Philadelphia Travel Guide

the philadelphia welcome center is located in the historic train station on SR 16 just west of downtown. the welcome center is a good place to learn about the attractions of neshoba county mississippi.

the neshoba county civil war memorial is located on the grounds of the neshoba county courthouse. this memorial is a standing soldier motif which is very common in the south.

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the following things to do tips is a virtual tour of the sites involved in the murders of james chaney, andrew goodman, and michael schwerner. andrew goodman and michael schwerner traveled to mississippi in 1964 to participate in the "freedom summer" voting rights campaign. because of high poll taxes and literacy tests only 6.7 % of african-americans were registered to vote in the state of mississippi in 1964. michael schwerner was a CORE (congress of racial equality) activist based in meridian mississippi. he helped establish several "freedom schools" in east central mississippi. these schools where set up in black homes and churches to teach voter literacy and political organization. on june 17 th 1964 the klu klux klan burned one of these schools near philadelphia. schwerner, chaney, and goodman traveled to philadelphia to investigate the incident. on their arrival they were arrested by sheriff's deputy cecil price and booked in the neshoba county jail. today the mt. zion methodist church has been rebuilt and there is a memorial marker to chaney, goodman, and schwerner at the site.

located on the grounds of the mount nebo mb church in phildelphia is a memorial to james chaney, andrew goodman, and michael schwerner.

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the neshoba county courthouse was the site of the 1967 trial of the suspects of the chaney, goodman, and schwerner murders. the defendants included sam bowers, sheriff lawrence rainey, deputy cecil price, billy posey, wayne roberts, and edgar ray killen. klan members james jordan, wallace miller, and delmar dennis were FBI imformants and testified for the prosecution. sam bowers, the imperial wizard of the mississippi white knights of the klu klux klan, ordered the execution of michael schwerner in may 1964 for his civil rights activities in meridian. klan members sheriff lawrence rainey and deputy cecil price after arresting the civil rights workers contacted bowers in merdian and gave him time to plan the assassination. when schwerner's car was overtaken after their release from jail wayne roberts shot and killed the three men. roberts and bowers were convicted of the murders and given a ten year prison sentence. billy posey and cecil price were sentenced to six years and the jury could not reach a verdict on edgar ray killen. killen was retried in 2005 and was sentenced to sixty years in prison.

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pictured is a roadside marker near the site of the murders of chaney, goodman, and schwerner. after they were released from jail they decided to return to meridian. they drove south out of downtown philadelphia on SR 19. deputy price and two cars filled with klan members followed them out of town and pulled them over at the intersection of SR 16 and rock cut road. the klansmen pulled chaney, goodman, and schwerner out of their car and beat and shot them.

most visitors to philadelphia come to gamble at the pearl river resort. the pearl river resort offers two casinos, the golden moon and the silver star. both casinos offer las vegas style gaming such as black jack, poker, craps, and slot machines. the pearl river resort has over 1,000 hotel rooms, ten restaurants, and two 18 hole golf courses. for those who like to gamble the pearl river resort is a great place to visit in east central mississippi.