![[Nameplate]](http://www.democrattribune.com/images/nameplate.png)
RSS
Print
Email link
Respond to editor
Post comment
Share link
Facebook
Twitter
del.icio.us
Digg
StumbleUpon
Technorati
Newsvine
Reddit
Google
 The "Painted House" in Lepanto is a new addition to the Sunken Lands Cultural Roadway. (Photo provided) |
The Sunken Lands Chamber encompasses Lepanto, Marked Tree, Tyronza and Dyess. The Cultural Roadway begins at Tyronza and runs along U.S. 63 to Marked Tree, then to Lepanto on state Highway 140, to Dyess on state Highway 14 and ends at Wilson by way of U.S. 61.
Tucker said the goal of the roadway is to increase tourism and develop the sunken lands area. "We decided one of the best avenues [to reach the goal] was to develop the Sunken Lands Cultural Roadway," Tucker said. "It will be much like the Scenic Byways roads of the Mississippi River and Crowley's Ridge."
Tucker also said the road's end at Wilson will also connect to another roadway.
"U.S. 61 at Wilson just so happens to be part of the Great River Road, another part of the national scenic byway," he said. "Millions of people travel this road each year from Minnesota to Louisiana."
To date, three stops have been designated as officials stops along the roadway.
The Southern Tenant Farmers Museum
Located in the historic Mitchell-East Building at 117 Main Street in Tyronza, the Southern Tenant Farmers Museum enhances knowledge and understanding of tenant farming and agricultural labor movements in the Mississippi River Delta. It's vision is to preserve the history and promote the legacy of sharecropping, tenant farming and the farm labor movement. Restoration of the Mitchell building and development of the museum was made possible through grants from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council and a "We the People" Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The "Painted House"
The Painted House became a part of Lepanto's identity the filming of the "A Painted House" movie in 2002. The movie was based on a book by John Grisham and produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame. During the movie's production, the Lepanto Area Citizens For Progress Committee (LACFP) was form. The producers donated the Chandler house to the City of Lepanto in 2003, and committee members drove to Kansas City, Mo., to bring it back it back home.
The Chandler house was placed on permanent display on the south end of Greenwood Street in Lepanto and completely refurbished inside and out. Committee members also raised funds to expand the local tourist attraction by adding a barn to the homestead.
Historic Dyess Colony
Dyess Colony was founded on May 22, 1934, as part of the Roosevelt administration's Depression-era New Deal project. The goal of the administration was to give poor farm families a chance to make a fresh start with homes and land that they could work towards owning.
Dyess Colony consisted of 15,144 acres located in the southern portion of Mississippi County. The town grew to a couple thousand residents and stayed within that range for a couple of decades. The businesses and public services were cooperatively owned and operated by the people in the community. The original community included a school, hospital, churches, cotton gin, cannery, feed mill, icehouse, theatre, and many other businesses.
City and community leaders started the Dyess-Johnny Cash Memorial Fund to purchase and renovate the old Dyess Colony Administration Building downtown. Dyess City Hall will be moved there when work on the building is completed, along with space for a library, gift shop and special showrooms for hometown musicians Johnny Cash and Gene Williams.
Williams said additional stops will be added to the Sunken Lands Cultural Roadway in the coming weeks. Those who would like more information should contact Williams at 870-358-4998.