Photo: By Thomas R Machnitzki via Wikimedia Commons
Modern replica of an early 1800s flatboat
thought this would be good to revisit
Early settlers arrived by boat, horseback, in wagons and on foot following
Indian trails or traces. The trip from North Caroline took a month or more.
Richard Nixon, in 1821, blazed his way from Madison County through cane brakes
and heavily wooded areas. Soon after Brownsville was designated as County Seat,
men were appointed to lay out roads in the direction of the county seats of
adjoining counties. Land owners adjoining these roads were responsible for
maintaining them.
The two rivers, Hatchie and Forked Deer, were navigable in the early 1800’s and
the steamboat Red Rover and her Captain Newman appeared at Brownsville Landed in
the fall of 1827. James Bond had his own steamboat to bring supplies up the
Hatchie and carry his farm products away. Traffic up and down the Hatchie and
Forked Deer rivers was mostly in small craft and flatboats. Among the several
ferries in operation were those at Lowry’s Landing, Brownsville Landing, Dupree,
Thompson and McGuire.
In 1836, the Stage Coach route from Jackson to Memphis came through Denmark,
Brownsville, Durhamville, Covington and Randolph.
HistoryandstoriesoftheHatchieRiver 