Greenwood has a special relationship with the blues – a music born of field hollers used in the days when cotton was picked by hand. The Blues Trail is a work in progress of the Mississippi Blues Commission. It will consist of more than 100 historical markers throughout the state noting significant places and faces in the story of America's music.

Robert Johnson

A seminal figure in the history of the Delta blues, Robert Johnson (1911-1938) synthesized the music of Delta blues pioneers such as Son House with outside traditions. He in turn influenced artists such as Muddy Waters and Elmore James. Johnson's compositions, notable for their poetic qualities, include the standards "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Dust My Broom." Johnson's mysterious life and early death continue to fascinate modern fans. He is thought to be buried in this graveyard.

Hubert Sumlin

Hubert Sumlin’s sizzling guitar playing energized many of the classic Chicago blues records of Howlin’ Wolf in the 1950s and ‘60s. His reputation in blues and rock circles propelled him to a celebrated career on his own after Wolf’s death in 1976. In 2003 Rolling Stone magazine christened him one of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.” Sumlin was born on the Pillow plantation in a house that stood just west of this site on November 16, 1931.

WGRM Radio Studio

Before the 1950s, relatively few African American voices were heard on the radio in the South. A major exception was live broadcasts of performances by gospel groups. During the 1940s, this building housed station WGRM, which featured gospel music on Sunday afternoons. The most popular group was the Famous St. John's Quartet of Inverness, Mississippi, which included Riley King on guitar. King later became known as "B.B." while working in Memphis.

Elks Hart Lodge No. 640

During the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, the Elks Hart Lodge No. 640 at this site was one of the most important venues for rhythm and blues in the Delta. Particularly during the segregation era, fraternal organizations such as the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World (the “black Elks”) were central to African American political, cultural, and social life, and played an important role in the Civil Rights movement.

Mississippi John Hurt

World-renowned master of the acoustic guitar John Hurt, an important figure in the 1960s folk blues revival, spent most of his life doing farm work around Avalon in Carroll County and performing for parties and local gatherings. Hurt (1893-1966) only began to earn a living from music after he left Mississippi in 1963 to play at folk festivals, colleges, and coffeehouses. His first recordings, 78 rpm discs released in 1928-29, are regarded as classics of the blues genre.

B.B. King Birthplace

The long and remarkable life of B.B. King began near this site, where he was born Riley B. King on September 16, 1925. His parents, Albert and Nora Ella King, were sharecroppers who lived in a simple home southeast of here along Bear Creek. After his parents separated when he was four, King lived in Kilmichael and Lexington before moving as a teen to Indianola, which he referred to as his hometown.