Monticello is a town of 1500 people (2019) on the Pearl River in Lawrence County, south Mississippi. Monticello is home to several beautiful historic buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
Understand
Monticello was founded in 1798 and named for the home of Thomas Jefferson. The town's name is pronounced with a soft 'c' sound rather than the the 'ch' sound as the home of Thomas Jefferson is.
Around 1810, Joseph Cooper started ferry service across the Pearl River in Monticello. Beginning around 1812, St. Stephens Road ran from Natchez, Mississippi to St Stephens, Alabama crossing the Pearl River at Monticello. As Natchez was a prominent city at the time, Monticello gained perhaps its greatest claim to fame in 1821. The Mississippi legislature selected Monticello to be the state capital. However this honor was to be short lived as the legislature reconsidered and picked Jackson the very next day.
Prior to 1860, Monticello was important economically, as the Pearl River was one of the chief north-south transportation routes through Mississippi. However, the main railroad was built through Brookhaven diverting much traffic about 20 miles to the east. Despite the advent of the railroad and its construction east of the river, the Pearl River continued to be an important waterway. Between 1880 and 1922, a shipping channel was maintained in the Pearl River as far north as Jackson, allowing Monticello to remain on a major thoroughfare.
A devastating tornado tore through Monticello in April 1882 nearly obliterating every building. After the tornado, Monticello was rebuilt over the next several years.
The main industries in Monticello and Lawrence County are based on agriculture and pine trees, although there is manufacturer of large excavator buckets in Monticello as well.
Get in
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Monticello can be accessed by car via US 84 and several state highways. US 84 runs through Mississippi from Natchez to Laurel via Brookhaven and Collins. Monticello is between Brookhaven and Collins. A bypass around Monticello opened in 2006 and Monticello can now be accessed by two interchanges, one at Mississippi Highway 27 and one at Old Highway 27. The old highway 84 runs straight through the town and is signed as 184. Mississippi Highway 27 runs north/south through Monticello. If one is traveling south from Jackson, Highway 27 crosses Interstate 55 at Crystal Springs and provides convenient access to Monticello. Smaller state highways also service Monticello; 587 serves Monticello from the south toward the small communities of White Bluff and Morgantown and originates farther south in Fox Worth near Columbia. Highway 43 runs from Columbia north to Monticello on the east side of the Pearl River via Oakvale and Arm. Access to Monticello from the community of New Hebron in northeast part of Lawrence County is also provided by Highway 43.
There is no public transportation in Monticello as the passenger train depot closed more than 50 years ago.
Get around
As there is no public transportation in Monticello, the best ways to get around Monticello are by car and by foot. The core of Monticello is quite small and can be easily walked, Atwood Water Park and the two motels are a little farther away (each about 1 mile in different directions). This doesn't present too big a barrier, except that Atwood Water Park is across the Pearl River and the bridge over the river is particularly unfriendly for pedestrians.
See
- Lawrence County Regional History Museum (in the Lawrence County Civic Center at the corner of FE Sellers highway and Broad Street), ☏ 1 601 587-4422. M Tu F 9AM-4PM, W Th 9AM-2PM. A regional history museum that explores the history of Territorial Lawrence County. It highlights the St. Stephens Road, which connected Fort St. Stephens on the Tombigbee River, north of Mobile with the Territorial Capital of Natchez on the Mississippi River. Free.
- Behind the Civic Center, Coopers Ferry Park has a scenic boardwalk that overlooks the Pearl River along with an old Water Wheel from the old gristmill. The water wheel still turns (though the water is pumped now).
Do
The Town of Monticello operates several parks and two ball parks. Cooper's Ferry Park is just north of the Civic Center, while Atwood Water Park is a half mile east of the town center across the Pearl River. Atwood Water Park features camping opportunities as well as a boat ramp in the Pearl.
- 1 Lake Mary Crawford. Lake Mary Crawford, just north of Monticello, provides fishing opportunities for those inclined towards outdoor sports. While it is closed for maintenance as of 2021, it should reopen in the next year or two.
