The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale,

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. Missis ...

, United States, is a museum dedicated to collecting, preserving, and providing public access to and awareness of the musical genre known as the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. Along with holdings of significant blues-related memorabilia, the museum also exhibits and collects art portraying the blues tradition, including works by sculptor Floyd Shaman and photographer Birney Imes. The museum is located in the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Passenger Depot, also known as Illinois Central Passenger Depot or Clarksdale Passenger Depot, which was built in 1926 and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1995.

Museum

The museum houses many artifacts related to the blues, notably the shack where blues legend

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post- war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago ...

purportedly lived in his youth on Stovall Plantation, near Clarksdale. The shack was restored to structural stability through the intercession of Isaac Tigrett the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at H ...

owner and transported from Stovall Plantation on a tour of HoB venues before being returned to Mississippi to the museum and rebuilt inside. There is a 2003 30-minute documentary of the same name. In 2013, a marker was placed outside of the museum as part of the

Mississippi Blues Trail The Mississippi Blues Trail was created by the Mississippi Blues Commission in 2006 to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the birth, growth, and influence of the blues throughout (and in some cases beyond) t ...

. The museum has been visited by many notable artists such as

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in '' Rolling Stone''s list ...

and

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

. The Texas-based rock band

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature soun ...

, especially front man

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, '' Fla ...

, have made this museum their pet project and have raised thousands of dollars in support. The

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that Preservation (library and archival science), cares for and displays a collection (artwork), collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, culture, cultu ...

also focuses on educating young people interested in learning to play musical instruments.

Railroad building

The building was added to the

in 1995. The museum then moved into the former railroad depot in 1999. The circa 1918 brick building served as the passenger rail depot of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad and later the freight depot of

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...

References

External links

Official website
*
Mississippi Delta Blues Society
{{authority control 1979 establishments in Mississippi Museums established in 1979 Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Museums in Coahoma County, Mississippi Music museums in Mississippi Mississippi Landmarks National Register of Historic Places in Coahoma County, Mississippi Blues organizations Mississippi Blues Trail Clarksdale Railway stations in the United States opened in 1926 Clarksdale, Mississippi Former railway stations in Mississippi

Museum

Railroad building

See also

References

External links