The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2013
From the blues to the big top, we’ve picked the most intriguing small towns to enjoy arts and smarts
- By Susan Spano
- Smithsonian magazine, April 2013
(Jane Rule Burden)
The Mississippi Delta, as the Southern essayist David L. Cohn famously put it, “begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg.” The land is pancake flat, some of it below sea level, all soldierly fields of cotton, rice and soybeans, cut lengthwise by a railroad and later by Highway 61. Outlanders seeking the prettified Old South of Tara come away disappointed, but other visitors find culture as deep and rich as the soil, especially those who’ve heard the “Pea Vine Blues” sung by early bluesman Charley Patton.
American music would not be what it is today without the blues. It welled up in the Delta—arguably at Dockery Farms plantation, five miles east of Cleveland—for myriad reasons. But ultimately, said Tricia Walker, director of the Delta Music Institute at Cleveland’s Delta State University, “There was nothing to do at the end of the day but sit on the porch and play.”
There’s more to do now in Cleveland. New blood has washed through town, restoring the Historic Crosstie business district with its beguiling Railroad Heritage Museum, bringing an arts alliance to a vintage movie theater, filling rehabbed warehouses with galleries and restaurants. Creative young locals surprise even themselves by coming home to stay after college, though their art group’s wry motto—“Keep Cleveland Boring”—confounds elders. And here’s something for the front page: In early 2015 a $12 million Grammy Museum will open on the DSU campus.
The university, which opened in 1925 as a teacher’s college, kept Cleveland alive and draws audiences for concerts, dance, theater and film to its stylish Bologna Performing Arts Center. The Delta Center for Culture and Learning offers tours, lectures and workshops. The university’s Dave “Boo” Ferriss Museum celebrates a Delta-born Boston Red Sox pitcher and longtime DSU coach. The Delta Music Institute prepares students for careers in the industry and sends new talent to local clubs like Hey Joe’s, On the Rocks and the Pickled Okra.
No matter how hard Cleveland pulls toward the New South, it persists as an authentic Delta town where historic markers are about as common as stop signs. Chiefly shaped by white Methodists and black Baptists, it benefited from surprising infusions of Chinese and Italian immigrants enticed to Delta cotton fields, traveling Jewish salesmen, Irish mule traders and Mexicans who gave Cleveland its taste for tamales. The region’s literary bent produced Eudora Welty and Willie Morris, their work underscoring the Delta’s loquacity.
The talk these days is likely to be about football at Country Platter, favored by graduates of predominantly black East Side High School, several of whom went on to play for the NFL. Co-owner Jimmy Williams can tell you about Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy attending civil rights meetings on the premises and the health benefits of fried chicken, yams and peach cobbler cooked without too much oil. “The trouble is people are lazy,” he says. “They got to burn it off.”
The countryside east of town yields more history. Dockery Farms Foundation (a former plantation) vividly describes the sharecropping system that kept blacks in poverty or sent them into the Northern diaspora. Freedom Riders were held at nearby Parchman Prison. The 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till by two white men, likely in the hamlet of Drew, helped wake up a nation to the plight of Southern African-Americans. And then there’s the town of Mound Bayou, founded in 1887 by former slaves—the first haven of its kind in the United States—once with its own bank, train depot, swimming pool and hospital. The village, alas, now molders along Highway 61, but Peter’s Pottery thrives. It was started in 1998 by the Woods brothers, who learned the art of working native clay at McCarty Pottery, a celebrated ceramics gallery and garden down the road in Merigold.
It’s just a few winding, washboard miles to Po’ Monkey’s, set in open farmland crisscrossed by hickory breaks and bayous. A dilapidated collection of add-ons and lean-tos, it’s like all the other rural juke joints that once lit up the night sky, beckoning folks to dance, drink and listen to guitar slides. Fans kept stealing the historic marker out front so proprietor Willie Seaberry put a fence around it. Po’ Monkey’s is all about the blues—“No rap, period,” says Seaberry. Standing outside with the sun sinking and the lights of Cleveland blinking on, you can just about hear James “Son” Thomas, whose uncle taught him to play the blues by marking three chords on the neck of a guitar:
I ain’t gonna pick no cotton.
