Draft:Union County Heritage Museum

Union County Heritage Museum Located at 114 Cleveland Street, New Albany, MS 38652, this museum occupies approximately 11,000 square feet. with seven galleries and the William Faulkner Library, the museum features permanent and changing exhibits. Three permanent exhibits include The Land, The Resources and The People which tells the story of the county from the late cretaceous period through World War II. Immense fossilized bones and tusks tell of a time when now extinct creatures roamed the hills of North Mississippi. A portion of the KT Boundary is on exhibit at the museum. An exhibit that features the Chickasaw People who once occupied the area shows objects as well as tells about the beginning of barbeque when Hernando De Soto came to the area and brought the first pigs to North America. The Civil War brought troops who burned New Albany in 1863 with the Grierson's Raid in an attempt to keep people from going to the aid of the people in Vicksburg during that siege. The birth of William Faulkner on the corner of Cleveland and Jefferson Streets is told in this gallery. William C. Faulkner is the only Nobel Prize winner from Mississippi moved from the town as a youth He won the prize for Literature and is considered the greatest writer of the 20th Century. The www.ucheritagemuseum.com is located at this museum. It features The plants Faulkner used in his landscape and includes sculptures related to the writer's work. Hunting and fishing is part of the county's story as is the coming of big game hunter Paul J. Rainey who was a wealthy man from Pennsylvania. He made a difference in the community by opening the first garment plant as well as other businesses, including banks, an ice house a bottling company and a large farm known as Tippah Kennels, located at Cotton Plant, a small community which straddles the Tippah-Union County line in North Mississippi. Paul Rainey is one of the characters that has gained mythical status through the decades. He was a wealthy big game hunter who chose to call the North Mississippi area home. He died at sea in 1923. The exhibit The Sporting Life of Union County features many athletes. Some of the notable athletes include Eli Whiteside who played with the San Francisco Giants when they won two world Series. John Stroud is a basketball layer from West Union in Union County who is broke the scoring record in the South Eastern Conference when he played for the University of Mississippi. He later played for the Houston Rockets. Stroud's father Johnny Stroud, was also a professional basketball player who played on several teams, including the Whiskered Wizards. Armintie Price Herrington, was a successful African American girl who played at Myrtle High School and earned a scholarship to the University of Mississippi. She was drafter from there to play on the Sky team as well as others. She came back to UM as an assistant coach to women's basketball. Doc Marshall was a baseball played from new Albany who played for the New York Giants in the 1920s and 1930s, Bob Boyd was a baseball played from Union County and the Potts Camp area who played in the Negro League and was the first African American drafted by the White Sox team Glen Howe, New Albany native, played for the University of Southern at Hattiesburg and was drafted to play on the Atlanta Falcons team.

Big game hunter Chico Foote grew up in Union County and was a successful businessman who hunted big game throughout the world. His collection is on exhibit at the museum in the Heritage of the Hunt Gallery.

Creative people from Union County featured at the museum include Mosley and Johnson (Sam Mosley and Robert Johnson) blues duo who traveled throughout the world playing the blues. Elder Roma Wilson and the Rev. Leon Pinson are also well known blues musicians from Union County who are featured on the Mississippi Blues Trail. Television Producer Hudson Hickman is from New Albany, Union County. He produced the TV shows of MacGyver, The Love Boat, The Walton Reunion and many others. Fashion designer Gayle Kirkpatrick was born in New Albany. His popular designs were worn by many in the 1970s and 1980s.. He received the Coty Award for his work. You see his styles of the mini skirts, geometric design on the cutting edge of design in the 1960s during the cultural revolution. There is much to see at the Union county Heritage Museum. Visit www.ucheritagemuseum.com for more information.