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17-544: Originally known as "Sharbrough's Landing" to river boat pilots the community was established by the Sharbrough family in 1877. Located on the Sunflower River , early delta cotton planters used the river to ship their cotton to Vicksburg and New Orleans . Holly Bluff is located at 32°49′17″N 90°42′32″W  /  32.82139°N 90.70889°W  / 32.82139; -90.70889 (32.82139, -90.70889). Following

34-692: A river in Mississippi is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sunflower River Blues %26 Gospel Festival The Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival is an annual music festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi . It is held the second weekend in August, lasting three days. Created as the Sunflower Riverbank Blues Festival in 1988, the festival features veteran and homegrown performers, attracting blues enthusiast from all over

51-735: Is on the southern margin of the Mississippian cultural advance down the Mississippi River and on the northern edge of that of the Cole's Creek and Plaquemine cultures of the South. [1] The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Holly Bluff has a humid subtropical climate , abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. Residents are within

68-615: The Civil War , two brothers, Franklin Wilson and John Walter Sharbrough came to the area now known as Holly Bluff. Their father, Franklin Wilson Sharbrough, a cotton planter from Smith County, Mississippi had lost everything during the war. The Sharbrough brothers first lived in the area around Green Hill Plantation on Silver Creek. They worked together buying and clearing land for farming. The older brother, Franklin Wilson Sharbrough purchased

85-652: The Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge , the Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge , and the Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge ; all are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service . In August 2023 the largest state alligator of record was killed in the river. 32°40′13″N 90°40′4″W  /  32.67028°N 90.66778°W  / 32.67028; -90.66778 This article related to

102-730: The Yazoo County School District . Residents are zoned to Yazoo County Middle School and Yazoo County High School . Sunflower River The Sunflower River (also known as the Big Sunflower River ) is one of the main tributaries of the Yazoo River in the U.S. state of Mississippi . It is navigable by barge for 50 miles. It rises in DeSoto County, Mississippi near the Tennessee border and flows south for 100 miles to

119-549: The Yazoo River, a major tributary of the Mississippi River. At Clarksdale , the county seat of Coahoma County , the annual Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival is held. The United States Army Corps of Engineers maintains a navigation channel, thirty miles in length. Built in 1976, the channel is used by barges and pleasure craft. According to the USGS , variant names include Hushpuckaman Creek. The Hushpuckena River drains

136-588: The bayous and small streams that feed it. The river has a distinct "Clear-Mud Line" where it meets the Yazoo, showing that the Big Sunflower is muddier than the Yazoo at their confluence. Early investigators of Native American culture identified many mound sites along the river. With what is now known of the cultures in the Southeast, scholars believe these earthwork mounds to have been built by cultures that existed before

153-540: The emergence of the Choctaw and Chickasaw peoples. Clarence B. Moore conducted notable studies of the earthworks on the river near Holly Bluff, about a half a mile from the entrance to Lake George. Land use along the river and in the watershed is predominantly agricultural, with many large-scale, industrial-style farms. From the antebellum period into the 20th century, cotton was the major commodity crop. Three forested areas have been designated as national wildlife refuges,

170-532: The fertile Yazoo Delta. In 1905, a line of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad, affectionately called the "Yellow Dog," was laid from Silver City, Mississippi to Holly Bluff. The principal purpose of the Holly Bluff line was to gain access to the cotton grown by the Sharbrough family in this rich section of the Mississippi Delta. After the building of the railroad, most of the cotton from Holly Bluff

187-539: The land on the north side of the Sunflower River and established Valley Home Plantation. John Walter purchased the land on the southern or Sharkey County side of the Sunflower River and called his place Patmos Plantation. Together, they built the first roads, bridges, levees and cotton gin in this part of the Mississippi Delta. Later, they built the first church then called "Sharbrough's Chapel" which still operates today as Holly Bluff United Methodist Church. In 1906,

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204-525: The northwestern part of the Sunflower River Basin, Quiver River drains the northeastern portion, and Bogue Phalia drains the west central portion of the watershed, all of which lies in the alluvium soil of the Yazoo Delta. At Sunflower, Mississippi , the river flow measures approximately 1,099 cubic feet per second. Like the Yazoo, this river is silt laden. The river collects mud from runoff in

221-484: The railroad requested the Sharbrough family change the name of Sharbrough's Landing to Sharbroughville. However, the family thought Sharbroughville would be too hard to spell and settled on the name Holly Bluff. Holly Bluff post office was established July 31, 1906, with Marcia M. Hackler as first postmaster. The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad had been incorporated in 1882 by the Illinois Central to penetrate

238-560: The world. Headliners have included Otis Rush , Ike Turner , Little Milton , Bobby Bland , Bobby Rush , Koko Taylor , Denise LaSalle , Super Chikan , and Robert Plant . The Sunflower Riverbank Blues Festival was funded by The Downtown Association of Clarksdale partnered with the Mississippi Delta Arts Council, WROX radio, Delta Blues Museum , Rooster Blues Records , City of Clarksdale, Cahoma County Chamber of Commerce, and Sunflower River Yacht Club. The event

255-762: Was and organized by Living Blues co-founder Jim O'Neal and Dr. Patricia Johnson in 1988. It took place on the banks of the Sunflower River and was filmed by Mississippi Educational Television (ETV). Since then, the festival has been organized by the Sunflower River Blues Association, funded by the Mississippi Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts . In 1991, the Early Wright Blues Heritage Award

272-629: Was established to honor Early Wright , "The Soul Man" of WROX radio who was Mississippi's first black radio disc jockey . In 1992, promoters Melville Tillis and Julius Guy held the Issaquena Gospel Festival. In 1993, the two festivals were merged into the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel festival. Tillis became co-chairman of the association. Guy died in 1993, and in 1994, the Julius Guy Gospel Heritage Award

289-577: Was sold in Memphis rather than New Orleans. Located just outside Holly Bluff on Mississippi Highway 16 is the Lake George Mound site . The mounds were built during the prehistoric Temple Mound period. The largest mound rises 55 feet and is the fourth tallest native American mound in the United States. The mounds were built for religious ceremonies and not habitation. The site is important in that it

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