- 2 Atwood Musical Festival. On Memorial Day Weekend in late May, Monticello hosts the Atwood Music Festival, the longest running festival of its kind in Mississippi. The Atwood Music Festival typically headlines one or more country artists, often local to Mississippi. If you want to stay at Atwood Water Park for the festival, please note that all camping locations for the weekend typically are reserved a year in advance.
Buy
While Monticello is small, it still has several nice places to shop. While many of these places specialize in used items, there is still a wide variety of stuff available.
- 1 Village Antiques, 223 East Broad Street (on Broad Street a couple blocks east of the traffic light,), ☏ 1 601 660 7766. W-F 10AM-5PM; Sa 10AM-2PM. This antiques shop has a wide selection of goods from furniture to housewares. Many of them are quite nice.
- 2 Monticello Pawn and Outdoors, 1347 West Broad Street (Monticello Pawn and Outdoors is next to Los Parriellos near the two motels on Broad Street.). Tu-F 9AM-6PM; Sa 9AM-2PM. Monticello Pawn and Outdoors sells used items of all types, specializing in outdoor sports equipment.
Eat
Despite the small size of Monticello, there is a decent selection of dining options available.
- 1 Wards (Home of the Big One), 304 West Broad Street (on West Broad Street a few blocks from the traffic light across from the Busy Bee gas station), ☏ 1 601 587 7313. Wards is a local fast food chain in the south part of Mississippi. It specializes in hamburgers and hotdogs during the day. In the morning it offers a great breakfast.
- 2 Pizza Inn, 429 West Broad Street (on West Broad Street a couple blocks from the Post Office). Su-Th 11AM-10PM; F Sa 11AM-11PM. Pizza for delivery and carryout. It also has an all-you-can-eat buffet at lunch time every day. A specialty at Pizza Inn is the chocolate chip "Pizzart" that is a wonderful cap to any meal of pizza.
- 3 Los Parrilleros, 1345 West Broad Street (on West Broad Street near Dollar General). Daily 10AM-10PM. A wide selection of Tex-Mex dishes.
- 4 Joe Walt's Smokin' Grill, 158 F.E. Sellers Highway (just south of the Ramey's Supermarket on F.E. Sellers Highway). Daily 10AM-8PM. great southern barbecue with fries and sides.
- 5 China Wok, 316 F.E. Sellers Highway (on F.E. Sellers Highway south of the traffic light near the Ramey's supermarket.), ☏ 1 601 806 5080. M-Th 10:30AM-9:30PM; F Sa 10:30AM-10:30PM; Su 12:30-8:30PM. Offering takeout, China Wok provides a nice selection of Chinese dishes all served with fried rice.
- 6 Catfish One, 163 West Broad Street (just to the west of McDonalds at the traffic light). Th-Sa 11AM-8PM. Catfish One serves an array of fried seafood specializing in Mississippi farm-raised catfish. With the fried fish, one can get hush puppies, fries and other sides.
Drink
While Monticello has no bars, there are a couple places to get a drink. Like many places in rural Mississippi, most of Lawrence County prohibits the sale of wine and liquor. However, Monticello recently legalized wine and liquor and is now home to two liquor stores. Non-alcoholic beverages such as coffee can also be purchased at several establishments in Monticello.
Alcoholic beverages
- Andy's Liquor is across from Town Hall on Main Street.
- There is also a liquor store across from Duncan Chevron near Liberty Inn on Highway 27.
Non-alcoholic
For non-alcoholic beverages, McDonald's and the local Monticello Donuts and Kolaches serve coffee.
Sleep
The town of Monticello is served by two motels near the intersection of Mississippi Highway 27 and Highway 184 in the western part of Monticello. The Liberty Inn at the corner of Hoighway 184 (Broad Street) and Highway 27 has been a fixture in Monticello for close to two decades. The old Monticello Inn was renovated and reopened as the Pleasure Point Inn and Suites in the late 2010s. There are also camping opportunities at Atwood Water Park and Lake Mary Crawford. Atwood Water Park has tent camping and cabins.
Go next
| Routes through Monticello |
| Natchez ← Brookhaven ← | '  ' | → Collins → Evergreen |
| Vicksburg ← | '  ' | → New Orleans |