History
The Mississippian Railway was established in 1923 primarily to haul lumber products from Fulton south to the interchange with the Frisco Railway in Amory.
In 1944 a bentonite plant was built in Smithville to take advantage of a large deposit discovered there which lead to a surge in business for the line and its nickname The Bentonite Road. By 1968 the bentonite deposits near Smithville had been depleted and the plant closed, however several industries had moved to Fulton and continued to provide traffic for the railroad.
In the late 1970s, construction of the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway threatened to flood about nine miles of track. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided it would be cheaper to abandon the line than pay to relocate it. Local business owners and public officials teamed up with the Appalachian Regional Commission to save the railroad. They successfully lobbied the Interstate Commerce Commission to withhold the sale of the line until the funds to purchase it could be found. In 1986, the Itawamba County Development Council purchased the Mississippian Railway and transferred it over to the Mississippian Railway Cooperative, an entity directly representing industries that relied on the railroad to transport their products. County leaders raised several million dollars to upgrade the severely degraded track to a condition where reliable service could be provided.
Today the Mississippian hauls between 100 and 120 cars a month operating three days a week.
Read more about this topic: Mississippian Railway Cooperative
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