by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com
In 1987, Amory, Mississippi, celebrated its 100th anniversary. A centennial medallion was designed and issued in limited editions of bronze or silver.
Little did I know when I bought one of the silver medallions that twenty-two years later I would be writing about Amory and its origins. I remembered the medallion and went to the lock box and retrieved it. After a quick polish, the medallion is lovely and presents a great deal of history of Amory and of Cotton Gin Port, the small village from which Amory evolved.
The medallion was designed by Debra Swartzendruber (obverse) and by Annette Gentry (reverse). One and one-half inches in diameter of 39 MM --10 Ga., the medallion is 1 troy ounce of .999 silver.
On the obverse, the design elements include the words Amory Mississippi Centennial, 1887 - 1987, and Cotton Gin Port Amory's Beginnings. The design shows a river steamboat representing river traffic on the Tombigbee River to Cotton Gin Port, northernmost port town on that river. Blossoms and foliage of the Mississippi State Tree, the Southern Magnolia, completes the design.
The reverse represents Amory's strong ties to railroading. Engine # 1529, which is on permanent display in Amory's Frisco Park, forms a strong visual reminder of Amory's historical beginnings to the railroad line, Kansas City, Birmingham, and Memphis Railroad, which missed Cotton Gin Port and resulted in the town's relocation.
For more information about Amory's history and fourteen photographs go to Hill Country Places: Amory, Mississippi.
For a short video click this link --- Amory Mississippi: Through the Front Windshield.
IMAGES:
Amory Mississippi Centennial Medallion, Photographs by Terry Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi, September 8, 2009.