I ain’t gonna drag no sack.
I ain’t gonna do nothing ’til my baby get back.
Sign up for our free email newsletter and receive the best stories from Smithsonian.com each week.
Comments (76)
I couldn't agree more with your decision to put Petoskey on the list of summer "go to" places. I started vacationing there in 1988. I rented a place in Bay View for twelve years and knew it was where I wanted (and needed) to spend my summers! My husband surprised me by putting in an offer on a cottage in Bay View in 1999. The rest is history.... I will be packing my bags next week for my annual pilgrimage north! Thanks for recognizing the beauty of northern Michigan. Jane Austin
Posted by Jane Austin on May 10,2013 | 12:52 PM
Thank you for that great recognition. My book won the 2011 State History Award "Bay View, an American Idea" covers the close relationship of Bay View and the Hemingway family. Hemingway's mother a fine singer was deeply involved in the women's movement in Chicago and many of the women spoke in Bay View. His sisters both fine musicians performed on the Bay View stage - one a harpist and the other a violist. His aunt was a nationally known children's story tell who taught in Bay View.His brother in law was the grand nephew of John M.Hall the creator of the Bay View Assembly reading circle and magazine. Sterling met Marcelline in Bay View while she was staying at the home of Trumbull White. The family were close friends of Bay View assembly director Trumbull White who was a nationally known editor, writer, and war correspondent. Hemingway saught advice from him as a writer and the first thing Hemingway did was to take off to war.
Posted by Mary Jane Doerr on May 10,2013 | 09:17 AM
I agree. Fairfield, Ia is a most unique city. Surely a farm town but with an amazing quality of life not to be found elsewhere. J Las Vegas, Nv
Posted by Janice W on May 2,2013 | 05:43 PM
Fairfield is not only #7 small town to visit, it is one of the very best to live in. Homes are a bargain from 3 bedrooms under $100,000 to a 15 acre 8000 sq.. feet home with lake and barn for horses for under $600,000. Most everything seems unbelievably inexpensive.
Posted by Chet Swanson on April 22,2013 | 10:15 PM
Naples, Fl was on thr 2012 list and should have made this one. Great West Coast of Florida town for class, art, shopping, boating, beaches, golf,tennis, 3rd street, 5th ave, great dining, etc. Not just a place for winter snow-birds. Been everywhere and this is where I picked for home-sweet-home. Some may think a little high toned and up-erty? Well thats all great with us!!
Posted by Andy on April 19,2013 | 09:34 PM
Wyoming has many great small towns !!
Posted by Mary Link on April 18,2013 | 03:06 PM
MOST ANNOYING HAVING TO CLICK THRU ALL JUST TO SEE IF A CERTAIN TOWN WAS ON THE LIST. I FINALLY QUIT AT #5.
Posted by LARRY NELSON on April 12,2013 | 12:28 AM
Why not do something a little closer to home you know like Manassas/Bullrun or Lexington
Posted by Joey on April 11,2013 | 09:40 PM
Great article! Author Susan Spano is a college classmate, her travel stories are always interesting!
Posted by Eileen Murray on April 10,2013 | 07:11 PM
I, for one, didn't need confirmation of something I already knew: that Gettysburg is the best small town travel site in America. (But I'm glad it has been recognized in the Smithsonian Mag as well.) Gettysburg has something for everyone and I feel it's safe to say I can't think of anyone I know that would not enjoy a trip there. I love it there so much that I've seriously thought of packing up and moving to the area - leaving friends and family behind.
Posted by Chris Shelton on April 10,2013 | 03:44 PM
How I can get a tour?
Posted by methu on April 10,2013 | 02:20 PM
We love Gettysburg! So happy that the Smithsonian acknowleged this great town. Just a tip - Hauser Estate Winery, is our favorite.
