Clarksdale, Mississippi has been a center for blues culture since the 1920s. Its location as a transportation hub—where Highways 61 and 49 connect, where the Illinois Central and other railroads maintained depots and passenger terminals, and where the Greyhound Bus Company built a station—made Clarksdale an economic boom town. Flush times created audiences with money to spend for entertainment, and the blues flourished in the city. Many now-legendary musical artists were born and raised in and around Clarksdale: Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Son House, Ike Turner, Jackie Brenston, Sam Cooke, Junior Parker, and W. C. Handy, among them. Clarksdale was a major market for the Delta’s constantly traveling musicians, and the likes of Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, and Charley Patton are also associated with the city. Today, that historic blues culture is preserved for visitors while contemporary musicians carry on the great Delta blues tradition.

Where To Stay

Clarksdale accommodations range from the colorfully idiosyncratic (which can mean no phones or Internet connections in the rooms) to the basic chain motels which may offer swimming pools and cable TV. •Big Pink Guest House A former icehouse converted into an elegant, New Orleans-style accommodation, with a waterfall in the courtyard, a Victorian parlor, and classy décor in its two suites. Kitchen available. A short walk from the Delta Blues Museum. From $100 up. (601) 431-4961 or (601)431-6149; www.bigpinkguesthouse.com • Blues Hound Flat Blues Hound Flat is a cool place to stay in Clarksdale, Mississippi. A self-catering apartment located in the heart of downtown Clarksdale, just steps from the Delta Blues Museum, and within easy walking distance to Ground Zero Blues Club, Madidi Restaurant, Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art and numerous authentic juke joints. Enjoy 1,500 square ft. of laid-back loft living all to yourself that can sleep up to 4. Blues Hound Flat is available for renting nightly, long-term stays, festivals, and special events. Space is limited. Call (901) 272-0230 or email today info@blueshoundflat.com for a reservation. 309 Issaquena, Clarksdale, MS www.blueshoundflat.com

• The Clark House Originally constructed in 1859 by Clarksdale founder John Clark. It was the first home built in Clarksdale, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Clark House has just been extensively refurbished and beautifully redecorated as a residential inn.

The Clark House offers four elegant bedrooms in the main house, and three bedrooms in the cottage, just behind the main home. Each room features a private bath, desk and sitting area. All rooms enjoy the use of the beautiful parlor, library and dining room. A continental breakfast and internet access is included.

The Clark House is located in the historic residential area, just two blocks from Downtown Clarksdale’s government, business and entertainment center.

Rooms are available from $75, and reservations can be made online at www.clarkhouse.info or by calling the Innkeeper at (662) 621-1632 www.clarkhouse.info

• Comfort Inn This basic chain’s swimming pool offers relief from Delta heat. From $65. (662) 627-5122 www.comfortinn.com

• Delta Blues Gateway Hotel Package at the Isle of Capri Casino Entertainment Resort
lula.isleofcapricasinos.com

• Delta Cotton Company Apartments. Tastefully decorated rooms, complete with appliances and coffeemakers, on the second floor of a former cotton-grading warehouse, over the Ground Zero Blues Club. Each room is named after a different grade of cotton (“Strict Low Middling,” for example). You’ll hear the music from below into the night (“you should be downstairs partying anyway” suggests the Web site). Perfect for longer-term stays and a very short walk from the Delta Blues Museum as well as from the lively ground-floor bar-music scene. $75-$105. (662) 645-9366 www.groundzerobluesclub.com

• Isle of Capri Coahoma County’s only casino, located between Clarksdale and Helena Ark. Straightforward casino-style hotel rooms, with amenities. Downstairs restaurant offers fine dining (see “Where to eat”). From $69-109. (800) THE-ISLE

• Riverside Hotel. As grittily authentic as they come, with spare accommodations (bathrooms are shared) that are drenched in Delta history. As the G. T. Thomas Afro-American Hospital, it was the scene of blues great Bessie Smith’s death after a nearby car accident (the room in which she died is for rent, when available). Converted to a hotel in 1944, it housed musicians such as Sonny Boy Wiliamson II, Robert Nighthawk, and Ike Turner. Now visitors book its rooms for their ultra-Delta ambience and to hear the colorful tales of proprietor Frank “Rat” Ratliff. From $40. (662) 624-9163

• The Lofts at the Five & Dime Formerly the FW Woolworth Building located in Clarksdale. Lofts include a bedroom, seating and kitchen areas. (662) 645-8874 www.fiveanddimelofts.com

•Shack Up Inn/Cotton Gin Inn The Shack Up Inn is a half dozen former sharecropper shacks that have been updated with indoor plumbing and air conditioning. The Cotton Gin Inn is just that: ten rooms carved out of a former cotton gin building. The shacks come with kitchenettes, porches, crazy-funky décor, and bedrooms that sleep two to four. The Cotton Gin Inn offers basic motel rooms with queen-size beds set inside a cotton gin building, with unique touches (hand-painted bathroom murals). Both are on the historic Hopson Plantation grounds, ten minutes south of town. $65 and up. (662) 624-8329www.shackupinn.com

• The Squeeze Box The Squeeze Box is a spacious, airy 425 sq. ft. private apartment, located in the heart of Historic Downtown Clarksdale, Mississippi. The newly constructed apartment is located on the ground floor of the former Clarksdale Telegraph Building (Circa 1897) at the corner of Second & Delta in the Clarksdale Downtown Historic District. Located across the street from Madidi(Morgan Freeman and Bill Luckett’s 5 Star Restaurant), the Hambone Art Gallery, and the “Rock & Blues Museum”, this is the best location in town. Rust Restaurant, The Stone Pony, and Cathead Blues are literally all within 300 feet of our front door. Ground Zero Blues Club and Red’s Lounge are an easy 5-minute stroll.
(732) 740-6155 www.homeaway.com

• Uncle Henry’s Place and Inn This B & B was formerly one of the South’s most famous Prohibition-era clubs, the Moon Lake Casino, and figures large in the writings of Tennessee Williams—it’s mentioned in several of his plays. (It was owned by his mother’s first cousin.) There are three rooms over the restaurant, a separate cottage, and the “Fisherman’s Shack (“basic but clean”). From $75-85. Located on Moon Lake, 20 minutes north of town. (662) 337-2757 www.unclehenrysplace.com

• Other Chain Options: Best Western (662) 627-9292; Budget Inn (662) 624-6541; Econolodge (662) 621-1110.