CARROLLTON

May 5, 2012 § Leave a comment

Carrollton, population 400, County Seat of Carroll County, population 10,500, a hillcountry county for the most part, falling off into the Delta along its western edge. The Carroll County Picture Show in Bobbie Gentry’s Ode to Billy Joe was here. The movie version of Faulkner’s The Reivers, starring Paul Newman, was filmed in Carrolton. The extinct hamlet of Avalon, in northwest Carroll County, was the birthplace of bluesman Mississippi John Hurt.

The courthouse in Carrollton was built around 1870 and features breezeway halls that cross perpendicularly. The halls are cool in the summer and cold in winter. A dog was enjoying the cool of the concrete floor on the warm afternoon when we dropped in. Upstairs is the old court room, its electronic trial gadgets adding a discordant punctuation to the plain, stately setting.

The day we visited, jail trustees had just finished moving all of the Justice Court records out of the old courthouse to the newer, storefront version in Vaiden, in the southern part of the county. Vaiden is the largest town in mostly rural Carroll County, and is the seat of the County’s other judicial district. Carroll is one of around 10 Mississippi Counties that have 2 judicial districts, making them for court purposes like two separate, distinct counties. It’s an archaic concept, but unlikely to be undone any time soon, since Carrollton and Vaiden are unfriendly rivals.

Across from the courthouse to the north is the white frame building that was the 19th-century law office of James Zachariah George, a formidable figure in Mississippi history. You can see it in street scene photo below. J.Z. George was a native of Georgia who moved to Mississippi. He fought with Jefferson Davis in the Mexican-American War and later became a lawyer. He was a reporter for the Mississippi Supreme Court, and signer of Mississippi’s Ordinance of Secession. He was an officer in the Civil War, and was taken prisoner twice. After the war, he served as Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, and later as US Senator. His statue is Mississippi’s offering in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol.

Carrolton is a sleepy town that seems to cling tightly to its past, as the photos suggest. There are old homes and old churches, the flag of a defeated cause, and a patina of faded glory.