Po' Monkey's was a

juke joint Juke joint (also jukejoint, jook house, jook, or juke) is the African-American vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African Americans in the southeastern United St ...

in unincorporated

Bolivar County Bolivar County ( ), officially the County of Bolivar, is a County (United States), county located on the western border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 30,985. Its county sea ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, United States, outside of Merigold. The juke joint was founded in the early 1960s and was one of the last rural juke joints in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...

. It ceased operating after the death of operator Willie "Po' Monkey" Seaberry in 2016. The shack was originally sharecroppers' quarters. It is made of tin and plywood, held together by nails, staples, and wires, loosely fashioned and made by Seaberry. The low ceilings of the joint were lined with Christmas lights, naked babydolls, street signs, wrapping paper, disco balls, and dozens of stuffed-animal monkeys. The outside of the joint features a sign reading: "''No Loud Music, No Dope Smoking, No Rap Music."'' Po' Monkey's was operated by Seaberry until his death in 2016. He also had a

life estate In common law and statutory law, a life estate (or life tenancy) is the ownership of immovable property for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms, it is an estate in real property that ends at death, when the property rights may rever ...

in the property itself, meaning that he owned it during his lifetime. Upon his death, ownership of the property (but not the building's contents) reverted to the Hiter family. Especially in its earlier years, Po' Monkey's was an incubator for the

Delta Blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

scene. In 1990, Birney Imes featured the club in his book, ''Juke Joint''. By the 1990s, it attracted a mix of people, from college students coming from

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta. History The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricultu ...

Cleveland, Mississippi Cleveland is a city and one of two county seats of Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States, the other seat being Rosedale, Mississippi, Rosedale. The Cleveland population was 11,199 as of the 2020 United States census. Cleveland has a large c ...

, to fans of Blues music and the atmosphere of juke joints. In 2000, famed photographer

Annie Leibovitz Anna-Lou Leibovitz ( ; born October 2, 1949) is an American Portrait photography, portrait photographer best known for her portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid ...

photographed the juke joint. During this decade, it attracted a raunchier crowd filled with provocative dancing, strippers, and $2 cans of beer. Seaberry was best known for his colorful suits: he would often change suits several times a night, sometimes including humorous or sexually-charged items with his suit. In 2009, the Mississippi Blues Commission placed a historic marker at the Po Monkey's Lounge designating it as a site on 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 ...

for its contribution to the development of the blues (and being one of the few authentic juke joints then operating). In May 2014, it was featured in Season 3, Episode 24 of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. In 2015, Richard Grant vividly described a visit in his book, ''Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta'' and featured a photo of the juke joint on the cover. Billy Nowell, the mayor of nearby

at the time of Seaberry's death, called Seaberry a "positive influence" on

. Seaberry was found dead on July 14, 2016. Po' Monkey's ceased operating after Seaberry's death, and the contents of the building were sold at auction to Shonda Warner, a former resident of

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19t ...

, who had frequented the joint.

References

Further reading