Po' Monkey's was a

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

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Bolivar County Bolivar County ( ) 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 seats are Rosedale, Mississippi, Roseda ...

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, outside of Merigold. The

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 Yazoo ...

. It ceased operating after the death of operator Willie "Po' Monkey" Seaberry in 2016. The shack was originally sharecroppers' quarters. The building 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 ownership of the property may ...

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. Po' Monkey's was an incubator for the Delta Blues scene. By the 1990s, Po' Monkey's was attracting a conglomeration of college students, migrating from

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi Cleveland is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 11,199 as of the 2020 United States Census. Cleveland has a large commercia ...

, located in Cleveland, Mississippi, to juke joint pundits. In the 2000s, it housed in a raunchier crowd filled with dirty dancing , strippers, and $2 cans of beer. In 2009, the

Mississippi Blues Commission 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 ...

placed a historic marker at the Po Monkey's Lounge in 2009 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). Seaberry was best known for his strangely coordinated outfits of wildly exotic pantsuits . He could be seen sneaking out of bar room, into a bedroom offset of the drinking quarters, only to reappear in a new pantsuit. Billy Nowell, the mayor of nearby

Cleveland, Mississippi Cleveland is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 11,199 as of the 2020 United States Census. Cleveland has a large commercial economy, with numerous restaurants, stores, and services along U.S. 61. Clevelan ...

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.

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