Railroad History

    Located near the site of the train wreck that took the life of the legendary engineer, the Casey Jones Railroad Museum State Park commemorates Jones' life and the story of railroading in Mississippi.
     Shortly after midnight on April 30, 1900, the "cannonball" left Memphis, Tennessee with Jonathan Luther "Casey" Jones at the throttle. Trying to make up time in the run from Memphis to Canton, Mississippi, Jones has just run through a stop signal when a freight train came into view crossing the track in front of the "Cannonball. Realizing that a crash was inevitable, Jones ordered his fireman to jump clear just before the "Cannonball" rammed into four cars of the freight train. Jones was killed in the crash.

The early 1900s were a period of expansion for the railroad across the country and train wrecks were almost a daily event. The brief account of the crash that appeared in the Memphis Commercial Appeal mentioned the engineer's death, but it was not considered a major news story.

The tale of the ill-fated "Cannonball" would have ended on that night in 1900 if not for a friend of Jones' and a popularity of Vaudeville. Wallace Saunders, and African American engine wiper in Water Valley and a friend of Jones was deeply moved by the engineer's death and composed "The Ballad Of Casey Jones" as a tribute to his friend. The song eventually found its way to Vaudeville and with the addition of some fictional verses, became a popular hit. By the end of World War I, dozens of versions of this song had been published and millions of copies of the sheet music were in circulation. Casey Jones had become a legend.

While in Vaughan, visit the Greg Harkins Woodworks, where plantation style rocking chairs are still manufactured by hand. Greg uses work techniques passed down from the mid 1800's. He has made chairs for 20 years, three of these as an apprentice under a Master Chairmaker. Greg has preserved a once dying craft by hand turning parts and using techniques to make extremely durable chairs of very fine quality. Each piece is dated and signed and guaranteed for life. His creations are in twenty countries and are in the homes of many famous people such as Pope John Paul, Bob Hope, George Burns, President Bill Clinton, and Former Presidents, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter.