Greenwood, MS (GWD)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2011

$1,239,166

Station Ridership

FY 2011

15,151

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

The Greenwood depot was built around 1917 by the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad, an Illinois Central Railroad subsidiary. On August 10, 1917, the Greenwood Enterprise reported, “The new station will be one of the handsomest on the lines of the Illinois Central Railroad in a town the size of Greenwood, and will far surpass any station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley or Illinois Central lines between Memphis and New Orleans.” The red brick, two-story structure was built for $60,000. The depot falls in Greenwood’s Railroad Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Greenwood is the county seat of Leflore County. The Tallahatchie and Yalobusha Rivers meet here to form the Yazoo River. Greenwood is one of the few places where one can stand between two rivers flowing in the opposite direction (the Tallahatchie and the Yazoo). The Choctaw and Chickasaw were the first inhabitants of the delta. In 1830, Choctaw Chief Greenwood Leflore signed the Treaty of Dancing Creek, opening the area to European settlers. Later that year, John Williams founded a trading post called Williams Landing. The settlement began to grow, and in 1844 was incorporated as “Greenwood” after Greenwood Leflore. Greenwood’s cotton industry began to flourish due to its strategic location in the heart of the delta. The city served as a shipping location to Vicksburg, St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. For many years, Greenwood was known as the “Cotton Capital of the World.”

During the Civil War, Greenwood played an important, yet little known, role. In early 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant planned to attack the port city of Vicksburg by way of the Tallahatchie and Yazoo Rivers. A makeshift Confederate fort was placed between the two rivers. The Confederates fiercely defended the rivers and sunk the Union paddle wheeler, Star of the West. Grant retreated north to the Mississippi River to find another way to attack Vicksburg.

By the end of the Civil War, Greenwood’s cotton industry was hurting, and the city saw very little growth. However, the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s turned the city’s luck around. Two lines intersected in downtown Greenwood, the Columbus & Greenville Railway and the Illinois Central (now CN). The city reemerged as a cotton shipping point. Downtown’s Front Street became known as Cotton Row. The cotton industry dominated until the 1960’s. Cotton remains as one of the major crops of the soil rich Mississippi Delta.

Leflore County’s African American community has produced extraordinary musicians, such as Mississippi John Hurt, B. B. King, Walter “Furry” Lewis, Denise LaSalle, and Hubert Sumlin. Radio station WGRM in Greenwood was the site of B. B. King’s first live broadcast. The historic Browning Community in Greenwood is the oldest African American community in the state, and one that shaped the delta blues musicians. The blues musician Robert Johnson has three memorial gravestones in the Greenwood area. Little Richard recorded a song entitled, "Greenwood, Mississippi."

Other notable Greenwood residents include Fred Carl Jr., founder and CEO of Viking Range Corporation, pro football player Kent Hull, Willye White, a five-time Olympian and medalist, Gerald Glass, a professional basketball player, and vocalist Bobbie Gentry.

Today, Greenwood is experiencing a growing tourism industry and a cultural renaissance. It is the home of the Viking Range Corporation and the Viking Cooking School. Its historic downtown offers a boutique hotel, upscale shops, fine dining, museums, and galleries. However, Greenwood’s small town charm and Southern hospitality remain intact.

Amtrak does not provide ticketing or baggage services at this facility.

Greenwood is served by two daily trains.