9 Fun Things to Do in Water Valley, Mississippi
By Catherine Jessee
February 16, 2025, 4:15 pm
Directions
Heading southwest on MS-7 from Oxford, MS for about a half-mile will lead towards Water Valley, Mississippi. It is known to be one of the charming towns in the south. Statistically speaking, the population sums up to approximately 3,000 people; nevertheless, it is a small but energetic community that warmly greets locals and travelers as well.
The town is represented by a watermelon, and every August, there’s a Watermelon Carnival to honor this delightful local harvest, complete with a parade, floats, and fireworks. However, regardless of when you choose to visit, the charm of the area makes the trip along country roads worthwhile, and you always feel welcome.
Best Things to Do in Water Valley: Take Your Time and experience The Deep History of Mississippi Blues, Visit Parks, Cool Shops, And Unforgettable Sandwiches. One day in Water Valley will add to your experience.
William Faulkner, a 20th-century Southern Gothic writer, frequently drew inspiration from the North Mississippi region around his home. While Lafayette County has long been recognized as the core of Oxford, Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County, and even nearby Yalobusha County have come to be known as Water Valley- which inspired the fictional "Yalo Busha" in Requiem for a Nun. In the latter ‘work of his, Faulkner’s “famous last words” are spoken by a character: ‘The past is never dead…I’s not even past.
Museums and historic houses are worth visiting.
Only twenty miles from Oxford, Mississippi, Water Valley has long been known as a railroad town and the legendary engineer Casey Jones´s home, featuring a modest Mississippi arts and music center in the contemporary period. This metamorphosis in Water Valley´s character can be traced from history; one can go through the narrative of the Mississippi, South, and global history of railroads intermingled with blues music by visiting the Casey Jones Railroad Museum.
Walk by author Hubert Creekmore's historic residence, where he had literary conversations with Eudora Welty and a group named “The Night-Blooming Cereus Club” after the cactus flower that flourishes in Mississippi’s soft soil and warmer areas like Water Valley.
Casey Jones Railroad Museum, 105 Railroad Street Water Valley, MS 38965.
Draw on the art and music of your local community as an inspirational source.
Not only that, but Water Valley is a Mississippi Blues Trail site, and also the home of Matt Patton (Drive-By Truckers), who owns Dialback Sound, a contemporary recording studio. You can find it on Main Street in Water Valley: This Is Noteworthy (TIN), an inviting brick-and-mortar establishment. Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, TIN was established as a facility for artistic and community expression. Regularly, it’s holding events, art exhibitions, and installations and providing resources supported artists, musicians, and youth in the surrounding area on their way toward other creative aspirations.
No matter which way you walk the streets, there it is alive and kicking, in different yet always unique and inspiring forms. One such famous local painter is Bill Warren, known for his unique style of painting hand-painted signs and murals that grace buildings and businesses all over town. The likes of award-winning textile artist Coulter Fussell, painters Jonathan Kent Adams, Amy Webb, and James Kane exist and maintain studio spaces in Water Valley as well. Even people from far-off places have contributed to this town, including photographer Carolyn Drake, whose ‘Knit Club’ is a beautiful series documenting the friendships and camaraderies within a local women’s knitting group.
TIN. 16 South Main Street, Water Valley, Mississippi, United States. Have that much needed cup of Courthouse Café coffee. Take a walk over to the Yalobusha County Courthouse and pop into the Courthouse Café, which hums regularly throughout most weekday mornings. An espresso drink is not far from reach and various delightful breakfast items bear such strange legal-term names-some more transparent than others in their translation, but all are yummy.
I highly recommend trying the “Peanut Butter and Justice” – probably the best peanut butter sandwich I have ever had. This delightful dish is prepared with three hearty slices of sourdough brushed heavily with creamy peanut butter then fried in butter until it turns a delicate shade of golden brown. Added to that is the homemade apple butter made by a local celebrity noted for his skills—definitely a plus to the sandwich.
