CARROLLTON – While the blockbuster film, “The Help”, continues to draw huge audiences around the world, one of the plantations used in the movie will be open for touring during the annual pilgrimage in Carroll County this week. The Carroll County Development Association (CCDA) will sponsor their third annual Carrollton Pilgrimage starting Thursday, Sept. 29 and it will end Sunday, Oct. 2.
According to Pamela Lee, a member of the CCDA board and tourism chairman for Carroll County, the purpose of the pilgrimage is to highlight the rich cultural and historical heritage Carroll County has to offer.
“We started the pilgrimages back when we celebrated our 175th anniversary as Carroll County in 2008,” Lee said. “For many years, Carrollton had a reputation of being preserved not restored and that is still the predominant status. The business area did get run down for a while and Carrollton was placed on the 10 most endangered places in Mississippi list. Since that time, a lot of the downtown has been restored and a variety of businesses have been active on the square.”
Lee said five historic churches will be open for touring during the pilgrimage including Carrollton Baptist which dates back to August 1833 and Bear Marsh which was established in 1870.
Tourists can also visit the Carrollton Masonic Lodge – one of the oldest in the state; the Merrill Building; Gee’s Store and the old jail which opened in 1897 and closed in the 1960s.
Eight homes will be open for the pilgrimage including Cotesworth, home of the J.Z. George family since 1847. Used as the “Foote Plantation,” in “The Help”, Lee said Cotesworth also has a number of interesting historical items and structures on display for the pilgrimage.
“[You can see] the desk where George drafted and refined the 1890 Mississippi Constitution,” Lee said. “Also on display will be the electric car belonging to George’s youngest daughter, Lizzie and the unique hexagonal library in the front yard [which] provided a quiet place for George to read, write and draft documents that would shape our nation.”
J.Z. George, known as Mississippi’s “Great Commoner,” was was an American military officer, lawyer, writer and politiian. George served as a private in the Mexican-American War under Colonel Jefferson Davis, and on his return to Mississippi, George studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1854, he became a reporter of the Supreme Court of Mississippi and, over the next 20 years, he prepared a 10-volume digest of its cases.
Built around 1840 – initially as a coach stop on the route from Holly Springs to Natchez – Cotesworth was leased to George in 1853 and later sold to him.
On the grounds is George’s private office and library. The structure is an octagonal building with six windows, a door and fireplace on opposite walls. Instead of the bookcases running along the walls, they extend from the corners like spokes toward the center of the room, which is open for the desk. A cupola above creates a draft when the windows are open to provide cooling in the summer.
The home was named for George’s close personal friend, Judge Pinckney Cotesworth Smith, and even though it still remains in the George family as a working plantation, the grounds, house and library are open for tours as the Cotesworth Cultural and Heritage Center.
On Sept. 29, the first day of the pilgrimage, movie food stylist Lee Ann Flemming will be hosting “Tastes from The Help,” at Cotesworth. Visitors who have made reservations in advance can sample some of the foods the actors ate during the filming – cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad, homemade rolls, Deviled eggs, Tomato Aspic, glazed carrots, fruit salad, sweet tea, and ‘Minny’s Chocolate Pie’.
The pilgrimage will also feature lessons in forestry and cattle, music, arts and crafts.
Lee said the pilgrimage is a “must see” for any Mississippi history buff.
“Whether you come to the annual pilgrimage or make arrangements for a private group tour at another time,” Lee said, “we welcome you to Carrollton, Mississippi – Where The Past is Present.”
For more information and for a full listing of pilgrimage events, log onto: www.visitcarrolltonms.
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