Bigbee (also known as Johnsons Mill) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: * Monroe County, Alabama *Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida * Monroe County, Georgia *Monroe County, Illinois *Monroe County, Indian ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. Bigbee is located northwest of Amory on

Mississippi Highway 6 Mississippi Highway 6 (MS 6) runs east–west from MS 161 in Lyon, east to MS 25 near Amory. It travels approximately , serving Coahoma, Quitman, Panola, Lafayette, Pontotoc, Lee, and Monroe Counties. West of Tupelo, it is concu ...

(close to its intersection with

Mississippi Highway 371 Mississippi Highway 371 (MS 371) is a state highway in northeastern Mississippi running from MS 6 near Amory to MS 4 near New Site. The highway has been in existence since 1950 but it has followed its current alignment si ...

History

Bigbee derives its name from shortening and alteration of the nearby

East Fork Tombigbee River East Fork Tombigbee River was a historical name of a tributary stream of the Tombigbee River in northeast Mississippi. Its confluence with Town Creek in Monroe County was the historical beginning of the Tombigbee. Today, however, what was once know ...

. Bigbee is located along the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

and in 1910 had two general stores and a sawmill. In 1892, George and Frank Houston built a sawmill in Bigbee at the junction of the

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties int ...

and the

St. Louis–San Francisco Railway The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway , commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to April 17, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated of road on of track, not includi ...

. The sawmill was in operation until 1903. The Houston Brothers' sawmill in Bigbee was one of the largest in Monroe County. The sawmill allowed Bigbee to be the second community in the county with electric lights and also operated a hotel and commissary. In 1906, Bigbee had an estimated population of 250. Bigbee is served by the Bigbee Community Center. A post office operated under the name Bigbee from 1890 to 1912.

References

Unincorporated communities in Monroe County, Mississippi Unincorporated communities in Mississippi Mississippi placenames of Native American origin {{MonroeCountyMS-geo-stub