Visit Local Farms and Shop for Vintage Goods
You can grab that Courthouse ‘to go’ free coffee refill and take it next door to wander through Mulberry Lane Antiques, several rooms full of second-hand treasures. There’s much here to sift through: vintage clothing, art pieces, ‘low fidelity’ audio gear, and trinkets not duplicated anywhere.
To get to B.T.C. Grocery, all one has to do is walk across Main Street, where owners Alexe van Beuren and Kagan Coughlin have set up a place that carries everything from the bounty of fresh local produce - straight from the farmers in Water Valley –to vintage pottery and peculiar goodies from the South. The grocery also has a lunch counter opened Wednesday through Friday from 11 AM to 2 PM and on Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM, run by local chef Miz Yalonda Ramsey. The Banh Mi Catfish is Cajun, but which will prove more famous: the Blue Devil ‘Slap Ya Mama’? There’s certainly no better cook in this neck of the woods than Miz Ramsey. The initials B.T.C. stand for Be The Change, and it’s hardly possible to emerge from this place feeling anything less than inspired, imaginative, optimistic, and contented.
An Authentic Italian Dining Experience at Café 501, 501 S Boston Ave, Tulsa, OK 74103
Total Wine & More, 3202 S Memorial Dr, Tulsa, OK 74145
Outdoor Meal in a Scenic Park
End of list
Head over to the Hummingbird Bakery for a sweet treat, pick up a freshly baked loaf of sourdough to bring home for later. Go visit "Railroad Park" where you can feel the cool wind and have some shade under the Magnolias, or just walk across to the "Pocket Park,” which has vast greenery with lots of picnic tables perfect for spending the afternoon staring at the clouds. As night descends, twinkling lights illuminate a tiny stage that boasts daily bookings of local talent and bands.
102 Main Street, Water Valley, MS 38965: Hummingbird Bakery.
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Founded by Jaime Harker in 2017, Violet Valley is the only queer feminist bookstore in Mississippi and even the only bookstore anywhere in the region. This small Southern bookish haven has attracted visitors from Oxford, throughout Mississippi, and beyond who step in to explore the very special selection of new bestsellers, classics, anthologies of poems, literary criticisms, and more.
Considerable collections of books have been contributed by several professors and graduate students from the nearby University of Mississippi in Oxford, including works they wrote themselves. Harker, a retired professor, authored The Lesbian South (2018), which explores the Southern lesbian literature renaissance typically overlooked by authors such as Alice Walker, Rita Mae Brown, and Dorothy Allison.
Find the Largest Crappie in the World at 303 North Main Street, Water Valley, MS 38965.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Farmers Market is organized every first Saturday of the month from May through November at “downtown under the magnolia trees.” The precise location is marked by a sign hand-painted by local artist Bill Warren.
Here’s the “World’s Largest Crappie" a mere stretch from here, caught by Water Valley resident Fred Bright in 1957. This crappie has turned into somewhat a town mascot; every New Year's Eve, in the very exact spot, paper maché crappie is lowered at midnight at Water Valley.
Water Valley Farmers Market
Main Street "Under the Magnolias"
Water Valley, Mississippi 38965.
In the Crawdad Hole, you can get boiled peanuts along with deliciously prepared seafood.
So go on over to the Crawdad Hole, where, especially in the off-season, the number one food to try is boiled peanuts. Next door, you will find Voyager's Rest, once an old mechanic shop that is now serving as a very wonderful place for live music. This DIY aesthetic may register as low-key to visitors, but there is little doubt that, as the pleasant coolness of summer nights starts to set in, Voyager's Rest comes into its own as a favorite hangout for the locals.
A small stage yet big enough to carry performers may include Zydeco master Marcelle Simien, and indie performer Thomas Dollbaum, or guitarist Guelel Kumba, who mixes North Mississippi Blues with Fulani musical traditions and culture. Sometimes, the free music with red beans and rice makes for an evening that is equally fulfilling on the stomach as it is on the ears.
Crawdad Hole, 129 South Main Street, Water Valley, MS 38965
Voyager's Rest, 129 S Main St., Water Valley, MS 38965 is situated adjacent to the Crawdad Hole.
Check out the original piece on Southern Living.
