Gateway to Ground Zero

The Delta Blues Museum

This huge collection, the state’s oldest music museum and the world’s first dedicated to the Blues, is housed in the old railway passenger depot which was built in 1926. It has the fantastic address of No.1 Blues Alley.

From small beginnings - founder Sid Graves would take the collection home every night for security - it has grown into a massive, if somewhat chaotic, series of displays. This includes the unbelievable sight of the original shack which Muddy Waters grew up in, now painstakingly transplanted into the collection. One could spend hours here and still have plenty more to see. It’s extraordinary and we must thank the many benefactors who have ensured its survival and growth, perhaps none more than rockers ZZ Top, especially front man Billy Gibbons. “No photography signs” abound, which is a shame, but the museum store is well stocked.

Beyond the store are the huge rooms where the museum undertakes its second mission: teaching a new generation of Blues musicians. A must-see.