Alamucha, Mississippi

Alamucha (also Alamutcha) is an unincorporated community in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, United States.[1]

Alamucha, Mississippi
Unincorporated community
Alamucha Location in Mississippi Show map of Mississippi Alamucha Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 32°21′32″N 88°28′07″W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Lauderdale
Elevation	315 ft (96 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID	691662[1]

It is located 16 mi (26 km) east of Meridian, and 3.5 mi (5.6 km) west of the Alabama state line.

History

Alamucha originated as a Choctaw settlement, and was named for the nearby Alamuchee Creek.[2][3][4]

Alamucha became one of the earliest non-native settlements in Lauderdale County.[5]

A postal road was established from Marion, via Alamucha, to Gaston, Alabama in 1838, and a post office had been established in Alamucha by 1841.[6][7]

Lodge No. 130 of the Grand Masonic Lodge of Mississippi was established in Alamucha in 1850.[8]

Civil War

In 1861, local plantation owner Peter H. Bozeman recruited men to serve in "The Alamucha Infantry", of which Bozeman was captain.[9] Volunteers from Clarke, Lauderdale, Newton and Tippah counties joined the Alamucha Infantry (Company E), which was attached to the 13th Infantry.[10][11] John J. McElroy, a merchant from Alamucha, enlisted in Bozeman's Company in May 1861, and the following month participated in the Battle of First Manassas.[12] Later in the war, Leonidas Polk, a general in the Confederate States Army, temporarily evacuated his troops to a location near Alamucha.[13]

Decline

Alamucha began to decline during 1850s and 1860s as railroads were constructed through neighboring communities.[14]

All that remains today at the settlement are some homes along Highway 496, and a station of the Alamucha Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department.[15]

Notable people

• Willard F. McMurray, co-founded Trumpet Records with his wife Lillian McMurry.[16][17]

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Alamucha
2. Davis Davidson, June; Putnam, Richelle (2013). Legendary Locals of Meridian. Arcadia. p. 7.
3. Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. 1. Southern Historical Publishing Association. p. 58.
4. Baca, Keith A. (2007). Native American Place Names in Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi. p. 3.
5. Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. 2. Southern Historical Publishing Association. p. 57.
6. The Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America. V. C.C. Little and J. Brown. 1850. p. 280.
7. Register of All Officer and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1841. p. 241.
8. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi. Clarion Steam Printing. 1882. pp. 493, 534.
9. Wynne, Ben (2006). Mississippi's Civil War: A Narrative History. Mercer University Press. p. 44.
10. Tucker, Phillip Thomas (2013). Barksdale's Charge: The True High Tide of the Confederacy at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. Casemate. pp. 168, 169.
11. Busey, John W.; Busey, Travis W. (2016). Confederate Casualties at Gettysburg. McFarland. p. 693.
12. "The Seven McElroys of the Thirteenth Mississippi Infantry C.S.A." Mississippi Signals C.S.A. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
13. "Merrehope, Circa 1858". Meridian Restorations Foundation. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
14. "Extinct Towns & Villages of Lauderdale County, Mississippi". Genealogy Trails. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
15. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Alamucha Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department
16. "Trumpet Records - Jackson". Mississippi Blues Commission. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
17. Ryan, Marc W. (2004). Trumpet Records. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 6, 7.