Work is almost complete on a project that will turn downtown Kosciusko into an interactive history lesson.
The project is being called the Downtown Kosciusko Historic Mobile tour. The walking tour follows the original Natchez Trace, highlighting notable locations downtown such as Redbud Springs Park, the Attala County Courthouse and the site where General Andrew Jackson camped on a trip to New Orleans.
“This is something to be proud of,” said Kosciusko Mayor Tim Kyle. “I hope it draws more people in our community to come down just to see where these things happened.”
Maps for the tour are available at the Visitor’s Center, City Hall, and the Kosciusko-Attala Partnership.
One side of the map (pictured above) contains several important locations throughout the historic downtown area. The map also has a QR code that, when scanned with a cell phone, brings up a website with 17 audio/video files that have information about the historic sites.
Audio: An excerpt from one of the tour’s audio files on “Redbud Springs.”
The other side of the map features short paragraphs on the history of the Natchez Trace, notable people and events that lived or visited the area, and a timeline for Kosciusko.
The entire project is the work of Bad Hoss Maps, a New Mexico based company that creates historical maps for books, museums, and for government agencies such as the National Park Service, U.S. Forestry Service, the Department of Indian Affairs.
“This will be good not only for visitors, but our local residents as well that don’t know this history,” said Kyle. “There was a lot that I had never heard of until we get this done.”
Audio: Kosciusko Mayor Tim Kyle explains more about the tour during the August 8 edition of “Minute with the Mayor.”
Audio: Randy Bell’s August 15 news report on the Historic Walking Tour
