Picture-perfect Kosciusko.

Set your sights and set up your easel in Kosckiusko’s historic Downtown Square, where meticulously restored buildings house delightful shops and delicious eateries and where the Square’s centerpiece, the Attala County Courthouse, will celebrate its 110th anniversary next year. With decorative beehives perched on the four corners of the property to symbolize Kosciusko’s nickname, “The Beehive of the Hills,” this stately civic masterpiece is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Mississippi Historic Landmark.

Another Mississippi Landmark you’ll want to tour is the Mary Ricks Thornton Cultural Center. Housed in former Presbyterian sanctuary, an elegant gothic structure with stained glass windows and a graceful spire, the Center is also listed on the National Register.

While you’re downtown, be sure to take the entire walking/driving tour and marvel at the more than 25 historic homes, all built before the turn of the century. You’ll also marvel at L.V. Hull’s Ethnic Yard Art, where found objects take on a surprising new purpose—Mississippiana at its most unique.

But then unique and one-of-a-kind are something of a Kosciusko trademark, as the birthplace of both Oprah Winfrey and civil rights pioneer James Meredith. No visit to Kosciusko would be complete without a pass through Oprah Winfrey Road, where you can see the Buffalo Community Church, where Oprah first attended church, the Buffalo Community Center, the Winfrey family cemetery as well as Oprah’s birthplace.

From Kosciusko, the Natchez Trace takes you through forest and meadow to the simply named and simply beautiful French Camp.