Posted by Abby White on April 9,2013 | 12:43 PM
I grew up in cleveland and was elated to see the article
Posted by Gayle O'Quinn on April 7,2013 | 02:05 PM
unnecessarily unwieldy to look through cool idea, horrible format. UP YO GAME SMITHSONIAN
Posted by dpl on April 4,2013 | 09:35 PM
How could you have missed Vermont--a state of best small towns? Especially when you include an article about David Mamet who loves his small town in Vermont and contributes to it substantially in making it a community. And communities are what small town Vermonts are.
Posted by gail e anderson on April 4,2013 | 03:31 PM
So thrilled to see our wonderful Gettysburg at Number 1. Came here as children to visit as did our parents, with their parents to remember their grands who fought here on the fields.... We moved here in 2005 from PG County MD and have NEVER regretted it ~ Thanks Smithsonian! We appreciate your support and goodwill. C'mon up (or down) y'all and "set a spell"...:)
Posted by Stephanie on April 3,2013 | 08:37 PM
MUM is definitely accredited and has been for decades. MUM and its K-12 school produce award-winning graduates. Take a real look!
Posted by Claudia Magill on April 2,2013 | 01:05 PM
SMALL TOWNS FOR RETIREMENT???
Posted by JUNE BRENNAN on April 2,2013 | 09:27 AM
The "University" is NOT accredited!!! The "University" tore down an historic chapel on campus because the door did not face East...don't waste your time visiting anything on the MIU campus...it is a cult!!!
Posted by mary canaday-gray on April 1,2013 | 10:26 AM
What a lovely overhead view of Lihue, and how wise of you to shoot from there because down at the street level it's a whole other story. Unless this town has had a major facelift since 2009, that beautiful beach at Kalapaki is populated by overnight drunks who sleep on the tables and benches leaving no room for a vistor. Garbage lies in the streets, and the noise from the relentless 'boomcars' keeps the hotel occupants up half the night while an indifferent police force stands by doing nothing. Marijuana is everywhere. If you have a lot of money and can live at the other end of the island, you don't have to deal with the urban rot of Lihue but that's where the ships come in and it makes a terrible impression. This is NOT one of the country's "best small towns." It has lost its aloha.
Posted by Judy Ellis` on April 1,2013 | 07:06 AM
could you please just show the entire list and make it linkable? that way you can eyeball the entire list and just click on the ones you want to see. clicking thru 22 pages (which take FOREVER to load) is too frustrating. won't do it, even though i'd love to see the list. i simply don't have the time to navigate so slowly.
Posted by Nicki on March 29,2013 | 12:45 PM
It sure would be nice if we could just view the list without having to click 22 times. Dislike.
Posted by Liz on March 29,2013 | 10:33 AM
Seems a potpourri of criteria (including what qualifies as a "small town" were used in the selection process which makes the list uninteresting to me and dubious, although there were a couple of good places to visit. Who ever did the web design should be put in a corner with a dunce cap for an hour... horrible to navigate! Can't believe I made it all the way through but was trying to see if I could find a pattern the the selection process... unsuccessfully.
Posted by Greg G on March 29,2013 | 10:25 AM
So glad you included my favorite small town- St. Augustine! It is a pretty wonderful place to call home. :) If readers want to dig deeper into all our city has to offer, I write about it on my site www.SimplyStAugustine.com where I love to share my faves!
Posted by Allie O on March 29,2013 | 09:40 AM
The segment on Cleveland, MS. was so interesting; it deserves a bigger article!
Posted by Carol Carson on March 28,2013 | 05:07 PM
The Battle of Gettysburg didn't take place in early fall, but in the first days of July.
Posted by Gene in L.A. on March 28,2013 | 04:12 PM
I live here and it feels like a adventure every moment.take several parks that encourage you to explore old Florida by boat,take steamer up clear river.see homes estates and visit several places to eat and drink Just as Henry Flagler did many decades ago.See sunsets across expansive vistas. Or get up early for the sunrise t at the beach that sets your day in place.
