Eastport 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 ...

Tishomingo County Tishomingo County is a county located in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,593. Its county seat is Iuka. History Tishomingo County was organized February 9, 1836, from ...

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. During the 1840s and 1850s, Eastport became an important river port and boasted a population of 2,000 and many businesses. In 1857, the railroad missed Eastport and the townspeople began moving to nearby Iuka. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, the town again became an important river port, but by the 1890s the post office closed. When the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

was dammed to create Pickwick Lake in the 1930s, the old town was submerged. Eastport still exists as a small community with a marina.

Geography

Eastport is located northeast of Iuka at the end of County Road 956, which is also called Eastport Road. The community is located on the west side of Bear Creek where it flows into the Tennessee River.

History

Tishomingo County was established in 1836 after the Chickasaw Cession. Because it had access to the Tennessee River and the

Natchez Trace The Natchez Trace, also known as the Old Natchez Trace, is a historic forest trail within the United States which extends roughly from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers. ...

, Eastport soon became a major trading post. Steamboats plying the Tennessee River docked there to bring goods in and out of northern Mississippi. By 1838 Eastport was chartered and it soon became one of the most wealthy towns in the area. During the 1850s, as many as six steamboats per day stopped at the town's docks. The town's population may have reached 2,000 with a post office, many businesses,

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

churches, a Masonic lodge, a hotel, and a girls school. The turning point came in 1857 when the town's leaders rejected an offer to run the Memphis and Charleston Railroad through Eastport. Instead, the new railroad went through Iuka and many townspeople soon relocated there, some even moving their houses. By 1860, the town was already fading away. In 1862 during the Civil War, Federal gunboats shelled the town. By the 1890s, Eastport lost its post office and its last few businesses. When the Pickwick Dam was built in the 1930s, the old town was inundated by the river. The small present-day community includes a marina.

Geography

History

References

Further reading