The Arkansas Delta has definitely seen better days. The decline of the cotton economy, the loss of industry in the 1980s, and a declining population have brought poverty and massive abandonment in much of eastern Arkansas. The notable exception is the charming town of Wilson in Mississippi County, a company town that has been lovingly preserved by the Lee Wilson company for a number of years. When the Wilson company was sold about seven years ago, there were plans to sell off the town as surplus, but fortunately the new owners changed their minds and decided to focus on Wilson as a potential tourist destination. While there are other company towns in the Delta regions, including the Bayer-owned Scott, Mississippi and the small plantation center of Mattson, Mississippi, Wilson is by far the largest, most beautiful and best-preserved Delta town. Robert E. Lee Wilson II had been on his honeymoon to England, and when he returned to Arkansas, he decided to remake the town of Wilson in the architectural style he and his wife had admired on their honeymoon. Early redevelopment plans focused on the reopened Wilson Cafe, a culinary garden, a classical private school, and a coffee bar and breakfast spot known as the Wilson Grange.
Since my last visit to Wilson, a hotel has opened in the old Lee Wilson and Company offices at 1 Park Avenue on the square. This hotel, the Hotel Louis, is quite expensive, but very luxurious. I was graciously allowed to tour it and photograph its lobby, rooms and luxurious rooftop bar, which is open only to registered guests. Unfortunately, the Wilson experiment has run into some minor problems. The Wilson Grange was closed earlier this year, and now the building is a rental venue for weddings and other special events. The culinary garden was also closed after the resignation of the master gardener, and the decision was made apparently because of difficulties related to culinary gardening in close proximity to commercial farming of cotton and soybeans.
The Wilson Cafe is, beside the hotel, one of the major draws to this small Arkansas town. It offers first-rate food in a beautifully-restored and attractive setting, with attentive service and a musical soundtrack that is heavy with blues and Memphis soul. The menu includes fried chicken and steaks, and my filet mignon was cooked beautifully and to order, accompanied by delicious thin cut fries with parmesan cheese shredded on top. Other attractions include the Hampson Mounds Archeological Museum on the square, and White’s Mercantile, a sort of upscale mercantile with all kinds of interesting things, but at fairly rich prices. Modern Wilson is clearly for the well-to-do. There is also a Wilson concert series which brings performers to outdoor concerts several times a year. The existence of a golf course enables the hotel to offer golf weekend packages at times.
Perhaps the newest feature is a new supermarket which has to be one of the most attractive and unique supermarkets I have ever seen. Like everything else in Wilson, it is unusual, attractive, and squeaky clean. Several miles to the south at the town of Joiner, we were thrilled to come upon a mural that honored the blues musician Albert King. What his connection to Joiner is I am not sure at all.