Posted by tom carroll on March 28,2013 | 11:48 AM
I got a big kick out of reading Tony Horwitz's writeup on Gettysburg, PA. As kids, we too visited in the 60's. Driving into town we passed an old, dilapidated sign for the Home Sweet Home motel, and laughed about how we thought the motel would be in the same shape as the sign. We didn't have reservations anywhere, so drove down the main street in town looking for a suitable place to stay. And what did we find? A very nice brick motel with white scrollwork - the Home Sweet Home motel. Dad talked to the clerk, maybe the owner, and said we needed a place for six. He said I've got just the place for you, and showed us a big room with 3 double beds all lined up in a row! The next day, touring the battlefield, we looked out across the area where Pickett's Charge took place, and there in the middle of it was the Home Sweet Home motel! I don't remember a lot about that trip, but I do remember that motel!
Posted by Polly Flanagan on March 28,2013 | 10:12 AM
5 years ago a CO town would have been in the top 3. This state is going down hill fast
Posted by Bruce H Evans on March 28,2013 | 09:02 AM
Best place ever
Posted by on March 28,2013 | 08:35 AM
I am delighted to see the map and description of Southern Marin county, esp Sausalito. As a Boy (1946-7); I climbed all over "Marin City", redwood faced homes for WW2 shipyard workers, and I delivered The "SF News"/The "Chronicle" and the Examiner! (I Walked and called 'em out!) went to school in the flat. Surely There are nice homes now (?) overlooking the bay.....Please give me an asterisk (*) on the map w the footprint of Good ol Marin City! I live in Savannah Ga now, the other nice place to live, and went to school in Lexington VA another of your nice places to live!! Thanks!
Posted by Drew Troxler on March 27,2013 | 01:33 AM
Love the Smithsonian's article of the 20 Best Small Towns. I wonder did the same person write all the articles. They were fun to read and of course to see all our local St. Augustine, Florida treasures in print--Proud!:)
Posted by Melissa Whitehead on March 27,2013 | 03:21 PM
I thought that the 20 best towns article was going to be fixed so that you could scroll from one to the next rather than have to click 20 times. Good article, but extremely frustrating to navigate!
Posted by Ron Perkins on March 27,2013 | 12:29 PM
I second Astoria!! Great place to live, a great place to visit! See you this summer!
Posted by Robert Duehmig on March 27,2013 | 12:00 PM
I have been in Baraboo many times over the last Thirty years and I agree it is a wonderful experience.Thank you
Posted by Richard David on March 27,2013 | 09:19 AM
Thanks for your comment, Beverly. We're working on it now and hope to fix the maps within the hour.
Posted by Marina on March 25,2013 | 11:36 AM
Site is unecessarily hard to navigate. Is San Marcos, Texas on the list? Don't know, didn't get that far. Nice idea for an article, though.
Posted by Dave Olinger on March 25,2013 | 11:12 AM
I live in Petoskey and I am so proud to see it on this list!! If you've never been here its the ideal vacation spot!
Posted by Kristin on March 25,2013 | 09:08 AM
Stowe, Vermont is beautiful as is Winter Park, Florida, Wickford, Rhode Island, Bar Harbor, Maine, Santa Rosa, California, Savannah, Georgia.
Posted by Savannah5 on March 25,2013 | 08:03 AM
Fredericksburg,Texas is definitely one of the best small towns in America, however, the picture shown is not Fredericksburg, Texas. It appears to be a picture of Mason, Texas. How about publishing an accurate picture of our beautiful town?
Posted by pamela on March 25,2013 | 07:24 AM
Personally, I'd put both Durango and Pagosa Springs, Colorado, on the list.
