Editing Friars Point, Mississippi (section)

==History==
[[File:Front of Friar's Point Showing Levee..png|thumb|left|Friars Point from front of Levee, {{circa|1900}}]]
[[File:Off Court House Str. Lee in distance.png|thumb|left|View of the Mississippi River from the courthouse roof, {{circa|1900}}]]
[[File:View from top of court house looking north.jpg|thumb|left|Looking north, {{circa|1900}}]]
[[File:Minie Ball House.jpg|thumb|right|The Minie Ball House, the oldest house in Friars Point]]
[[File:Friars Point Methodist Church.jpg|thumb|right|Friars Point United Methodist Church]]

Friars Point is one of two hypothesized locations where Spanish explorer [[Hernando de Soto]] may have crossed the Mississippi River (the other is [[Commerce, Mississippi]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brain |first=Jeffrey P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jmevLg1bysC&pg=PP1 |title=The Archeological Phase: Ethnographic Fact or Fancy? |work=Archaeological Essays in Honor of Irving B. Rouse |publisher=Mouton |year=1978|isbn=9783110803259 }}</ref>

The town was founded in 1836 and originally called "Farrar's Point". When the town incorporated in 1852, its name was changed to "Friar's Point"{{when|date=September 2023}} to honor Robert Friar, an early settler, legislator, and businessman who sold fuel to passing steamboats. In 1850, the [[county seat]] was moved from the nearby town of [[Delta, Mississippi|Delta]] to Friars Point.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Friars Point City Historical Markers |url=http://www.stoppingpoints.com/mississippi/Coahoma/Friars+Point/ |access-date=December 1, 2013 |publisher=StoppingPoints.com}}</ref><ref name="Hood">{{Cite web |last=Hood-Adams |first=Rebecca |date=August 7, 2001 |title=County has Plenty to Offer Local 'Tourists' |url=http://www.pressregister.com/article_a80f8fa8-3cb3-5da4-a1ac-ecb34e7b24a0.html |publisher=Clarksdale Press Register}}</ref>

Strategically situated at a bend in the Mississippi River, Friars Point flourished before the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] as the largest shipping center for cotton south of [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]].<ref name="Nelson">{{Cite book |last=Nelson |first=Lawrence J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NfyYgEb1_YC&pg=PR4 |title=King Cotton's Advocate: Oscar G. Johnston and the New Deal |publisher=University of Tennessee Press |year=1999|isbn=9781572330252 }}</ref>

During the Civil War, [[Union Army|Union]] troops occupied and burned portions of the town. The [[Robinson-Slack-Marinelli House]] (now the Minie Ball House), which still stands and bears the mark of shelling from gunboats, was used as a headquarters by Union General [[Napoleon Bonaparte Buford]].<ref name="Kerstine">{{Cite web |last=Kerstine |first=Margie |date=Spring 2005 |title=Clarksdale: A Mississippi Delta Jewish Legacy |url=http://www.jhsmem.org/SHNewsletters/SHNSpring2005.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216005934/http://www.jhsmem.org/SHNewsletters/SHNSpring2005.pdf |archive-date=December 16, 2013 |url-status=live |publisher=Southern Jewish Heritage}}</ref> General [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] and Admiral [[David Dixon Porter]] used Friars Point as a rendezvous for 45 transport ships in December 1862, prior to attacking [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]].<ref name="North">{{Cite web |title=North Delta Museum |url=http://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/1166457 |access-date=December 1, 2013 |publisher=Stories USA}}</ref> Friars Point was also home to [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] Brigadier General [[James L. Alcorn]], whose grave and former plantation, [[Eagles Nest, Mississippi|Eagles Nest]], are located a short distance east of the town.<ref name="Friars Point">{{Cite web |title=Friars Point |url=http://www.usacitiesonline.com/mscountyfriarspoint.htm |access-date=December 1, 2013 |publisher=USACitiesOnline}}</ref> Alcorn turned from [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] to [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] after the war, and went on to become governor with the support of the large number of “[[carpetbagger]]s” who had settled in Friars Point.<ref name="Nelson" />

In 1875 towards the end of [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]], violence from the Democrats  ([[Mississippi Plan]]) included [[James L. Alcorn]] leading a whites against black Republicans at Friar's Point. The battle led to a number of people being killed, and served to suppress the black vote, allowing conservative Democrats to regain political power.<ref>{{Cite book |first=George C. |last=Rable |title=But There Was No Peace: The Role of Violence in the Politics of Reconstructiony |year=2007}}</ref>

The famous gunman and train robber [[Jesse James]] came to Friars Point one evening during the 1880s. He visited with the Methodist minister, then played poker and had some drinks at the local saloon. The next morning he was gone.<ref name="Kerstine" />

