(Published by Tishomingo County Historical and Genealogical
Society)
(Written by Cecil Lamar Sumners)
WOODALL MOUNTAIN
Woodall Mountain is located in Tishomingo County about four
miles southwest of Iuka at 806 feet elevation above sea level,
the highest point in Mississippi.
Bee Mountain, which is located about three miles north of
Woodall Mountain in Tishomingo County, is the second highest
point in Mississippi.
According to tradition Woodall Mountain in the early days before
1878 was called Yow Mountain. It is supposed to be named Woodall
Mountain after Zephaniah “Z.H.” Woodall who was the sheriff of
Tishomingo County in 1877. This was when the first Tishomingo
County courthouse at Iuka together with county records were
burned by incendiaries supposedly to destroy evidence in a
murder case.
The height of Woodall Mountain can best be envisioned by
standing at its top and looking south toward the Gulf of Mexico,
which is 300 miles away, and realizing that you are standing 806
feet above sea level of the Gulf of Mexico.
One may travel west from Mississippi State Highway 25 on a
winding road to the top of Woodall Mountain. On top of the
mountain there is a flat surface about 150 feet wide by 200 feet
long where at State Forestry fire tower is located and one can
see three states from the foot of the tower. These three states
are Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. Its view is spectacular
and well worth a visit.
The Union and Confederate armies marched by the foot of Woodall
Mountain. It was likely used as a lookout post by both armies
during the Civil War.
|