Posted by Dave Rotthoff on March 24,2013 | 10:14 PM
I would like to share my opinion about this website. All I want to do is look at the Best Small Towns in America. It is difficult, albeit, impossible just to go to the next number. I keep receiving a 'sign in' message. When I cancel it, the map is not available. I don't want a map. I want to look at the Best Small Towns in America. Thank you, Beverly Collins
Posted by Beverly Collins on March 24,2013 | 07:45 PM
I'm very proud to see my hometown of Baraboo, Wisconsin listed as one the best small towns to visit in 2013. I have many fond memories as a young boy of the visits to Devils Lake, The Circus World Museum and the Al Ringling Theatre. Even though, the site of my boyhood home is now occupied by the city's golf course club house, I will always have the memories that took place there. congratulations Boo7
Posted by Richard P. Wagner on March 24,2013 | 07:44 PM
Small towns? How about truly small towns? I would call a number of the places on your list large towns or small cities.
Posted by McClain Moredock on March 24,2013 | 07:20 PM
This site is so messed up. I can't view anything because it is all jumbled up. You need to do a revamp.
Posted by Mary on March 24,2013 | 07:03 PM
St. Augustine - Crowded, expensive, not handicap friendly.
Posted by martie on March 24,2013 | 05:39 PM
Would have been interesting to see a list of the towns. Unfortunately the format calls for clicking 22 times, one for each town and waiting for all of the pop ups, ads, and notices telling us how good it's going to be. Unfortunately as a senior I would not live long enough to see the end of the article. Bob
Posted by Robert Kozlowski on March 24,2013 | 04:04 PM
How could anyone writting an article like this one leave Sedona, Az. off of the list?
Posted by ken herman on March 24,2013 | 02:50 PM
Somebody missed an assignment, How could u leave out Oxford , Ms from this tour. lmao bh
Posted by bhdawg on March 24,2013 | 11:54 AM
Why is Prescott Arizona not on the list?
Posted by Mike Foster on March 24,2013 | 11:17 AM
Fairfield wouldn't even be in the top 7 small towns to visit in Iowa.
Posted by Rick Hoover on March 24,2013 | 11:03 AM
You never mentioned beautiful Devil's Lake State Park which is just outside of Baraboo or Devil's Head Ski Resort.
Posted by Bonnie Buckley on March 24,2013 | 09:50 AM
Try Rockport Ma.or Bar Harbor ME.for small towns to see.
Posted by Ian MacPherson on March 24,2013 | 09:11 AM
It sounds like a true bit of Heaven. Thank you. Keep up the good work. Patrik Baldauff
Posted by Patrik Baldauff on March 23,2013 | 01:47 AM
Astoria is 90 min from Portland, excellent museums. Vistors can go fromPortland to Astoria roundtrip for a nice day trip as well. www.culturaloregon.com
Posted by marc scholnick on March 23,2013 | 09:41 PM
Along with the sites mentioned above in Gettysburg, there are some very nice coffee shops and artists galleries in town. The Bluebrick Gallery features the work of some excellent local artists. One of my favorite places to stop when I get to Gettysburg.
Posted by Lynne Smith on March 23,2013 | 08:54 PM
this is only true if you don't live here. If you live here it is a pit.
Posted by Linda Townley on March 23,2013 | 05:28 PM
It's great that Fredericksburg Texas is listed #19, I've lived in Fredericksburg for the past 14 years and as a commercial photographer have photographed everything in the town during those 14 years, but unfortunately the writer never visited Fredericksburg and Smithsonian Magazine never researched the article because the photo used in the article isn't even of the town of Fredericksburg, it's a photo from Main Street in Mason Texas which is 40 plus miles West of Fredericksburg. Leaves me wondering if any of the info in this article is true ! Come on guys, do your homework before you publish an article.
Posted by Steve Rawls on March 23,2013 | 02:23 PM
Andy no doubt is not a Cleveland native with such comments. Walmart stores all across the South generally have this "class" employee who gang in three to four and are insulted when asked for help. Truely laden with poverty, the situation will never better itself due to way too much government welfare and lack of individual success. As to the "toxic" chemicals, the EPA has taken them off the market, which leads to the lack of mosquito control. Cleveland is a wonderful place to live if you like Southern hospitality and charm with a relaxed atmosphere---a great place to raise a family!
