Tutwiler, MS

Tutwiler began as a railroad headquarters in 1899, when civil engineer Tom Tutwiler established a base seven miles northwest of Sumner. The railroad later built a yard and a two-story depot whose upper floor served as the town’s first school. Tutwiler incorporated in 1905, grew around rail traffic, and then lost population and business after the yard moved to Clarksdale in 1929. That rise and retreat still sits underneath the town’s Delta geography, about seventy miles south of Memphis in Tallahatchie County.

Tutwiler also occupies a major place in blues history. W. C. Handy reportedly heard a slide guitarist at the depot in 1903, and a Mississippi Blues Trail marker now marks the site. West Tallahatchie School District serves the community through Bearden Elementary near Sumner and West Tallahatchie High School near Webb. The old railroad story, the blues marker, and school routes form the town’s practical and cultural map. Tutwiler is a place where music history grew out of a train stop and remains attached to the same depot ground.