The [[Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad]] was completed to Friars Point in 1887.<ref name="Kerstine" />

In 1888, the county jail at Friars Point was completely destroyed by fire, killing five prisoners.<ref name="Kerstine" />

[[Charles Lindbergh]] ran out of gas while flying his plane over Friars Point in 1924, and landed at a place he later called "The Haunted House".<ref name="Kerstine" /><ref name="North" />

As nearby [[Clarksdale, Mississippi|Clarksdale]] grew in population and influence, it challenged Friars Point's hold on the county government. In 1892, Coahoma County was divided into two jurisdictions, one going to Friars Point and the other to Clarksdale. In 1930, the county seat was given exclusively to Clarksdale. Historian Lawrence J. Nelson wrote that by that point, "Friars Point had receded into a sleepy river community."<ref name="Nelson" />

In the 1930s there was ferry service between Friars Point and [[Helena, Arkansas]]. The cost was one dollar for a car and driver and 25 cents per passenger.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4VQ8viRWvYC&pg=PP1 |title=Mississippi: The WPA Guide to the Magnolia State |publisher=Viking Press |year=1938|isbn=9781604732894 }}</ref>

On April 26, 2011, a tornado&mdash;part of the [[2011 Super Outbreak]]&mdash;hit Friars Point. The tornado was rated [[Enhanced Fujita scale|EF0]], with estimated wind speeds of {{convert|75|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.

''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine wrote in 2013:
<blockquote>Once a thriving port town and the county seat, economic decline has left Friars Point with a lone elementary school, a few churches, a city hall, a post office, a small general store, a museum that opens only sporadically, a nightclub called Show T Boat where a man was shot to death in 2011, and a bank. The town no longer has a doctor or health clinic, a drug store, a sit-down restaurant, a recreational center, a library, or any businesses to speak of. Kids travel 15 miles to Clarksdale for junior and senior high school.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carr |first=Sarah |date=July 3, 2013 |title=Plight of Rural Schools Laid Bare in Dying Delta Town |url=https://nation.time.com/2013/07/03/plight-of-rural-schools-laid-bare-in-dying-delta-town/ |publisher=Time}}</ref></blockquote>

===Delta blues===
[[Muddy Waters]] said the only time he saw [[Robert Johnson]] play was on the front porch of Hirsberg's Drugstore in Friars Point. A crowd had gathered around Johnson, who was playing ferociously. "I stopped and peeked over," he said, "and then I left because he was a dangerous man."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cobb |first=James Charles |url=https://archive.org/details/redefiningsouthe0975cobb |title=Redefining Southern Culture: Mind and Identity in the Modern South |publisher=University of Georgia |year=1999 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Delta Sites |url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/delta/blues/sites/delta_sites.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021162529/http://www.cr.nps.gov/delta/blues/sites/delta_sites.htm |archive-date=October 21, 2013 |access-date=December 1, 2013 |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref> In a 1937 recording, Johnson sang, "Just come on back to Friars Point, mama, and barrelhouse all night long."<ref name="MBC" /> In Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues" he sang, "I got womens in Vicksburg, clean on into Tennessee, but my Friar's Point rider, now, hops all over me."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Friar's Point, Mississippi |url=http://www.mrjumbo.com/contents/delta99/3delta/1friars/friars.html |access-date=December 1, 2013 |publisher=Mr. Jimbo}}</ref>

The Mississippi Blues Commission placed a [[Mississippi Blues Trail|Blues Trail]] marker in Friars Point in recognition of musician [[Robert Nighthawk]], who at various times called Friars Point home. In 1940, Nighthawk recorded "Friars Point Blues", singing of "going back to Friars Point, down in sweet old Dixie Land."<ref name="MBC">{{Cite web |title=Robert Nighthawk - Friars Point |url=http://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/robert-nighthawk |access-date=December 1, 2013 |publisher=Mississippi Blues Commission}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Nighthawk to Get Blues Trail Marker |url=http://www.stlblues.net/robertnighthawk_marker.htm |access-date=December 1, 2013 |publisher=STLBlues}}</ref> When dedicating the marker, Governor [[Haley Barbour]] proclaimed:<blockquote>This talented Mississippian made a huge contribution to development of that unique genre of music, the Mississippi [[blues]]. I am pleased Nighthawk's imprint on the blues scene, which is still heard through the tunes of modern-day blues artists, will be recognized with his inclusion on the Mississippi Blues Trail.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}</blockquote>

"Friar's Point" is a song on blues musician [[Susan Tedeschi]]'s 1998 album ''[[Just Won't Burn]]''.