Solve the Mystery

In each issue of Mississippi Farm Country is a Mystery Photo. Everyone who solves the mystery will have his or her name entered into a drawing for a weekend getaway at a Mississippi Bed and Breakfast Inn sponsored by Farm Bureau. When all correct guesses have been received, we will randomly draw 20 names. These 20 names will receive a prize and have their entry placed in the hat twice for the drawing at the end of the year. This procedure is to accomodate members who receive their magazine at a later date than others. Families may submit only one entry. Federation staff members or their families are ineligible to participate in this contest. Good luck!

Answer the question correctly and you will qualify for the random drawing that determines our top twenty winners. You will also qualify for the bed and breakfast drawing at the end of the year.

This month's mystery

Which Lafayette County town, located eight miles south of Oxford, is known for its friendly hometown atmosphere and large community of artists? Read the clues and make your guess.

Name this town.

Here are your clues from the magazine:

Our mystery town has historic Victorian homes, turn-of-the-century downtown buildings, and lots of interesting art studios and galleries. Some 20 artists call this town their home.

“Our art community actually started with Bill Beckwith, who is famous for his bronze sculptures of William Faulkner in Oxford and B.B. King in Indianola,” said Mayor Jim Hamilton. “Bill bought property here, and his friends soon came. Some of these artists bought Victorian homes and fixed them up. Some of them live in the houses and some of them use them as galleries.”

Among the town’s resident artists are potters Obie Clark and Keith Stewart; sculptor Beckwith; photographer Jane Rule Burdine; furniture craftsman Marc Deloach and his wife Chris Schultz, who paints, crafts jewelry and is a photographer; potters Mike and Jenny Crowson; and painter Alice Hammell. The town is also home to Taylor P. O. Gallery and Gifts, which represents the work of some 40 artists.

Our mystery town offers a concept community called Plein Air. Built upon the town’s arty reputation, the community includes a fire station, in-season farmer’s market, Montesorri school, Olivia’s Corner Market, and Tin Pan Alley Arts and Antiques. Over Tin Pan Alley are offices. Current tenants include a publishing company and writer Ace Atkins, who is working on a book.

Our mystery town is also home to Taylor Grocery, a restaurant well-known for its fried catfish; Carter General Store, an old-timey country story that sells dry goods, sandwiches and sodas; and a cotton gin, one of the few still in operation in the state.

The town boasts a popular community center and Baptist and Methodist churches.

“We have a good mix of old and young residents,” said Mayor Hamilton, a longtime Lafayette County Farm Bureau member. “Some are descendants of the first settlers and some are new. Some are retired farmers and some still farm. We are pretty grounded in our heritage around here. And we are a close community.”

Speaking of heritage, this town was settled in 1832 by physician John Taylor and his wife Nancy. Taylor bought large tracts of land from the Chickasaws and built a mill on the Yocona River. Farmers began to cultivate the surrounding bottomland, and the town grew up around agriculture and the Mississippi Central Railroad, which came through in 1858

The area still boasts quite a few farms.

“We have a solid ag community, which is rare considering our proximity to the city of Oxford,” Mayor Hamilton said.

This mystery town saw its heyday in the mid- to late-1800s, as it grew and prospered. But it also endured tragedy. The town was occupied by Union troops during the Civil War. It experienced one of the worst train wrecks in the history of the state in 1870. A fire destroyed 13 buildings in the downtown area in 1910, and cotton farmers were devastated by the boll weevil in 1914. The town was hit twice by yellow fever epidemics in the late-1800s.

“We are a resilient community,” said Mayor Hamilton. “We appreciate our past and look forward to a great future, building upon a strong agricultural tradition and our wonderful community of artists.”

Name this town.

To enter the contest:

Write your answer on a piece of paper and include your name, address and phone number. Send your entry to:


Solve the Mystery Contest
Attn: Glynda Phillips, Editor
P. O. Box 1972
Jackson, MS 39215-1972

Or you may e-mail your entry to farmcountry@msfb.org.

Deadline for entries is January 31.