Mississippi Highway 50 (MS 50) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

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 ...

. It generally follows an east/west track for and runs from MS 9 in Walthall,

, east to the

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

state line east of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

. MS 50 serves the following Mississippi counties: Lowndes,

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, and

Webster Webster may refer to: People *Webster (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Webster (given name), including a list of people with the given name Places Canada *Webster, Alberta *Webster's Falls, Hamilton, Ontario United State ...

Route description

MS 50 begins in the

North Central Hills North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

region (part of the Appalachian Foothills) in Webster County at an intersection with MS 9 in the village of Walthall. It heads east as a two-lane highway through downtown, where it has an intersection with MS 784 (Main Street), before leaving Walthall and continuing east through rural areas for a few miles to an intersection with Clarkson Road and N Sappa Road, where state maintenance ends and the road winds its way east through remote wooded areas as Old Highway 50 and Avent Road (parts of which are unpaved dirt road). The county road passes through the community of Clarkson, where it briefly turns right onto Clarkson road, before turning left onto Abbott Road for half a mile, and then turning left onto Cole Road and leaving the community. Cole Road passes through a mix of farmland and woodlands for the next several miles, where it becomes paved as well as becoming Jackson Road, before coming to an intersection with Old Cumberland Road (CR 167). Here MS 50, as well as state maintenance, restarts and heads along Old Cumberland Road to cross under the

Natchez Trace Parkway The Natchez Trace Parkway is a national parkway in the southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Natchez Trace and preserves sections of that original trail. Its central feature is a two-lane road that extends 444 miles (715 ...

and enter the community of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

. MS 50 passes straight down the center of the community, where it has an intersection with MS 765 (Natchez Trace Road, a connector to the parkway), before leaving Cumberland and coming to an intersection with MS 15. MS 50 becomes

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with MS 15 and they head south through woodlands for several miles before MS 50 splits off and continues east to cross into

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Flor ...

. MS 50 now enters the

Golden Triangle Golden Triangle may refer to: Places Asia * Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia), named for its opium production * Golden Triangle (Yangtze), China, named for its rapid economic development * Golden Triangle (India), comprising the popular tourist ...

region and it passes through the community of Pheba, where it has an intersection with MS 389. The highway travels through the community of Cedar Bluff before having intersections with both MS 46 and MS 47 and entering the

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

city limits. MS 50 passes through some neighborhoods before having an intersection with US 45 Alternate/ MS 25 and passing straight through downtown along Main Street. The highway now passes through more neighborhoods before leaving West Point and traveling east-southeast through farmland for several miles to the community of Waverly, where it crosses a bridge over 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 ...

(

Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

) into Lowndes County. MS 50 travels through wooded areas for several miles to become concurrent with MS 373 before coming to an intersection

US 45 U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as . US 45 is notable for incorporatin ...

, where MS 373 ends and MS 50 turns south along US 45. The highway enters the

city limits as an undivided four-lane and soon passes through a long major business district for a few miles to come to an interchange with

US 82 U.S. Route 82 (US 82) is an east–west United States highway in the Southern United States. Created on July 1, 1931 across central Mississippi and southern Arkansas, US 82 eventually became a 1,625-mile (2,615 km) route extending from ...

(unsigned MS 12) just north of downtown, with US 45 heading west along US 82, MS 50 heading east along US 82, and the road continuing into downtown as MS 69 (N 5th Street). US 82/MS 12/MS 50 head east along a four-lane freeway that bypasses the entire downtown area on its north side, having interchanges with 18th Avenue N and Military Road (as well as crossing

Luxapallila Creek Luxapalila Creek (also spelled Luxapallila Creek) is a stream in Mississippi and Alabama in the United States. ''Luxapalila'' means "flying turtle" in the Choctaw language. The creek drains a watershed of and flows through Lamar County, Mario ...

). MS 12/MS 50 split off from US 82 at an interchange with Tuscaloosa Road, heading east as a four-lane boulevard through a business district for not even a mile to an intersection where MS 12 splits off and heads north. MS 50 now narrows to two-lanes and leaves Columbus, traveling through farmland for several miles to come to the

state line southeast of Steens, with the road continuing into Alabama as State Route 96 (SR 96).

History

MS 50 was originally designated in 1932 as Mississippi Highway 10 (MS 10). It was redesignated in 1960 as MS 50 to eliminate confusion with then newly constructed

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML
Magnolia Meanderings
050 Transportation in Lowndes County, Mississippi Transportation in Clay County, Mississippi Transportation in Webster County, Mississippi