Literary Vacations—Mississippi

Tour the Historic Homes of Faulkner, Williams, and Welty

Nov 11, 2009

For lovers of barbeque and Southern Literature, no place holds more promise than the state of Mississippi. Plan a trip to The Magnolia State and tour writers houses.

Some states, like New York and Massachusetts, draw writers to them—other states seem to grow writers from their very depths. No state matches the latter description more fully than Mississippi, where cultural dichotomies, living history, and heat combine to form a landscape where storytellers flourish. The home state of William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Eudora Welty remains a beautiful and inexpensive place to visit.

Historic Home of William Faulkner

William Faulkner named re-christened his Oxford, Ms, home “Rowan Oak.” The pre-civil war Greek revival house his family owned for more than forty years. The house’s original owner, Colonel Sheegog, had called it “Bailey Place” when he lived there in the 1840’s. A few years after Faulkner’s death, his daughter, Jill, sold Rowan Oak to the University of Mississippi in an effort to maintain the house as a literary monument to her father. The acres of land surrounding Rowan Oak is populated with cedars and hardwood trees, and offers scenic walking paths for visitors. Self-Guided tours are free and available year round. Call ahead for daily hours.

Visit Tennessee Williams’ House

Though Tom “Tennessee” Williams spent most of his adult life in New York, New Orleans, and Key West, he is celebrated as a Mississippi writer, and his birthplace in Columbus, Mississippi serves as a state welcome center. Williams’ family home is a two-story Victorian house located in the center of Columbus (the house was moved from a side street to main street in 1995). Self-Guided tours are free and available year round. Call ahead for daily hours.

Eudora Welty Historic Home

Eudora Welty lived at this address in Jackson, Mississippi, for over seventy-five years, beginning when her father commissioned the design and building of the house when Eudora was in High School. Very stylish and modern for its day, the house is a large Tudor-style, built by the architect who planned the first skyscraper in Jackson. On display in the home are Welty’s furniture and personal items, and outside the house Eudora’s flower garden is maintained the way is was when she tended it. Guided Tours are available year round by reservation only. Call ahead for reservations.

Square Books

No visit to Faulkner’s hometown of Oxford, Mississippi is complete without a stop at the best bookstore in the south, Square Books, located in the heart of town. Square books is a thirty-year-old independent bookstore specializing in southern writers, and featuring a particularly impressive selection of southern poetry. A trip to Square Books frequently results in the discovery of a great new writer. Open Daily, call ahead for hours.

The copyright of the article Literary Vacations—Mississippi in Mississippi Travel is owned by Eva Gordon. Permission to republish Literary Vacations—Mississippi in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.