Posted by Charles Tucke r on March 23,2013 | 12:32 PM
Petoskey and Bay View are such lovely places. We have been enjoying it in our family for five generations! Jesperson's has great pies!
Posted by Barbara Jenkins on March 23,2013 | 12:21 PM
Ha! It says no rap at Po Monkeys but I rapped there last April! http://youtu.be/kdNzAFd7zak?t=32m30s Of course it wasn't your garden variety rap.
Posted by Mira Spaceman on March 22,2013 | 09:20 AM
..."the big sky, the big hearts, always bring on a big smile"...
Posted by bruce browning on March 22,2013 | 09:10 AM
Not only a great place to visit, but a great place to live! Lived hear almost 40 years.
Posted by Angela Ellison on March 22,2013 | 06:46 AM
Best salt water king salmon fishing on the planet.
Posted by Daniel Martin on March 21,2013 | 01:02 AM
Way to go Cleveland! Congratulations! Best - Alexis
Posted by Alexis Brown on March 21,2013 | 12:40 AM
This town was a part of shaping the human being that I am today. I am very blessed to be a native of this Delta town!!!
Posted by Raegan Meeks Hackett on March 21,2013 | 11:06 PM
Don't forget the most beautiful lake in the world is Devil's Lake just outside of town. Walk the trail around both bluffs and you will never forget it. Brings a tear to my eye. d
Posted by david matthews on March 21,2013 | 10:30 PM
Great place to work!
Posted by Debra Allen on March 21,2013 | 10:04 PM
I am proud to call this small town, my home town. Finest people in the world are found there. Never meet a stranger. Makes me proud that this honor has been bestowed on my small town.
Posted by Nancy Wells Jackson on March 21,2013 | 09:56 PM
Up and coming music scene here...lots of local bands
Posted by jc on March 21,2013 | 09:46 PM
I really enjoy seeing my hometown featured on this website. One item I think needs to be corrected - NOWHERE in the Mississippi Delta is there a location that is below sea level! Much of the Delta is lower in elevation than the Mississippi River on the immediate west. That is why a levee was built from just south of Memphis, TN to just north of Vicksburg, MS. to help protect the Delta from flooding.
Posted by Joe Denton on March 21,2013 | 09:16 PM
my home town
Posted by iwao greene on March 21,2013 | 08:23 PM
I agree Baraboo is a great place to visit, but they didn't even mention my favorite thing about Baraboo. Devils lake state park is amazing. From camping, swimming, hiking, fishing, or just relaxing on the beach. It's mine and my kids favorite way to spend a summers day.
Posted by Carolyn on March 21,2013 | 07:56 PM
Cleveland, Mississippi? You've got o be kidding! Try visiting the Walmart there to get a good cross section of the culture. I was there about a month ago and merchandise was all on the dirty floors. And if you asked someone for help finding something, they point in a direction and act disgusted that you interrupted their cell phone conversation. And don't get caught on the East Side after dark or any time of day, actually.I graduated from DSU there and know it well. Sure, there a few trendy coffee shops in town, but they're not making money.This is the most poverty stricken region in the country. You must not have been there in the summer when mosquitoes will carry you away. Or the crop dusters are spraying the air with toxic insecticides. You just saw a facade.
Posted by Andy McWilliams on March 21,2013 | 07:46 PM
Just be careful of the police and speedtraps in downtown. They are out to get you!! Had an issue last August.
Posted by Globalophile on March 21,2013 | 06:14 PM
Thanks for including Petoskey in your list of 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2013. For those who want more information on the area, please visit www.PetoskeyArea.com. We will be very happy to mail our 2013 Vacation Guide, too - but you'll have to come to town to get any of that yummy looking pie!
Posted by Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau on March 21,2013 | 04:28 PM