Carrollton_Pioneer_Day_Festival

Pioneer Day Festival October 7, 2017

Pam Lee — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 20:29:23 +0000

If you like to shop, the Pioneer Day Festival, sponsored by the Carroll Society for the Preservation of Antiquities, is an arts and crafts festival just for you on Saturday, October 7. In addition to shopping, you can learn

about the history of aprons through an exhibit from the Apron Museum in Iuka,
about crayon quilts from the Vaiden Quilters Guild,
about Mississippi John Hurt through an exhibit from the Mississippi John Hurt Museum,
about Mississippi through interactive activities on a giant 16 by 20 foot floor map from the Mississippi Geographic Alliance based at Ole Miss.

All of these activities are free.

More information about the Pilgrimage and Pioneer Day Festival check us out on Facebook or at www.VisitCarrolltonMs.com.

A Walk Through Carrollton with Walt Grayson

Pam Lee — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 01:36:07 +0000

Thanks to a Bicentennial Grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council, you can visit Carrollton on your smart device as well as in person. The annual Pilgrimage and Pioneer Day Festival will be held October 6-7. Five homes will be open for home tours for a fee. But the big excitement will be the free walking tour that you can download to your smart device to learn about the history and architecture of 26 buildings in Carrollton. While the walking tour does not get you in the buildings, it will enhance your walk from home to home.

To Mississippians, Walt Grayson is the voice of Mississippi, taking us along on trips down “Mississippi Roads” for a “Look Around Mississippi.” Now he takes us through Carrollton’s history and architecture. Although the app has been available through the Apple and Google Play stores only a few weeks, visitors are already coming to walk through Carrollton with Walt.”

Pilgrimage homes will be open Friday and Saturday, from 9 am to 5 pm. These are family homes, not museums or staged exhibits. Tickets will be sold at the Town Hall at 701 Lexington Street. Adult tickets are $25. Tickets for students grades 1-12 are $10.

More information about the Pilgrimage and Pioneer Day Festival check us out on Facebook or at www.VisitCarrolltonMs.com.

A New Twist on an Old Art

Pam Lee — Thu, 31 Aug 2017 22:03:46 +0000

Quilting is an old needle art that can be something made from scraps sewn together with batting to keep the family warm. Or it can be something made from carefully chosen fabric, pieced together to form a fabric work of art to be sewn together with batting for either a decorative use or to keep warm. At Carrollton’s annual Pioneer Day Festival, festival goers can see a new twist on this old art – crayon quilting.

Using crayons to create the design on muslin squares which are then sewn together with coordinating fabric gives an almost water color painted effect to the finished quilt. Put this together with an age-old needle art of quilting and you have something that you will treasure for years to come.

Most of us learned to use crayons at an early age. Some folks are quite good at creating designs with them. School classes use the process and the creative art to make a unique class project.

Members of the Vaiden Quilters Guild will have quilts to look at and instructions for getting started with a crayon quilt to give away Saturday, October 7, 2017. Look for these talented ladies in the Courthouse halls!

“Opry on the Square” New to 2016 Carrollton Pilgrimage & Pioneer Day Festival Activities.

CCDA2015 — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 02:15:22 +0000

Margaret Corder as Minnie Pearl

“Opry on the Square” is a new event for the 2016 Pioneer Day Festival. “Minnie Pearl” [Margaret Corder] will host the event.

Featured Opry Musicians

Robert Box

Robert Box – a 5-time Mississippi State Banjo Champion and an International Southern Gospel Instrumentalist of the Year

Donnie Buckner with the Buckner Family Bluegrass Band

Donnie Buckner – both a Mississippi State Fiddle Champion and a Banjo Champion as well as a Mid-South Banjo Champion.

Opry on the Square will begin at 11:00 am, following the presentation of the winners of the Miss Pioneer Day Festival Pageant.

Bring your lawn chairs to the west side of the Carroll County Courthouse in Carrollton to enjoy the wonderful music and fun. Carroll County talent includes Mike Hyde, Bennie Rigby, Jackie McIlwain, LaGatha Abbott, Terry Herbert, Alan Malone and the Cobbins Family.

Come early and shop at the many arts and craft booths, visit the Winterville Mound exhibit, and tour some of our historic homes and buildings.

