along established trails), ranging from 10 to more than 25 feet in height. Creation and protection of this fabulous area came about in 1978 from cooperation between the Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Committee, Wilkinson County, Judge David Bramlette, International Paper Co. and the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
Clark Creek's steeply sloping hills host a mixed hardwood and pine forest dominated by beech and magnolia. Here, visitors discover a variety of colorful migrating and resident birds; invertebrates; poisonous snakes; a rare land snail; the federally endangered Carolina magnolia vine; a state endangered fish, the Southern red belly dace. This forested tract also provides excellent habitat for another threatened species in Mississippi -- the black bear.
