Fun Stuff to Do Around Clarksdale
Brick Gallery - Fine Art Gallery226 Delta Avenue
662-627-3939
Thur - Fri 10-5 Sat 10-2 or by appt.
Cathead Delta Blues & Folk Art
252 Delta Avenue
662-624-5992
Blues CDs, DVDs, books, t-shirts and folk art
Clarksdale Station
Located in Blues Alley – across the street from Blues Hound Flat
Renovated passenger train depot, now houses the Dutch Oven pastry shop and the Depot Blues Club
The Crossroads - A legendary tourist stop and great photo-op
Hwy. 61 at 49 in Clarksdale.
Carnegie Public Library
114 Delta Avenue
662-624-4461
Delta Blues Museum
1 Blues Alley
662-627-6820
Mon.-Sat., 9am-5pm, Mar.-Sept.; Mon.-Fri., 10am-5pm, Oct.-Feb.
Muddy Waters' cabin, signed guitars, blues photos and gift shop. A must-see!
Early Wright's Gravesite
Resting place of one of the South's most famous DJ's. Heavenly Rest Cemetery, Lyon, MS, just north of Clarksdale on hwy. 61. (Unfortunately, the grave lacks headstone at present.)
Friars Point/North Delta Museum
662-383-0051
15 miles northwest of Clarksdale off Hwy 1 is Friars Point, birthplace of Conway Twitty and home of the North Delta Museum with Civil War and Indian history exhibits.
Greyhound Bus Station
Corner of 3rd and Issaquena
Restored and available for tour bus parking and special events/receptions. Contact Delta Blues Museum at 662-627-6820 with questions.
Hambone Art Gallery
111 E. 2nd Street
662-253-5586
Art by Stan Street, artist and musician. Folk art and fine art, blues musician portraits, posters and more.
Henry "Son" Sims grave site
Buried in unmarked grave at Bell(e) Grove Cemetary. (Slated for eventual headstone courtesy Mr. Zion Fund.)
Hopson Plantation
Shack Up Inn / Hopson Commissary
1 Commissary Circle, off Highway 49
662-624-8329
Ike Turner's home - Where the Father of Rock 'n Roll grew up. 304 Washington St.
Mississippi Blues Trail Markers
Several Blues Trail Markers are in and around Clarksdale.
Moon Lake/Yazoo Pass
Bound by Highways 1 and 49, scenic Moon Lake is an oxbow of the Mississippi River. Tennessee Williams’ wrote about Moon Lake in several of his dramas.
Miss Del's General Store
145 Delta Avenue downtown Clarksdale
Mon.-Sat.
gourmet foods, antiques, fine chocolates, pecans and usually lattes and cappuccinos
Muddy's Mound
Stovall Rd between Lee Dr. and Hwy 1
Former site of Muddy Water's famous cabin (now housed inside the Delta Blues Museum). A marker on the site tells the story and includes this quote from Eric Clapton, "Muddy Waters' music changed my life, and whether you know it or not, and like it or not, it probably changed yours, too." ALSO, there is now a State Blues Trail Marker at the Mound. The cotton fields still thrive behind the site.
Quapaw Canoe Company
291 Sunflower Avenue
662.627.4070
Join artist/musician/adventurer John "Riverman" Ruskey on a canoe trip on the mighty Mississippi or the Sunflower River.
Riverside Hotel
615 Sunflower Ave.
(662) 624-9163
Site of African-American hospital where Bessie Smith died in 1937. Ike Turner, Robert Nighthawk, Sonny Boy II, Pop Staples, John Lee Hooker and John F. Kennedy, Jr. all stayed or lived here after it became a hotel/boardinghouse. There is now a State Blues Trail Marker at the Riverside.
Rock 'N Roll & Blues Heritage Museum
113 E. 2nd Street
901-605-8662
Museum full of rare rock and roll memorabilia from the 1950s and 60s. Open Friday and Saturday 11 am - 5 pm, open during festivals and by appointment.
Wade Walton's gravesite
McLaurin Gardens cemetary, Lyon, MS, just north of Clarksdale on hwy. 61. Nice headstone.
W.C. Handy Home marker – in front of Blues Hound Flat
The so-called "Father of the Blues" lived here in the early 1900s when he first heard the blues in nearby Tutwiler. On Issaquena, near Wade Walton's barbershop.
W.R.O.X Radio AM 1450
Clarksdale's Hometown Radio Station
W.R.O.X. Museum (a.k.a. Clarkdale History & Cultural Museum)
257 Delta Avenue
662-645-8874
This was the site of the W.R.O.X. blues radio station from around 1946 to 1953, according to the building's current owner, Bubba O'Keefe. Early Wright, Ike Turner and Robert Nighthawk all had shows here, plus Elvis, Sam Cooke and Sonny Boy Williamson II were all on the air there at some point in time. Open festival weekends or by appointment.