Carrollton Historic Pilgrimage and Pioneer Day Festival October 7-8, 2016

CCDA2015 — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 14:30:09 +0000

Mississippi has many beautiful scenes in its landscape but few have as much to offer as Carroll County and Carrollton, in particular. It is centrally located in the middle of the state and is easily. It is only a “stone’s throw” off Highway 82, one of the state’s major highways. As you enter the town of Carrollton, you are instantly transported into an earlier historical era as you view the homes, businesses and churches. This town has a long and interesting history and we would like to share with you.

One of the primary means of doing this is during the yearly Pilgrimage when homes and churches open their doors for a weekend in October. This year the Pilgrimage dates are October 7-8. Four of the churches will be open with a hostess to greet you as you tour our places of worship. Some of the churches began before the Civil War and minutes offer interesting bits of history. A stroll through the business district leads you to the Merrill Museum which contains a number of clues to the history of the town as well as the county.

Wayside

The “crown jewel” of Carrollton lies in its homes which span over a century of architectural styles. The owners have maintained them in top order and look forward to showing you their homes. This year there will be 5 homes open, three of which have never been open for the Pilgrimage before. In addition, Cotesworth, the home of Senator J. Z. George, will be open. Senator George is an author of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890. On display in the home is the desk he used when writing this document.

On Saturday there will be vendors hawking their wares and selling food so you can maintain your energy to take it all in. Also there will be live entertainment throughout the day, our very own “Opry on the Square.” Now, what more could you ask for except to enjoy some of the nicest people in the state who will be glad to show you why we are proud of our hometown?

Comments provided by Barbara Rayburn, chairman of ticket sales. For more information about the Carrollton Pilgrimage and Pioneer Day Festival, visit our website – VisitCarrolltonMs.com or email us at CarrolltonMsTours@gmail.com.

Vaiden to Celebrate Its History October 8

CCDA2015 — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 01:08:15 +0000

To celebrate its heritage, the Town of Vaiden will host its annual Heritage Festival on Saturday, October 8, 2016. The Festival will open at 8 am and close at 5 pm. It will be filled with children’s activities, booths of arts and crafts, commercial items, and food. Entertainment will include a praise team, The Wilson Singers, The Delta Crossin’, Little Willie Farmer and his Blues Band and Ms Lannie McBride. You are invited to come join us in our celebration. For more information about the Festival, call Diann Ellis at 662-464-5266.

Organized in 1859 and incorporated a year later, Vaiden was named for Dr. C. M. Vaiden an early settler. In the 1837, Dr. Vaiden hired architect and master builder James Clark Harris to build Prairie Mont which closely resembled another of Harris’ masterpieces, Malmaison, the home of Greenwood LeFlore in northwestern Carroll County. Dr. Vaiden was buried at the Vaiden Cemetery with a beautiful monument made of Italy marble making the spot.

In the early days, Vaiden and the surrounding area grew rapidly, thanks to farming, transportation routes, and rail travel. The town became one of the wealthiest towns in Mississippi with its abundance of planters, lawyers, merchants and other business professionals.

Noah House – 1875

With the growth, the town developed and buildings, offices and homes were constructed. Because of the number of settlers traveling into town to gather supplies and take care of other business, the town adapted to accommodate the patrons. Livery stables and other necessities were provided throughout town to care for horses, buggies, wagons and carriages while their owners were in town.

Churches also played an important role in the development of the area. In 1840-41, the Baptist Church at Vaiden was built. In 1877-78, the Vaiden Presbyterian Church was built.

Shongolo Church, Vaiden, Mississippi

Both still exist with active congregations.

As the area grew, so did the need for education. Among the schools was Richland Academy, founded in 1836 by a Mr. Hughes, a graduate of a University in Ireland. The school offered elementary and classical education. James Z. George was one of the students. He would later buy a stage coach inn just north of Carrollton for his growing family and name it Cotesworth. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1881-1897. Known among his constituents as “the Great Commoner” George was influential in the creation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, and worked to aid education and civil service reform. J.Z. George’s statue stands in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., one of two representing Mississippi. George and a number of his family are buried at Evergreen Cemetery at North Carrollton, Mississippi.

Because of the vast size of Carroll County, the county was divided into two districts. Vaiden became the county seat for the second district in 1874. In 1898 the first telephone exchange was installed in Vaiden by the Cumberland Telephone Company. The next year, a furniture factory and brick factory were opened.

The old Courthouse at Vaiden, demolished after the making of Mississippi Burning in 1988, stood on the hillside where a children’s park is located today. The bell from that courthouse stands in front of the new Courthouse, located where a row of stores and businesses once stood. Shelving from some of those businesses can be seen in the Merrill Museum in Carrollton.

Vaiden Courthouse