Historical Marker

Marcus Bottom

Marker provided by: Mississippi Blues Commission.

The historic African American community of Marcus Bottom was an important center of early blues, jazz, and gospel music activity. Pianist Eurreal “Little Brother” Montgomery, one of the premier blues artists of the 1920s and ‘30s,performed here and in other areas of Vicksburg. His song “Vicksburg Blues” became a blues standard and has been recorded by many other performers. Famed blues composer Willie Dixon, a Vicksburg native, was particularly inspired by Montgomery’s music.

Vicksburg was uniquely positioned to play an important role in blues and jazz history. A lively river port midway between New Orleans and Memphis, Vicksburg was not only the most populous city in Mississippi in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but also home to the state’s largest African American community. A wide range of musical traditions mingled here as professional traveling bands, itinerant guitarists from Delta cotton plantations, barrelhouse piano players, and others worked the clubs and cafes in Marcus Bottom and in areas of town closer to the river.Vicksburg was at one time a base for Delta blues pioneer Charley Patton, fellow guitarists Bo Carter and Honeyboy Edwards, and a plethora of pianists led by Little Brother Montgomery, along with many noted early musicians who were born here, including Willie Dixon, Milt Hinton, Johnny Young, Walter Barnes, and Thomas Pinkston.

In the 1920s Little Brother Montgomery (c. 1906-1985) performed at the South Side Park Dance Hall, just east of Halls Ferry Road on Lane Street, as well as at Zach Lewis’s and Bell’s Café, both on Washington Street. Montgomery’s music left a strong impression on the young Willie Dixon, and when Dixon became a powerful figure on the Chicago blues scene decades later, he hired Montgomery for recording sessions and club dates. Among the pianists Montgomery recalled playing in Vicksburg were Earnest “44” Johnson, also known as “Flunky,” Sam “Cracking Kid” Johnson, Tommy Jackson, Walter Lewis, and a pair who were skilled musicians despite their impairments: Nub-Fingered Son Cook and Stiff Arm Eddie Scott.

Jazz legends Earl “Fatha” Hines, King Oliver, Bennie Moten, and Louis Armstrong also played at the South Side Park Dance Hall, according to music historian Earnest McBride, who lived near the club. While the Blue Room and the Cotton Club elsewhere in town later booked the big name acts, the musical tradition continued in Marcus Bottom with local performers (including Willie Johnson, Billy Jones, and Leon Dixon) or blues on the jukeboxes at the Playboy Club, the El Morocco, Delia’s Do Drop Inn, the Open House, Big Will’s, the Red Dot Inn, and the Melody Lounge. Various members of Vicksburg’s popular Red Tops band, including trumpeter Willard Tyler, grew up nearby. In 1954 folklorist Frederic Ramsey, Jr., came to Marcus Bottom in search of traditional African American music and recorded string band musicians Tom Johnson and John Copeland for a Folkways Records series called Music of the South. Former resident C. K. Chiplin chronicled the local community before and during the civil rights era in his 1996 book Roads From the Bottom: A Survival Journal for America’s Black Community

The Mississippi Blues Trail markers tell stories through words and images of bluesmen and women and how the places where they lived and the times in which they existed–and continue to exist–influenced their music. The sites run the gamut from city streets to cotton fields, train depots to cemeteries, and clubs to churches. We have a lot to share, and it’s just down the Mississippi Blues Trail.

The Mississippi Blues Trail is an ongoing project of the Mississippi Blues Commission. Funding for this project has been made possible by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Mississippi Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, AT&T, and the Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University plus additional support from the Mississippi Development Authority Tourism Division.

For more information visit msbluestrail.org.

Blues Trail
Audiobooks about the history of Mississippi.
The name "Mississippi" comes from the Ojibwe word "misi-ziibi," which means "Great River."
Mississippi random facts
Warren County, Mississippi, has a rich and complex history dating back thousands of years. The area was originally inhabited by Native American tribes, including the Natchez and Choctaw peoples, who lived off the land and established their own communities. European exploration and colonization began in the 16th century, and Spanish, French, and British influences shaped the region.

By the early 19th century, European settlers began to establish permanent settlements in Warren County. The county's namesake, General Joseph Warren, was a hero of the American Revolutionary War and became a symbol of the county's commitment to independence and liberty. As a bustling frontier town along the Mississippi River, Vicksburg — which is the county seat of Warren County — quickly grew in importance as a center for trade and commerce.

The county played a significant role in the American Civil War. In 1862, Union forces sought to gain control of the Mississippi River and Vicksburg became the focal point of a lengthy and brutal military campaign. The Siege of Vicksburg, lasting from May to July in 1863, resulted in Confederate surrender, marking a turning point for the Union and further solidifying the importance of Warren County in American history.

Following the Civil War, the Reconstruction era brought significant changes to Warren County. African Americans, both freed slaves and those who had been free before the war, gained political and social rights. However, the county also experienced racial tensions and struggles for equality, as seen during the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century.

Overall, Warren County's history mirrors the broader historical developments of the South, encompassing Native American cultures, European colonization, the impact of the Civil War, and ongoing social and political changes that shape the county today.

This timeline provides a glimpse into the major events and milestones that have shaped the history of Warren County, Mississippi.

  • 1767 - Warren County, Mississippi is established as one of the original nine counties in the Mississippi Territory.
  • 1779 - Spanish explorers pass through the area, establishing a temporary fort near present-day Vicksburg.
  • 1803 - The United States acquires the Mississippi Territory as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
  • 1811 - The first permanent settlement is established in what is now Warren County, known as Walnut Hills.
  • 1836 - The county is officially organized and named Warren County after American Revolutionary War General Joseph Warren.
  • 1863 - During the American Civil War, the Siege of Vicksburg takes place, with Warren County being a major battleground. The Union Army eventually captures Vicksburg, leading to a turning point in the war.
  • 1876 - The first bridge over the Mississippi River in the Vicksburg area, known as the Old Vicksburg Bridge, is completed, connecting Warren County with Louisiana.
  • 1903 - Mississippi Flood of 1903 causes significant damage and displacement in Warren County and the surrounding areas.
  • 1936 - The current Vicksburg Bridge, a steel truss bridge over the Mississippi River, is completed, replacing the old bridge.
  • 1962 - The Mississippi River floods again, causing extensive damage to Warren County and leading to the construction of the Yazoo Backwater Levee.
  • 2005 - Hurricane Katrina causes widespread devastation along the Gulf Coast, with Warren County serving as a temporary shelter for evacuees.
  • 2014 - The Warren County Courthouse, a historic building dating back to 1860, is added to the National Register of Historic Places.