Back in the '40s, '50s and '60s Greenwood was one of the state's centers of both blues music and civil rights and its story needs to be chronicled.
That was the message officials with the state Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Development Authority's Heritage Trails initiative were told Friday.
"I think this is an opportunity for all of us to think strategy about how to bring tourists to Mississippi. This is something that I've been proud to be a part of. Your help is much recognized," said Alex Thomas, chairman of the Heritage Trails program.
Thomas spoke at the Elks Lodge on Scott Street. He was joined by a host of local and state leaders including Greenwood Mayor Sheriel Perkins; Greenwood City Councilman Taylor Dillard; Robert Moore, president of the Leflore County board of supervisors; state Rep. Willie Perkins, D-Greenwood; state Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood; and Christine Wilson, director of public information for Archives and History.
Charles "Chuck" Prophet, a longtime Greenwood resident, remembers the impact of the Elks Lodge and the Palace Hotel, which was located on Martin Luther King Drive and demolished in 2000 after a devastating fire.
Both Rep. Perkins and Jordan are pushing for historical markers at both sites.
Prophet said both establishments began as upscale places where black ex-servicemen returning from World War II could go and socialize.
"There was nowhere to go. They didn't want to go back on Johnson Street or Walthall or a juke house. They wanted to go somewhere nice and take their ladies and have a nice drink," he said.
The Palace Hotel was built in 1947 and 1948 and featured some 50 rooms and a lounge, said Margaret Cochran, the widow of hotel owner Edward Cochran.
Its original name was the "Palace Hotel for Coloreds," she said.
The hotel served as an oasis in the Delta, where public accommodations were strictly segregated.
"Here we were, between Memphis and Jackson," said Prophet, a one-time employee at the Plaza. "There was nowhere else to stay."
The hotel played a critical role in the history of Mississippi Valley State University, he said.
"People would come to bring their kids to college and couldn't get back home by nightfall. It was too far.
"The bus didn't stop at Valley. The bus stopped at Itta Bena and some of them stopped in Greenwood," Prophet said.
Entertainers such as Ike and Tina Turner often stayed at the Plaza and performed at the Elk's Lodge, he said.
"It was unbelievable. They would come here and the place would be packed. This was part of life for us," Prophet said.
Over the years, the hotel had historical guests such as Medgar Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he said.
Cochran said she and Edward Cochran's daughter, Lisa Cochran Henry, tried to keep the hotel going after Edward's death.
The hotel at one time lodged members of the Negro Baseball League, such as Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella and Joe Black, Jordan said.
Cochran said that during the trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the murder of Emmett Till in 1955, members of the black press also stayed at the hotel.
Greenwood businessman Allan Hammons, a member of the Heritage Trails program, said getting historical markers for the trail is a departure from most existing markers.
"They're a lot different in the sense that the front has cast letters in gold leaf and kind of a dark blue color.
The backside has actual photographs on it. We have maps. There could be a picture," he said.
"For example, if there was something from the Plaza Hotel that we could get our hands on, maybe a brochure, or photo, or menu. We could make it actually appear on the backside of the marker," Hammons said.
The use of such a descriptive panel expands the potential for telling the story of Greenwood's blues and civil rights heritage, he said.
Thomas said the visit was informative.
"There's a lot of rich blues history here. We want to make sure we do it right," he said.
Jordan said Greenwood's rich story is just waiting to be told.
"When tourists come, that's what they want. They want the truth. They want the real thing," he said.
