Iuka Remembers Times of Reconstruction

IUKA,Miss. (WCBI) — An Iuka historian calls his home a little town that time forgot.

For 28 years on Labor Day weekend the town of Iuka sees an influx of thousands of visitors for the annual Iuka Heritage Festival.

“I refer to Iuka as a little town that time forgot,” says historian Bill Gurley. “It’s a quiet little place with wonderful people. Cute little stores, a train that goes right through town 55 miles an hour sometimes 20 times a day. But it’s a very small community, very tight knit, a wonderful place to live a great place to retire.”

“During the Civil War we had the Battle of Iuka that was fought here,” reminds longtime Iuka resident Paul Morris. “This was one of the first areas that TVA started was in this part of Northeast Mississippi and a lot of culture and here you’ve got the charm of a small town but a lot of good people a lot of activities going on here,” he notes.

But perhaps the focal point of this weekend’s event is The Old Court House Museum which houses the Tishomingo County Historical and Genological Society as well as the Civil War Interpretive Center. And Gurley says all controversy over the Confederate Battle Flag can actually be traced to the Reconstruction period after the Civil War when groups like the Ku Klux Klan adopted the battle flag as their symbol of hate.

“It was about being a banner for white supremacy and that was really not what the Confederacy was about,” he explains. “The white supremacy thing was more of a symptom of a huge problem just economic catastrophy and chaos. And that’s really what the terrible times were about. It wasn’t about I’m better than you. It’s about nobody’s winning. The only people that were getting rich were Scalawags and Carpetbaggers. It was a horrible time,” Gurley recounts.

Gurley wants the next generation to understand the impact that reconstruction has on today.

Categories: Local News

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