Jacinto Courthouse: Poetic justice.

Perhaps that first indecision in the name was a warning of doom for the city of Jacinto, but it was a later decision by railroad that finished the once thriving town.  In 1836, after nearly a million acres of ceded Chickasaw lands became Tishomingo County, the county seat was first christened Cincinnati only to be re-christened Jacinto in honor of the recent battle in Texas.  At first the frontier town hummed with prosperity, with bustling taverns, newspapers and stage service four times daily. But when the railroad decided to bypass Jacinto that snub signaled the end.

Today, it’s impossible not to admire the town’s stubbornness in refusing to admit defeat when they constructed their new  courthouse back in 1854.  Built when the town was already dwindling and would soon be replaced as county seat (when the county was split into three), the Jacinto Courthouse, with its brilliant Federal design and brick walls nearly two feet thick, was built to last—and it did, maintaining its dignity in various guises, including as a school and as a business facility, before it finally stood down a wrecking ball to be restored.  Today, it is today one of the finest examples of Federal style architecture in America, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, immortalized on screen in the film adaptation of Faulkner’s story “Tomorrow,” starring Robert Duvall.  Open for tours on select days and times, the Courthouse is also the site of a popular annual Fourth of July celebration.

From the dignified Courthouse in Jacinto, it’s time to plunge into something refreshing, as you head further south, to Iuka.