Greenwood, Mississippi

The first settlement on the banks of the Yazoo River was a trading post founded by John Williams in 1830, and known as Williams Landing. The settlement quickly blossomed, and in 1844, was incorporated as Greenwood, named after Chief Greenwood Leflore. Growing into a strong cotton market, the key to the city's success was based on its strategic location in the heart of the Delta. The city prospered as a shipping point to New Orleans, Memphis, and St. Louis, Missouri until the latter part of the Civil War.

The arrival of railroads in the 1880s, saved the city - with two lines running to downtown Greenwood, close to the Yazoo River. Once again, Greenwood emerged as a prime shipping point for cotton. Downtown's Front Street bordering the Yazoo bustled with cotton factors and other related businesses, earning that section the name Cotton Row. The city continued to prosper in this way well into the 1940s.

Greenwood, Mississippi

The miracle of electricity was first made available in Greenwood in 1894. T. Staige Marye and Charles E. Wright were awarded a contract on March 6, 1894, for furnishing and operating a street lighting system. Greenwood at that time had a population of about 1,200 inhabitants. On August 7, 1901, an ordinance was passed by the City Council authorizing a referendum on a franchise to C. E. Wright for the construction of a waterworks, electric lights and sanitary sewerage system. This franchise was to extend for a period of twenty-five years, but the City reserved the right to purchase the utilities at any time during this period.

In 1946, Greenwood Light & Water took a major step forward with the installation of a new 7,500 kW steam-turbine generating unit. Designed to burn coal, natural gas and oil, independently or at the same time, the new addition brought the combined capacity of the system to 15,500 kW. At the time it was the largest municipally owned plant in the state.

Greenwood Utilities

In 1976 two important sources of traffic developed on the Columbus & Greenville. The groundbreaking for the Columbus lock and dam of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway project was held on June 14, 1975, providing valuable traffic in cement and stone over the next couple of years. More importantly, 1976 saw the arrival of thirty cars a week of coal traffic bound for Greenwood Utilities. This business came via an all rail route from Kentucky. After an interruption, the coal arrived down the Mississippi River and was unloaded at the Port of Greenville, then via an all C&G rail haul to Greenwood. It is interesting to note that this important source of revenue is the exact opposite of what was forcast by the builders of the railroad. They, of course, saw coal from the coal regions of Alabama being transported to the river and loaded on barges for shipment. Over the last two years the coal shipments to Greenwood Utilities have averaged twenty cars a week.

Louis R. Saillard — Delta Route: A History of the Columbus & Greenville Railway — 1980